Feast your eyes on this classic school themed Baby Shower that Sarah Westbrook threw for her sister-in-law. Brittany Egbert helped her put this lovely together. It even includes a vegan menu (since her sister-in-law is vegan). Here is the invitation that she designed.

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Old fashioned flash cards and a giant letter.

A chalkboard and more vintage school cards.

Vegan brownies.

A yummy green salad.

And meatless minestrone.

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Sidebar: How adorable would this cute yardstick table be for a party like this? I found it over at CountryLiving.

Here is Country Living’s Wooden Yardstick Table Project Instructions: How to Transform a tired side table into a piece that really rules by covering the top in vintage yardsticks.

Try to get a variety of colors, but be sure they’re all the same thickness. (For a 19- by 17-inch table like this one, you’ll need about 16 yardsticks.)

STEP 1: To figure out how best to align the sticks, create a template of the tabletop by tracing it onto a sheet of paper. Arrange the rulers on the template, marking where you’ll need to cut so they fit the width and length of the table.

STEP 2: Once you know where each ruler segment will go, make the cuts with a hacksaw or small electric saw. Smooth out any rough edges with medium-grit sandpaper.

STEP 3: Starting at one corner, attach one of the ruler segments to the top of the table lengthwise by hammering a flat-head nail in at each end. Repeat in rows until the entire surface is covered. You can stagger the sticks as shown, but line them up carefully to avoid gaps.

STEP 4: Apply several layers of Zinsser clear shellac ($4.79; doitbest.com) over the yardsticks with a wide brush, according to the can’s directions. Allow ample time for drying between coats. Once you’re done, let the table dry for another 48 hours before putting anything on its surface.

Chop up some branches from your backyard or outdoors and you’ve got stands for food labels.

Try candied pecan favors, sew muslin drawstring pouches and stamp them with a squirrel stamp carved out of an eraser.

Buy a manzanita branch and stick some felt leaves on it for the main spread.

Use Burlap Fabric for your Table Linen. And if you are saavy with the sewing needle or know someone who is, sew little birds and foxes, and let the ladies make some amazing food.

Little Wooden Peg Doll Shower Activity

Finished product

Cute wooden peg dolls here.

Consider manzanita branches from here.
]]> http://eventsualitiesblog.com/baby-showers/the-forest-from-the-trees/feed/ 0 http://eventsualitiesblog.com/baby-showers/baby-shower-bliss/ http://eventsualitiesblog.com/baby-showers/baby-shower-bliss/#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:26:23 +0000 admin http://eventsualitiesblog.com/?p=3633 Take a peek at Kapri Robert’s adorable ruffled, rhinestone baby shower.

Most first time mommies usually have quite the closet waiting for their precious little gem. In this case the greatest hits were displayed on wire dress forms bought at Ikea.

Pesticide-free roses looked very pretty floating in ice water, and a doll armoire held the glass flutes. Find these here.

Here’s the dessert table.

No baby shower is complete without cupcakes. These were baked a few days in advance, frozen, then frosted and dusted with pink-dyed coconut just before the party.

How about mini pink milkshakes?

These cotton candy cones were cut 8 1/2 by 11 scrapbook paper in half width-wise, twisted into cones, and sealed with a homemade sticker. Stuffed with cotton candy.

Home-made pasta salad was served in tiny pink takeout containers with scallop-trimmed edges, and displayed in a doll bed. Find the takeout containers at Michaels, details for trimming them here, and the doll bed at Pottery Barn Kids.

And the favors? Martha Stewart’s pink flower boxes, dressed up with a rhinestone, filled with pink M&Ms.

You can also find them at Michaels, about $20 for 20 boxes.

And you want everyone at the shower, especially the expectant mother, to be oohing and aahhing when she opens your gift, right?

Well…every baby needs a onesie covered in rhinestones, and Itsy Bitsy Hearts makes some rockin’ ones that are organic too.

The Short and Sweet cupcake onesie is $28.

There are tees for toddlers too.

Pamper the Mom-to-be. If she’s got it, let her flaunt it! Gone are the days of maternity “tent” shirts…

These sexy stretch tees found at BabyBumps.com.

Daddies need love too!

The Goodfather Tee Shirt found at BamaBabiesandBirthdays. Price: $27.99.

Found at BabyBumps.com.

Stumped on what to get? Tip: Consider going in on a larger gift with others.
Call the baby shower hostess or a close family member or friend of the expectant mother to ask if there is a group gift. If not, YOU could organize a group gift!

Personalized Baby Gifts – Having a baby towel, blanket, outfit, or other item personalized with the Baby’s name or initials is becoming popular.
My nephew was given an overnight suitcase with his name engraved in it.

Savings Bonds for Baby’s future

Baby Weight Scale

Baby Growth Chart

Baby Name Book (if the parents haven’t chosen a name yet)

Shopping Cart Cover

Happy Hunting!

And yes, long gone are baby showers just for women. Men were under the impression that any party that ended in the word “shower” typically meant it was intended for women. But oh no — not so fast! Nowadays, more daddies are being included in their bundle of joy’s festivities. And why shouldn’t they? Not only does the presence of a man make for some good laughs, but it also reinforces the fact that the woman is not the only one having the baby.

The father should be expected to be every bit as involved as the mother in the new child’s life.

Assure your honey that he won’t be asked to do anything silly at the shower. Now between me and you, your promise of “no silliness” is hardly going to be true . Now, he may be able to skip out on the “guess that mystery baby food” game, but try not to let him escape the “chug apple juice from a low flow bottle as fast as you can” game. There is no funnier sight than a group of blind-folded men trying to fumble their way through putting a diaper on a stuffed animal.

Some fun ideas:

Dad-to-be vs. Baby Bottle

Give each male a baby bottle filled with milk–which of course could be sitting at room temperature since the start of the baby shower. Have them suck down the bottles as fast as they can.

Be sure and Create His and Hers Chairs:

Photo Credit: LotusHaus

Need Favor Ideas for the Guys?

Realize that most men don’t find the jellybeans in a baby bottle all that adorable. Browse through your local auto care department. You will find lots of great ideas…small packs of interior wipes, unique air fresheners, window decals, etc. Even though you may have a theme, when it comes to a co-ed shower, it is much easier to just buy little things for the guys that are not necessarily in your theme.

The Good Father

Dr.MOZ ® created The GoodFather to be a baby shower gift that men find both educational and entertaining. The GoodFather lessons were created by experienced dads and grand dads and edited by licensed nurse-midwives so the content is relevant to new fathers and medically sound.

Price Starts at: $29.95

Available at Amazon.com

Why not create His and Hers Baby Shower Diaper Cakes?

Here are some Tips for throwing a Coed Baby Shower:

1. If you want guys to come, don’t make the invitation too baby-ish or mushy-gushy! If it’s a BBQ dinner involved for the guys, that’s even better! The invitations for the shower should clearly reflect the fact that it is a co-ed shower. Instead of listing that it is a baby shower for Jane, you should place on the invitation that it is a shower for Jane and John. Make sure that you stress that it is a co-ed shower and that spouses, boyfriends or male guests are invited as well.

2. Tone it Down. Avoid decorating in a ultra-feminine fashion. This does not mean not having baby-centered decorations, but if Dad or the guys come into a room filled with pink balloons, pink streamers and bright pink carnations, chances are they are going to turn tail and run out of the house yelling over their shoulders, “I’ll pick you up in a few hours.” Just tone the colors down and use more neutral colors.

3. A younger crowd usually does not appreciate the traditional baby shower games. If you want to play a baby shower game with a co-ed crowd, it had better be cool and creative and relevant to them. Otherwise it will be a big flop!

4. Do not structure the shower on a schedule. With a co-ed crowd, you usually want the shower to feel more like a party or a bunch of friends getting together to hang out. Let the crowd mix and mingle until they are ready to eat. As a host, be ready to just go with the flow.

5. And, last but not least, if you are inviting guys…always have beer! They are much more comfortable with a Bud Light in their hand than a sippy cup of fruity punch

I think this is an awesome idea! I think my favorite part is that you can customize it to any shower or nursery theme.

These would make great decorations or gifts for a Baby Shower. You could even give guests the option to make these iron-on onesies while they chit chat.

Supplies:

Step 1: Following the directions on the fusible fabric, adhere the rough side to the back side of the fabric. Do this with several different fabrics beforehand, so guests have options of which to use.

Step 2: Find or create shapes to use for the iron-on. Download the free font animals from Dafont.com and then print out your favorite animal shapes on card stock to trace. Have several shapes ready for guests to choose.

Step 3: Have guests trace the shape on the back of the paper and cut out the shape they choose.

Step 4: Remove the paper from the back of the shape, and place on the onesie where you want it adhered. Press the iron on the shape for several seconds.

Cute custom onesies for the guest of honor

Tip: Try putting stitches around the animals so this will last.

Ok, so this past week I’ve been feeling like I’m in an episode of National Geographic — birdwatching that is.

There is this little bird’s nest outside my bedroom window. Me and the kids have been observing the nest and its eggs. The mother bird sits atop the eggs to keep them warm and when I open the curtains to take a peek, flys away (but stays near).

I’m a suburb/city girl at heart, so it’s all very beautiful to me and brings me a greater appreciation for the Creator.

I was not fast enough to get a pic of mama bird, but here’s a photo I snapped of her nest:

Of course, this nest brought on inspiration and I found an adorable Bird’s Nest Themed Baby Shower by Joanne from Cottage in the Making.

This table was set with blue and white polka dot plates and the napkin rings were made to match the invitation also. The little bird was in the center of each napkin ring holder.

A little nest with blue Jordan almonds were on each place setting. Not only did it go with the bird/nest theme but it also kept the plates from blowing away.

She even found soaps that looked like eggs!

Check out Martha Stewart for inspiration and instructions on how to create some of the things Joanne did.

Bird’s Nest Favors

In these favors, sugar-coated Jordan almonds masquerade as robins’ eggs in a faux nest; parchment paper threaded among them acts as a simple place card.

Not feeling Martha Stewart-y? You can buy this version at wholesale cost: Factory Direct or pay a bit more: Wedding Channel Store.

Nesting Baby-Bluebird Cupcakes

Bird’s Nest Cookies

These are thin chocolate cookies with icing dipped into grated coconut.

Here’s to all my Momma’s and Bird Momma’s To Be! Let’s Celebrate!

Hostess with the Mostess created this sensational cake by using scrapbook paper and receiving blankets.

If you don’t want to spend 100 plus bucks on a commercial diaper cake make your own! My sister tried her hand at these for a co-worker. I think they turned out great for a beginner!

These are also adorable:

Of course, this cake won’t be served to the guests for dessert. But this cake will do double duty as a cute centerpiece and a much needed gift for the new baby. Although storks and bunnies are cute, they won’t be much use after the party is over. However, what new mom couldn’t use a few extra diapers stacked up in the nursery? I don’t think you can EVER have enough diapers for a newborn!

Making a diaper cake isn’t all that difficult. You can make it from scratch easily from supplies you could buy at your local Wal-Mart.

It’s important to have in mind what you want your diaper cake to look like before you start. How many layers do you want it to be? What do you want it to look like?

I adore this diaper cake. It’s modern and it’s simple. JoAnna of LotusHaus decided to make her own modern diaper cake. She used two kinds of satin ribbon to go with the look of the table linens and silk flowers for decoration. For the cake stand she used two white ceramic serving platters with the bottom platter overturned.

There are various ways to create a diaper cake. And there are tons of instructions online to create them.

Ingredients needed:

- 50-80 cloth or disposable diapers (number of diapers depends on how many tiers you want)

- A bag of rubber bands (various sizes)

- 16” Disposable cardboard platter. (found in party stores)

- At least 8 feet of 1’ wide ribbon ( need more if cake is more than 3 tiers)

- Clear adhesive tape

- Decorating items ( pacifiers, bibs, toys , socks, etc.)

- Decorative cake topper (stuffed animal or bottle filled with candy)

Baking your Cake:

- Roll diapers with tabs tucked in

- Wrap rubber bands around each diaper roll.

- Use rubber bands to create a bundle with the diapers (may need inner & outer bundle for larger tiers)

- Use ribbon or receiving blanket around the cake to cover rubber bands

- Use the clear adhesive tape to attach the tiers to the platter

- Now use the decorations you bought to tuck around the cake

Using the step by step “How to make a diaper cake” tutorial video, really guides you through the process of making a professional looking diaper cake. It shows you crystal clear steps on building each tier of the cake and gives many decorating ideas. This video will allow you to have more time to decorate and personalize your diaper cake.

Photos courtesy: Diaper Cakes by Becca and Wikihow.