DIY Baby Shower

My sweet friend and neighbor was pregnant with her first baby, so two of her dear friends and I decided to throw a bash to celebrate her and the soon-to-be baby!

Scrabble pieces added to a spring

wreath announce the theme of the party

We put touches of 'baby' all around the areas that guests 

would mingle

 Baby blocks spell out the theme.  Frames filled with baby pictures of the

mom and dad-to-be made this party perfectly personalized.

  It's sweet to imagine what baby might look like

editor's note: I am a blog fail...the baby is way born and SHE IS WAY CUTE.

Vintage baby clothes that once hung above my daughter's bed,

were strung on twine and clipped with small clothespins.

 My sweet Logi wanted to add to the festivities

 Paper pinwheels and flowers.  Very simple,

DIY, decorations for this celebration.

Here's how I made the pinwheels:

I had a lot of scrapbook paper sitting around.

I do not imagine I could scrapbook to save my life, 

but I do love the color options and use the paper often.

When I started thinking about decorations for this party, I 

decided I could probably use the same technique 

I use to make puff pastry pinwheels, out of craft paper.   

 I only had single sided paper paper on hand.

I would imagine (but don't quote me) that

one can purchase these squares of paper

with patterns on both sides.

Since I was working with paper on hand,

I used a glue stick to glue the backs of 

2 pieces of decorative paper together.

I mixed and matched the papers looking

for funky contrast.  

After the glue fully set I cut from the 4 corners

of the paper square leaving about the size of

a half dollar coin in the middle.  The square

turned into 4 triangles of paper, attached at the center. 

I put a dot of hot glue in the center and quickly

folded the right side of each triangle to the center.

How cute are they!! So fun and funky and

OH SO EASY!!!  To cover up the gluey mess

I used random buttons, and an additional dot

of hot glue to secure the button.

 

How adorable would these be hanging in

a nursery?

 I used a paper punch in one corner of one of the

protruding triangles, then used fish line to hang

them above the dining table and outside on the

porch to help welcome guests to the celebration.

 DIY floral arrangements.  Use what is seasonal, and

just pop them in jars or buckets you have on hand.

Spray roses in spring neutrals and button mums were my go-to 

favorite all spring, so it was a no brainer for this party.  I placed

them in a vintage milk bottle crate.

 The mom-to-be opening presents.  Her sweet

mom (and a couple of aunties were able to fly in

for the celebration)

 

Mom-to-be with her mama.

 I bought this felt banner in the $3 bin at Target.  It was just the felt 

letters on ribbon, so I dolled it up and with little rounds of burlap and fabric 

(a few layers, held together with a decorative brad).  

I then glued the circles on the store bought banner.

 We of course threw it down with the delcious

spread of food.  I will blog that at a later date...

goal: before baby turns 1

 xo

the very hungry caterpillar CUPCAKES!

My sweet Benny turned 1 (yes, over a month ago...I so do not have my act together!)

I let my sweet 4 year old, Logan, decide what we would make for his big celebration.

She instantly said she wanted to make him 'the caterpillar who eats pie and sausage...'

It was on.  

 I started by baking off vanilla cupcakes.  Make the caterpillar

as big as you want (you could gather a ton of mini cupcakes for the

body and use a standard cupcake for the head).  I used

standard cupcakes for the body and a large cupcake for the head.  

No rules.

Next whip up the frosting. 
It is super easy and SUPER tasty!

Then get out your food color.  

ROY G BIV.  I loved teaching Logan about primary and secondary

colors, while we mixed the color gel into the frosting.  

Doesn't this need to be on the Weather Channel.  Hurricane Frosting!

Frosting, ready to go.  You can do this days in

advance, if that is helpful.

Use a knife and randomly spread the green

frosting across the body of cupcakes.

We have all read the book and he is whimsy, so

keep it that way with your frosting.

Red face.

I pulled a little yellow and blue frosting in, around the edges,

to mimic the look of the caterpillar (this step is not necessary, but

I think it gives it an authentic look)

While I was trying to figure out what to use

for the antenna, my husband walked by eating

sour worms (this is not a joke) and they were

PERFECT!  I snagged two.  I smeared the 

yellow on for eyes.

I popped a bit of green in the microwave for

5 seconds, it was easier to apply to the yellow of

the eyes, when it was heated a bit.

 

Unfortunatley, we didn't have any pie or sausage to decorate

the cupcake with.  We made do with some fruit we had on hand.

 I made Benny a cupcake, just so he wouldn't be covered in coloring.

He looooved it!

Benny, 10 months

 

Benny turned 10 months, and also popped his first two bottom teeth, all in the same week.  Very big milestones in a wee ones life.  A friend of a friend is a wonderful photographer and she popped over for literally 5 minutes to snap a few photos to document this big step, and I am so happy with how much of him she captured in the few snaps.

 

What a little blessing Benny is.  We are thankful every single day that he is ours!

Photo Credit: Tara Rehrig, Clara B. Photography