Children's Book-Themed Baby Shower

Hey there! I am sooo excited to share with all of you the pictures from a children's book-themed baby shower my sister-in-law Julie amazingly put together for a friend of ours! I mean, this girl went ALL OUT for our friend, Melissa, who just so happens to be a librarian (Seriously...is there really ANY other theme that could have been chosen?). Each table boasted a letter to represent the theme of the table itself (ie-"G" for games). Did I mention that Julie decoupaged each of the letters herself with children's book pages and letters she cut out using her Cricut? Yeah...she's amazing! Please check out the pics below showing off all of the amazing-ocity that was this shower! You won't regret it!

 

"D" is for "Decorating"

Julie purchased a number of bibs, onesies in a variety of sizes, and iron-on transfers that guests could use to decorate items the baby could wear. Each guest put her name on the tag, so that Melissa could know exactly who created each item when she puts them on her precious daughter!

"P" is for "Prizes"

As if this shower wasn't cool enough, the hostess with the mostest had fantastic prizes (Ummm... Lenox plate anyone??? Hellooo!). Not only is this girl an incredible shower planner, she is also a phenomenal bargain shopper!

"A" is for "Advice"

To go along with the children's book-theme, Julie made an advice book for the soon-to-be-parents to look like a Golden Book (you know the ones I'm talking about) for guests to fill out.

Without a doubt, my favorite element of this shower was how incredible these cookie favors looked. Julie found an amazing company online that willingly created these delicious masterpieces based on the book covers of some of Melissa's all-time, favorite books. Best favor I think I've ever received!!!

"M" is for "Monster"

I totally heart this amazing idea for the centerpieces! Each table was themed according to a popular, children's book using the book itself, stuffed animals, and toys to compliment it. I know, right?!?! How cute is this There's A Monster at the End of This Book table?

 

"G" is for "George"

Here is the guest of honor's table, themed around the book Curious George Goes to the Zoo. The frames on each table showcased a quote from each book (as if the decorations weren't amazing enough already...)

 

"V" is for "Velveteen Rabbit"

How sweet are these decorations in honor of everyone's favorite, classic The Velveteen Rabbit? Place cards were also made for each guest indicating their table letter and corresponding book. This girl thought of everything!!!

 

 

 

"C" is for "Cat in the Hat"

How cute is the bath toy fish in the fish bowl? Love!!!

 

 

 

"F" is for "Fancy Nancy"

This table was PERFECT for the little girls sitting at it!

 

"B" is for "Berenstain Bears"

Love the jewelry boxes used for boxes of toys!

 

 

"L" is for "Llama Llama"

How cute is this set up? I couldn't even tell you where she found all the props for her centerpieces, but the lucky mama now has them to keep when her little sweetheart is old enough to put them to great use!

 

If you've ever been to Oakmont Bakery in Pittsburgh, you know that they make incredible cakes, but this one literally takes the cake (see what I did there?)! They decorated four different flavors of sheet cakes to look like a stack of Melissa's favorite children's books. I am particularly fond of the fondant, Very Hungry Caterpillar!

 

 

"P" is for "Photo Booth"

Melissa is a huge fan of cut outs and somehow manages to find them everywhere she goes, so when Julie asked me to make a few based on popular children's book characters, I happily complied! Using foam core board and acrylic paint, guests could transform themselves into Corduroy, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Winnie the Pooh, and Curious George...at least for a few, great pictures. Check out more pics of guests enjoying the photo booth fun HERE!

Showered with Love (and Creativity)

I am including some pictures from one of my fantastic baby showers, hosted by my mom, @Jane Beaver, sister, @Kyra Tanner, sister-in-law, @Tiffany Beaver, and best friend, @ Tammie Gloss! These ladies put so much time and creativity into planning a fabulously handmade shower, and I could not have been more appreciative and honored. Claire and I are VERY lucky girls!!!



A view of the adorable shower tables, based on my nursery theme of birds and trees, fashioned by my awesomely creative mom, @Jane Beaver and sister, @Kyra Tanner



Favors were bags of delicious popcorn and labeled "Ready to Pop" Adorbs!!!



A view of the delicious popcorn-kettle corn drizzled with white (in this case, pink) and milk chocolate. Mmmm!!!



How cool is this? A cupcake tree made by the fabulous @Tiffany Beaver



Owl cookies made by my amazing BBFF (that would be "Baker Best Friend Forever") @Tammie Gloss



Tam also fashioned this AWESOME Elmo fruit tray (Elmo is my absolute favorite character from childhood and, let's be honest, adulthood, too)!



One of the shower games encouraged guests to cut apart pictures of my husband, Jason and myself and glue together what our child might look like using our "best features". Yikes! Let's hope life does not imitate art, because the "child" on the right is definitely rocking a MULLET!



More views of Baby Eyer...poor kid!



Another shower activity encouraged each guest to write a message on a puzzle piece, which eventually formed a large bird to be proudly displayed in baby's nursery. @Tiffany Beaver cut out the bird outline and each of the puzzle pieces using pink foam core and an Exacto knife! How amazing is she?!?!

Beautiful pram cover made by my Grandma Dalby, the original crafter of our family!

Very Hungry Caterpillar (one of my favorite children's books)-themed knitted hat and peapod, created by my fabulous aunt, @Patricia Beaver. Is this not the coolest thing you've ever seen?!?!?! Man, I love creative people!

Another amazing example of creativity! My cousin, @ Kristin Pastva created these awesome baby leggings by sewing together two, adult socks! If this baby is not the most fashion-forward chick in all of Pittsburgh, I'm not sure who is! Did I mention creative people are the best?!?!

  



Sweet Treats Baby Shower Theme

A fantastic example of balloon lollipops, courtesy of  holymamablog

An example of balloon candy courtesy of ohdeedoh.com

Here are some instructions for “candy” or “sweet treat” themed parties. My sister-in-law’s baby shower was themed “Sugar and Spice” in honor of her upcoming baby girl, so this idea worked out perfectly.

Balloon Lollipop Instructions

Materials:           

-balloon

-Saran Wrap or shrink wrap

-curling ribbon

-paper towel tube

-scissors

-tape

 Instructions:

1. Blow up medium-sized balloon.

2. Tape the bottom of the balloon to the opening of the paper towel tube to secure

3. Place a sheet of Saran Wrap over the entire balloon, leaving additional wrap at the bottom of the balloon

4. Using curling ribbon, tie it around the bottom of the balloon, securing the Saran wrap. Curl the access ribbon using your scissors. Curling ribbon can also be used to wrap around the paper towel tube to make it more decorative.

Our decor for my sister-in-law's shower ("candies" are on tables and "lollipops" are on the wall)



Balloon Penny Candy Instructions

Materials:

-balloon

-Saran wrap

-curling ribbon

-scissors

Instructions:

1. Blow up balloon

2. Placing the balloon in the center of a long piece of Saran wrap, roll the wrap around the balloon, covering the balloon entirely with Saran wrap and leaving excess on each side of the balloon.

3. Twist the access Saran wrap on each side of the balloon and tie curling ribbon around the sides. Curl access ribbon using scissors

sheekshindigs.blogspot.com gives an adorable play on balloon lollipops



Elephant Themed Baby Shower

Baby boy bowtie onesie

My sister, Kyra, is expecting her first child, a little boy, in September, which means many things…tons of diapers, loads and loads of laundry, late night feedings, and eventually race cars, mud pies, and high speed chases around the house. But before all of that, it means another reason to throw a themed party to celebrate her BABY SHOWER!!!  Kyra chose elephants as her nursery theme, so we incorporated them into the shower, along with the colors blue and lime green.  We started with the basics…lime green and baby blue table cloths, blue plates and cups, lime green silverware and napkins, and baby blue and lime green  balloons and streamers.  I also cut elephant shapes out of craft foam, added a googly eye and foam polka-dots to each elephant and used them on the walls of the shower room. In addition, we purchased six blow-up elephants (found in the Target “One Spot” I might add) for added décor and whimsy.

Tables set up and ready to go!

Makeshift clothesline featuring handmade and store-bought clothing, as well as adorable blowup elephants!

More table decor...Notice the elephant confetti on the table courtesy of Martha Stewart's elephant stamp and punch

Food table

Since my mother was recently gifted with multiple boxes of empty baby food jars, we decided we wanted to incorporate them in some way into the favors or centerpieces.  As a result, we decided to use them for cupcakes in a jar to duel as favors for guests to eat at the party or take home to enjoy later AND to arrange them in a way that they could also function as table centerpieces.  We filled each jar about 1/3 full of “Whoopie pie” batter (recipe included) and placed them into cupcake pans so that they didn’t fall over in the oven. After baking them at degrees for minutes, we let them cool and eventually place in the fridge overnight, since we wanted to wait until the last possible moment to add icing and sprinkles. The following day, we added icing to fill each cupcake jar, leaving about ½” of space for sprinkles and to twist on the cap. We had previously cut out fabric circles using pinking shears to put on the tops of our jars and tie with ribbon in coordinating colors and add a tag thanking guests for attending and a spoon. I then found four-packs of green, plastic plates, blue plastic plates, green, plastic cups, and blue, plastic cups and glued the bottom edge of each cup onto the bottom of the corresponding colored plate, creating a simple, cake stand to place the cupcakes on.

Decorated cupcake in a jar

Cupcakes on their homemade cake stand

Another glance

Games included a baby pool where guests indicated what they thought the baby’s name, age, weight, and date of birth would be, and a baby-themed guessing game, where tables of guests played in teams to answer questions related to having and raising a baby (for example, “How many diapers does an average mommy change in two years?” The answer, by the way, is an astounding 7,200!!!).  Since my sister is not revealing the name of her little man, we also decided to give each guest seven Scrabble tiles(2 vowels, 5 consonants), markers, and construction paper. The idea was to come up with a name for baby using as many of the letters as possible and write down the final name on the piece of construction paper. Kyra would then chose her two favorite names from the options provided and give their creators prizes.

Team #1 ready to win!

The final activity we had guests participate in at the shower was to take a piece of cardstock with a letter placed on it (one page for each letter of the alphabet). The guests were directed to decorate the page with words and pictures of objects beginning with that letter so that, when the activity ended, the pages would be compiled to make baby’s first alphabet book.

Decorating Baby Boy's alphabet book pages

Here are a few more pics from the shower just for funsies!!!

Punch with rubber whales for added cuteness

My BFF Tammie made these adorable elephant cookies

The mommy-to-be holding the elephant pillow I made for my future nephew

Holding the beautiful and super-soft car seat cover my grandmother knitted for her future great grandson