3.19.2011

THE Baby Shower

On March 5, I threw a baby shower for Cindy, Jackson & Riggs. It was a lot of fun and I love how everything turned out. I evidently need to consider a career change. This was the entry table with The Giving Tree for all the guests to sign.
This was the wish area where guests wrote advice, wishes and/or dreams for Jackson & Riggs. There were clothespins to attach the paper to the ribbon frame. I had a bunch of open-back frames that I spray painted over Christmas break. I then printed out directions for the wish area and attached them to the frame. I put ribbon in the frame by using a staple gun, which was lots of fun.

Banner at the gift area. I took a piece of navy twine and used clothespins to attach the letters. I just printed out the letters on my home printer and attached them to colored card stock. It was a very simple project but I really wanted to have their names displayed at the shower.


This was the candy area. I had bags for guests to make their own bags of candy that Cindy had been craving during her pregnancy. We had sour patch kids and sweet tarts. I sorted them by color prior to the shower. My grandmother had given me a box of mason jars so I used those to hold the candy. There are also pinwheels laying on the table to pull the candy table in with the food table.
This was the food table. While I know that Cindy doesn't really like the glass kitchen table, it is perfect for hosting events with. We had all sorts of yummy foods like hummus, fruit, cubed cheeses, raw veggies and dip, and raspberry preserves with cream cheese. All of the food was labeled with coordinating place cards. I made pinwheels using card stock, spray painted pencils and pushpins. I placed the pinwheels in IKEA glasses along with either purple rice, split peas or orange beans. 
The forks were in the green bucket. I had wrapped forks in yellow napkins and attached either a tissue paper pom-pom or a miniature pinwheel. 
We had mock champagne to drink. I used this recipe as a starting point but I didn't make a ginger ale ice ring and added frozen strawberries instead. 
An overhead stop of the shower, along with the pretty curtains that Cindy made. 

Gift time. This green basket is from me. I had a bunch of random baby items and books inside. It was only an introduction to my real gifts. These are onesies that say "I bite" and have alligators on them. I am  terrified of alligators/crocodiles and when I saw these onesies I knew I had to get them for Riggs and Jackson. 
And time for the real gifts from me. I made floor quilts for both Riggs and Jackson. Riggs' quilt is pictures above. I had never quilted anything before but I really, really loved doing it. I fell in love with both of the quilts and almost didn't want to give them up.
Jackson's quilt, which is really bright and super fun.
Cindy and I with the quilts. I really can't wait to see Jackson and Riggs' on their quilts (or really meet them in general). I used this tutorial for the quilts. I really loved every aspect of making the quilts, from picking out the fun, very non-traditional colors and patterns to actually doing the free-motion quilting. 
  Here is an up-close view of the free-motion quilting. 

I loved every minute of this baby shower, from planning all the little details to seeing Cindy open the quilts. Now, all I have to do with my free time is study, study, study. And anticipate the arrival of Riggs and Jackson!

Quick Update

I have another post to come very soon about a very special baby shower that I threw a few weeks ago. But these are a few pictures from a baby shower gift that I made in early December. I obviously need to blog more often. I wanted to be sure and post these since I thought it was pretty proud of how cute the mini buckets turned out. I just found small buckets in the dollar section at Target and then painted them (many times) to cover the original Star Wars print. I then free-handed the letters on the buckets. 

I then sprayed the pots with a clear acrylic spray. The red polka dot print is on a cloth diaper and blue gingham print pants were made using this pattern. It was super easy and a great pattern to follow. 

For the name tag, I found a cute clipart picture from google images and then edited it using picnik, which is an awesome free editing program. 

This is probably one of the easiest things that I do for baby gifts. I took a basic receiving blanket and monogrammed the name on one of the corners. I love the personal touch it gives the gift and it takes me literally 2 minutes to do.