Back to Life, Back to Reality

Hi ladies,
Just wanted to pop in and say hey! We had the baby shower for Rhyan on Saturday, and it was lovely! Here is a sneak peek!

It has been a week of hustle around here for both Zane and I. But this upcoming week has relaxation and normal written all over it. Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, and still having a few projects to work on! 

I hope you guys are having a fantastic week so far! 

Rustic Barn Baby Shower

Thanks for joining us for Baby Shower Week!

The last shower I want to share with you is the most recent one I did along with a team of ladies.

 

This one we decided to do at a friends barn. Luckily it was all decked out for their daughters lovely wedding. This shower was the first one I did with a team, as well as in such a large space.

 

We went with a mix of rustic and vintage. Rachel was doing Nash's nursery in yellow, grey and chevron. Some of the highlights were the adorable cake, mimosa bar, and a long table.

 

Note: It is completely okay to do a theme that may be more on the feminine side, even if the mom-to-be is having a boy. This shower is to celebrate HER, and the baby inside won't have much say;)... yet!
 

 
The shower planning started with the single idea to do one long table with lots of decorations down the middle. We grabbed every single vase, nick knack and candle stick we could find. Tip- once we were actually ready to set this table up, we started by pulling all the larger items, and then filled in with the smaller.

 

 

 


One of my favorite things about this shower is the mixture of patterns and textures. Seeing clear glass mixed with mercury and milk glass and chevron with maps! Speaking of maps, the pinwheels were super easy to make! They were the perfect addition among the fresh flowers.

 

  Tissue paper poms are a great way to add a big impact on a small budget. Hanging them over the food table really helped anchor the space since the ceilings were so tall.  They are also super easy to make! The banner was also made by yours truly! Note- If you plan on hanging them, be sure to allow plenty of time to do so! This task wasn't difficult, I just recommend doing it in advance! Can't hang them? They still look great placed around.

For the menu, we came together to provide two breakfast casseroles, one sweet (French toast) and one savory (ham and cheese). Both were so delish! We made individual fruit cups, These were great and super easy to do! Just buy small plastic cups and fill with frozen fruit, or fresh! We had croissants with jam as well as spinach dip with cucumbers, pita chips and bread. Note- If you or any of your friends have a Costco/ Sam's club membership, we would definitely recommend using it for the food! They had tons of pre-made brunch items such as muffins, pastries, and also frozen foods. Not to mention its in bulk!

 

 

 

 

 For the desserts, Rachel's mom ordered an adorable cake that matched perfectly with the theme. The first layer was the mom's favorite, carrot cake. The second was a lemon cake with raspberry filling. Soo good!! I made my MIL's Oreo balls and ordered some doughnut holes! Ordering a cake that matches your theme is such a great way to add a big impact!

 

For the mimosa bar, we used the dollar store chalkboard labels, my trusty beverage dispensers, and some galvanized tubes and buckets!

 The chalkboard is another item from my home. This was a DIY project I did a year ago. I found the frame at a thrift store for six dollars and had a board cut to fit. Then added some chalkboard paint and we were in business. Note- Chalkboard paint is seriously my best friend. It can go on practically anything! This is great to make your own food labels. As you can see from the mimosa bar, I purchased dollar store frames, and painted the glass with chalkboard paint. I then spray paint the frames to match whatever event is taking place!


These blocks were order online and were a great addition to the shower. Guest were able to paint ones for Nash's nursery!

 

 

 Since the space was so big, we wanted to spread out the different areas. This was our photo booth / present spot. The yellow chair was a yard sale find that resides in our master bedroom.  Our areas included the following:

 

Welcome station

Cake table

Food table

Main table

Gift table

Photo area

Block station

Mimosa bar

 

Now clearly you don't need to have all of these areas, but while planning, you will want to think through all the spaces you will need. Will drinks be on the same table with the food? Do you have a specialty bar? Think ahead to make sure you have enough space for all those items!

 

 -What I Learned From This Shower-

Are you planning with a group? Be clear from the beginning who is responsible for what items. About a week before, be sure to go over a detailed list of who is doing/ bringing what.  It is easy for things to be forgotten when there are many hands working!

Working with a large space? Try to space out your areas to make the space not feel ginormous. Regardless of the size of the space, I usually make up a mock floor plan to make sure I like the layout, and to make sure I'm not forgetting anything.

One of my all time favorite things is to see furniture used in outdoor spaces, or where you wouldn't expect it. One of my fav's from this shower is the yellow chair and side table. The map helped anchor this area as well. Try to use items like this you already have in your home for an unexpected twist to your event.



Once again, the food prep for this shower took forever. Most of the items were already prepared, like everything was. But it seriously took so long to get all the items out of the containers and into the dishes, and water bottles in the tub, and the mimosa bar set up. No matter how much you prepare, food set up always takes forever. If you can plan out which dishes will house which food item along with the location on the food table ahead of time, you will save time the day of!

In the same vein, if you are doing the event at a different location, really put thought into as many details as possible. There were a few items we forgot, such as smaller spoons for all the jams and fruit and plastic wrap to line the buckets for the mimosa bar.

Always consider the weather while planning your event. We got lucky with a not so super hot day in Florida. However it still go a little toasty, so we opened up another bay door in the barn to let some air flow in. The last thing you want is a hot, pregnant guest of honor!

It's always nice to include a personal item that the mom-to-be can take home with her.  The girls wanted to include the book, Where the Wild Tings Are, for guest to sign. This book is one of the parent's favorites!  

 

Elephant Themed Baby Shower

Thanks for joining me for Baby Shower Week!
The second shower I am going to show you was for my very best friend, Kristen! Wow, this one looks totally different from the first one I did!

 I went with the colors of her nursery and did a navy blue and teal color scheme with some elephants thrown in. Who doesn't love a cute elephant?! This one was at my home, and we did a brunch menu. 

These photos were taken by my lovely friend Becca at Sebrie Images Photography! 

Sam, Kristen's husband was kind enough to design the invites for us!

 Here we have the drink station. A banner in coordinating colors goes a long way. Mason jars with some fun straws and a ribbon to tie it together! You can also see my trusty beverage containers! 

 

 Here we have the food spread. I always try to layer the heights of the items-  this helps add space, as well as looks nice. You can add height by using different cake stands as well as wooden boxes. The white boxes came from home goods. 

For the menu, I did spinach dip with veggies, pancake bites (anything made miniature is usually adorable). Croissants, French toast cut cups. Fruit pizza cookies ( sugar cookies with a variety of fruit cut up along with icing, this is assembled by the person). I also did some of the frozen pinwheel roll ups as well as the mini quiches. We also ordered some doughnut holes to add to the sweet side!

As i stated with my first shower, plates and napkins add color and help tie everything in. It is also so easy to add in some fun patterns as well! 

This was the first thing the guest saw, it held our games, and advice station. 

This table held clothes pins I spray painted orange to play the ever so popular word game. If anyone said the word "baby" they had their pin removed. The guest with the most pins at the end won a prize. 

 I had everyone write a little bit of advice for the mommy to be. I used my silhouette machine to cut out little white onesies. 

A mantel is a great place to throw up some decor  I always like to incorporate the name when possible. These white blocks were from Joanne's. Using fruit is always fun as well. Circle garland is another one of my go-to. I use a circle punch with coordinating scrapbook paper, and sew them together. Super easy! The lower one is baby tissue paper poms I threaded onto some string. I actually used some orange napkins I had lying around!

 This area was used for the cake/ dessert table, as well as an area to decorate onesies for baby Becket. 

This was one of my favorite areas. Who doesn't love a good candy bar?! I used milkshake glasses from target for the smaller candy. I grabbed these larger apothecary jars from HomeGoods and filled with gum balls purchased from party city. I will explain about the cake at the end, and also about the Oreo balls.  Pulling this area together was very cost effective  and was really a focal point to the event. 

I used this space in my kitchen to display the prizes. You will also see lots of fresh flowers. Flowers are always one of the easiest ways to take your shower to the next level!

-What I learned from this shower-

This shower I was able to do in the comfort of my own home. This meant I had all the time in the world to set things up as I wanted them! This took a big stress factor out since I could layout one area at a time, at my own pace. 

Think outside the box: I really wanted a nice cake. ya know, the amazing ones you see on Pinterest! However, it was just not even remotely in my cheap budget to pull that off. So, I improvised  The cake you see on the candy bar is actually a Styrofoam cylinder, covered in icing. I then ordered a plain cake from one of my favorite local bakeries, and sliced it in the back to serve.  

I kinda did the same thing with the Oreo balls. You saw them last time without sticks. I wanted to have something look a little more put together, so I just added the lollipop sticks to make them look like cake pops, but without the work of a cake pop. 

It is the little details that go such a long way. I cut out little elephant shapes to go on the candy bar bags. The tiny flag bunting on my fake cake, spray painting the clothes pins orange so they tied in. That reminds me... when you do land on your colors, head straight to Walmart and purchase spray paint in those colors. You will be amazed at how many things can be spray painted! Notice those wooden crates in the center of the food table, those were purchased from Joanne's, then spray painted! I have used those same bins over and over, just spray painted to match the theme!

Use what you have! get creative! That teal "picture" on the mantel is actually a piece of board left over from a chalkboard project that I taped fabric too, along with the same elephant shape cut out with my silhouette machine. I usually go "shopping" in all the rooms of my house and grab anything that is the same colors, or could work!

When you start to plan, don't forget about the outside of your space. I take a visual "walk through" basically from my mailbox to the back room of my house. I placed balloons on the mailbox so guest would know which home to come to. I had shepherds hooks with mason jars and baby's breath lining the walk way. My front porch got a mini makeover with some tissue paper poms in the wreath and my giant chalkboard welcoming guest!

*Note- you will see this same grape vine wreath on my door all year long, I just change out the decor to go with the season!

This has been hands down my favorite shower to plan! Now Becket is almost a year old! Wow, how time flies! Kristen, it's time for another ;)

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!