O Baby...It's a Shower!

Ok, so I hosted this shower like two weeks ago and I'm FINALLY getting around to posting about it. I've been taking a bloggy sebatical to take care of some end-of-the-semester school stuff but the semester is over and I am back! YAY! Anywho, I am sure you have all been waiting with bated breath for me to post these pics. lol

I tried to make as much in advance as I could so I would have less to do the day of the party. I highly recommend starting as far in advance as you can because you have more time to stumble across that perfect find. Also, if you shop for groceries in advance (about a month) and freeze what you can, you can usually catch sales on everything you need.

The party theme was shabby chic pink and green because those are the baby's room colors and I wanted to make some decorations that could double as gifts.

By the back door: An Easter sign transformed for the day with a little scrapbook paper and a label to match the other decor (I'll tell you how to do these in a bit).

I found a brown frame and transformed it with a little white spray paint (what else?) then matted the invite on some cute paper and framed it to go in the baby's room later.

This is the scrapbook from here all wrapped up with a tissue paper bow and some packaging paper (my go-to for wrapping everything, versitile and I love the simplicity of it).

The gifts table with $ store doily bunting from this post.

And here it is with all the loot:

The prize for the winner of the baby game: a little jar of $ store Baby Ruths of course...cute fabric, a bow and a label are a must!

Here is the game I used. I couldn't find a version all set up for matching (which is necessary because it is pretty hard!), so I made my own using this website for the words and candies. If anyone wants the finished game, ready to print and play, you can email me or teach me how to post a pdf file on here (I'm completely computer illiterate and can't seem to make it work). I'd be happy to share the ready-to-play version because it takes a little while to design it and get the formatting right.
Here are the cupcakes which I used as a substitute to a cake because they are quicker, easier, and very freezable. (And I {heart} cupcakes)
Baby Cakes!

Here is an {amazing} rusty mail box that my uber-talented-garbage pile-surfing-great-aunt found...I know awesome right??? I love junk! It was perfect for corraling all the napkins from this post.

Ok, so here's the scoop on how to make the tags/labels. In Microsoft Office Word 2007, insert a circle in the size you need, make the outline as thick as it will go and make it dotted (formatting shape). Now insert a text box over the circle. Format it so that there is no outline and no fill and type your word or label. make sure it is centered and print. If you're making multiple labels, it is helpful to group the text box and circle (by holding down the control button and clicking on both shapes, then right clicking and checking group) and copy and paste them so that all your labels are the same size.

Forks all gathered in a little galvanized bucket feminized a bit with a pretty linen napkin.

And here is the cupcake and plate table:

Complete with the $ store pink runner from here and of course my old stand-by the chalkboard.

On the beverage cart: a few markers for labeling plastic cups.

The lemonade served in a cookie jar set atop a little green cake stand.The beverage cart...remember the hairbow holder from here?

in a little galvanized bucket beside the cart on a plant stand...
I made the labels using the method above (font: pupcat) and tied them on with pink and green ribbon and twine. Refrigerate the night before so they will already be cold and you don't have to stick them too far into the ice...the tags will smudge.

The spread:

Menu:

Waldorf Chicken Salad

Biscuits

Spinach Dip

BBQ Meatballs

Zucchini Bread

Baby Quiche

Fruit with Cream Cheese and Marshmallow Dip

Quiche recipe found here.

And because I couldn't resist, some pics from the party.

Cute baby belly!

Baby Gator

The Giving Tree

A handmade quilt

Beautiful Mommy!

Mommy and Grandma-to-be

Me and the mommy-to-be

Thank you all for sticking with me through this extremely long post...now off to actually get dressed (still in my pj's). Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Hopefully I will get to do some pics of mommy and daddy before the little bump arrives in June!

Happy Monday!

Ramsey

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