Baby Shower

In the few days between my workshop in Austin and our trip to Vegas, I got to help throw the baby shower that I hijacked. The mommy-to-be, aside from now being a friend of mine, is the older sister of my son's high school girlfriend. I've mentioned this family before, here and here, because despite the fact they have not dated in 6 years, our families still are. I vacation with her mom and I also shot the guest of honor's engagement pics and her beautiful wedding in CA.

When I found out she was going to have a baby, I asked if I could help. Lucky for me, another mutual friend was planning it. I'm gonna say up front that I'm a little "controlling" about parties. I have a vision and it's hard to let go of the details and entrust them to others. Rosanne was more than gracious about letting me be bossy. We are good enough friends, and she is insecure enough about her creative skills (which she shouldn't be), that she will allow me to say "umm, do you mind if I do that, you may not do it the way I have planned." She is a perfectionist, too, and knows me, so all was good. It was a fabulously fun shower thanks to Rosanne, Hanna, Adrienne, Meg and Pinterest. We wanted a literary theme and decided Eric Carle would fit the bill. Bright, but not cheesy and not gender specific. We made all the invitations by hand, glueing each piece of tissue on each of the 45 invitations.

work station

I've done lots of showers, but I didn't want to use any things I'd used before. That's where Pinterest comes in. I got all my ideas from them. In a nutshell.. In place of cards, guests were encouraged to bring a book and use the book plate we enclosed in the invitation. (Thanks, Emily, for the inspiration!) I designed it using a short image of the fruit and repeated it a million times (maybe a little exaggerated). I then added the caterpillar image and words.

I used the same print on card stock and we made food boats. I also made bookmarks for thank-you gifts with the print.

This is the table set for the shower.

The banner in the front is made from pages from The Grouchy Ladybug. I made the runner on the the table using fabric that I thought looked like grass. The "curtains" are circles that were die-cut and sewn together.

Caterpillar sandwiches

iced donut holes with mini m&ms

baked mac and cheese bites

Strawberries with cheesecake filling and topped with graham cracker crumbs

fried chicken and waffles with maple syrup

rice krispie pops

veggies

strawberry ginger ale in mason jars

It was a great turnout. Lots of people in my not so big house! Worth it though, we had a ball.

Here is a shot of the mom-to-be. Thanks, Alison, for letting me be a part of the fun!