My First Baby Shower

Thanks for joining in for Baby Shower Week! The first shower I want to share is actually the very first shower I ever did. It was for one of my bridesmaids, Jessica. She was pregnant with her very first little girl.  During this time, we had just purchased our home and were in the process of renovating it. Thanks to my lovely friend Becca for opening up her home. 

Theme: We went with a pink and orange color theme to be bright and fun. Once you land on a specific theme or color, planning should flow pretty well from there. Typically, I try to do something close to what the mom-to-be is doing in the nursery. This way, any decor items can be recycled in the baby's room.

I grabbed these blocks from Michael's and painted them to go with the theme. Always sign up to receive any local craft store coupons. Most stores will even take competitors coupons as well. No reason to pay full price when getting coupons is so easy. I am a huge fan of the Apps you can download and have the coupons right on your phone. 

I was able to borrow a few things from a friend who just so happened to have a orange and pink wedding.  Paper lanterns are a favorite of mine since they are super cheap and can be so versatile. You can hang them up, or just scatter them around wherever you need a little extra something. My friend Julie made these sugar cookies as favors. She used a cookie cutter to cut out the onsie shape, and then decorated them with icing. Sticking them in tiny plastic bags with ribbon finished them off. 

A beverage container has been one of the best $20 I ever spent. It can hold a ton, looks pretty with colored drinks and some fruit added, and keeps the drinks cool since it has a place for ice. I have purchased many elegant glass ones, and each and every one has leaked. So, I purchased the plastic one and never looked back. Now I don't have to worry about it leaking or breaking.

Paper plates and napkins are a perfect place to add color for your event. I am all for keeping it classy and having a place setting for each person, which I am able to do with a smaller event with a smaller guest list. Most of the time it is just not in the budget to pull that off for a baby shower with a larger guest list. Paper products also make it much easier on you to be able to toss after the event. 

Clearly my cupcake icing needed some work! But, I did love these little cupcake toppers. I had purchased a circle punch, scrapbook paper and lollipop sticks to pull these off. the mom-to-be was keeping the name a secret, so we incorporated some other sayings to make it fun. Cupcakes are a great statement, when you are able to incorporate fun cupcake wrappers, and toppers. You can also get creative with the way you display them.  

My lovely friend Kristen helped by baking this adorable cake! I showed her a picture of one I liked, and she went to town. 

These are one of my favorites. Oreo balls. I will be sharing how I make these in the future. My fabulous MIL taught me the ropes and they are typically a go-to for me when it comes to showers. it was also a good way for me to incorporate color.

I also made bruschetta and stuffed mushrooms and spinach dip. I always like a mix of sweet and savory.  On the table I had veggies with dip, along with fruit with a sweet fruit dip. Anything small to snack on is a great option.

These paper umbrellas were also from the wedding decor  but are available online for super cheap. Again you see the paper lanterns were placed around to tie in the color. 

 

For activities, we grabbed some fun colored bibs and some paint pens. 

We had the ladies decorate some bibs for Baby G, this is an inexpensive fun activity that is useful to the mom after the shower! 

My friend Julie found this game and it was so much fun to play with a group of girls! Since I wasn't on Pinterest at this time, Google was a huge help to us in finding some fun activities. 

-Some things I learned from this shower- 

 If you can't have it at your own place, be prepared to spend a good chunk of time packing up decor items and transferring food. I made a few trips back and fourth making sure I had everything I needed. 

While I was grateful to have a space to host the shower, It wasn't my own, and more importantly was someone else home.  I was cautious of what I did, and didn't do. I didn't want to move personal items or make any holes in the walls. I would have done more if it was in the comfort of my own home, or an empty space.

Food prep takes it out of you. I felt like I had been working on this shower for ever and had nothing to show for it, but in reality preparing the food will be one of the biggest items on your to-do list. This always takes more time than I expect. Always.   

This particular weekend was super rushed for me. I was gone practically all of it on top of trying to get a baby shower together. As a result, some things didn't go according to plan (aka the cupcakes looking a hot mess). And that's okay.. the only thing it hurt was my pride.. oh well! 

Typically showers are held on a weekend during the day. This shower had to happen on a Monday night due to the mom-to-be coming in from out of town. This is completely fine, sometimes you just have to go with the flow of things! What was most important was that people were there to celebrate with the mom-to-be!