Monday, February 11, 2013

Baby Shower: Welcome to the World


So, some of you have been asking to see pictures of the baby shower I recently threw. 
This post is for you! :) 

I am all about being resourceful. My hubby, Nick, might say it's a "hoarding issue" but I call it, " saving-it-for-later- because-you-never-know-when-you're-going-to-need-it." Okay.. so I know I have a problem keeping and holding onto things for crafting. BUT... guess what, Nick? I didn't have to purchase ONE decoration item because I am a craft/decoration hold-on-to-er. :) 
You are welcome. 

I have made wonderful friends here in Philadelphia. The girls in our ward are super good about getting together often and socializing. 

I threw this shower for a sweet girl named Amber. She and her husband moved here the same time as me and Nick to attend medical school. I was MORE than happy to throw her a shower. She really is so sweet. I also wanted it to be special for her. It's her first baby and I know how important and special a lovely shower would be for a first-time mom... especially with no family close by.
 I hope she felt at home! I was so grateful ALL the girls in the ward came. See? We really have a great support group here in Philly. We had a good time. 

The theme was "Welcome to the World." It's also valentines season, so I decorated accordingly. Amber is naming her little girl, "Molly", so naturally I had to put a big M somewhere. The food table was a great place for it. { My little girl's name is Madeline... so we have a few M's lying around}.  


The picture in the middle of the window is actually the front of the invitation I sent out. My sister, Ashley, water colored it. Seriously, so talented. I am going to give it to Amber for her to keep. 
Those round balls above the window actually hangs in Madeline's room over her changing table. The window is also in her room ( you can find these at old antique shops) and I just cut out hearts out of an old Atlas Nick was going to throw away. I definitely used that entire atlas for this shower. 



I decided to sew little flags out of atlas paper. I just drew a flag template and then traced it. I had this cute pink garland and decided to hang it over the flag banner. It added a nice pop of color. 
( Seriously, I highly recommend sewing banners and garland... it's super easy, fast, and I think it looks so cute.)




I asked a few girls in the ward to help with food. I am SO grateful for everyone's help! 
Amber is gluten-free... so I had a lot of fun learning about gluten-free foods preparing for the shower. 
Seriously, you guys, the food was so yummy! I'll post links at the bottom of this post of a few of the recipes I found for the shower. Everything you see on this table is gluten-free. SOO yummy. 


Here's one of the big things I've been saving. 
I was making a wreath about a year ago using coffee filters and paint... I didn't end up using all of them. I ALMOST threw them away, but decided to keep them just in case. 
Boy, am I glad I did! This added so much to the food table!
( I just used coffee filters, dipped them in different colors of pink paint I mixed together.) 
Easy peezy. AND inexpensive. 



Here's a closer look at the darling invitation Ashley watercolored. 
I love watercolor.








Of course I had to have globes. 
I added some ribbon to make it more girly & festive. 
The books underneath added a nice touch too!


These were DE-LISH. MMM. 
( left to right: energy bite no-bakes, peanut butter & sugar cookies, & almond joy bites) 
all gluten-free!


Ok, so I just made this cake topper out of atlas paper, made some little letters, and used skewers. I also tied some ribbon on the sides of course. The cake was actually made by another girl in the ward who is also gluten-free. She completely MADE UP the cake recipe... and let me tell you... it tasted like heaven. It was a delicious, dense, chocolate cake. Gluten free of course. Her secret: 2 whole clementines... peel and all. SOO yummy. I told her she needed to go on Master Chef, for real. 




I got these cute straws from a party store on-line and made little flags out of atlas paper and glitter paper. Super easy and added a nice little touch.


I also filled my jars with candy for some extra treats.


The mantle. 
M is for Molly. 
I made the little banner using pictures of Amber and her husband when they were babies. 







I made envelopes out of atlas paper for the invitations.


We played a few games and had the girls fill out a nice little card for Amber to keep. 
I'm going to compile them in a little book for her. I love sentimental things like this and thought she would too!





I got online and found different languages of how to say "baby" and made a little quiz for the girls to attempt. I think they had fun with it! :) Allyson got 11 right out of 13! You go girl! Becky & Anika came in a close second. I had a few prizes for them, of course.

I got symphony bars and dolled them up as prizes. 
These chocolate bar prizes were for the winners of the quiz.


We also played a left-right game. I read a story about "mr. and mrs. Wright" and their labor & hospital story. I made 2 little bags out of extra fabric I had and put some nail polish, nail file, and nail polish remover inside. ( Total spent: $4.50 for each bag.) I said the words "left" and "right" lots during the story. The girls sat in a circle and passed the bags "left or right." Charise and Annie were the winners for this one. Super fun!


I also had video taped Amber's husband a few weeks prior and made a little movie. 
I asked him a few questions and he answered. 
Amber had to take wild guesses at what she thought her hubby would say. 
It was fun to watch and really sweet. 

Here are the questions I asked him: 

1. what is a baby sling used for
2. what are 3 good first foods for your baby to try?
3. How many diapers will your newborn go through each day?
4. which grandparent will spoil the baby the most?
5. Which memory from growing up do you wish to recreate with your child?
6. Are you or Amber going to be the parent who most likely says "no"
7. on a scale from 1-10 how prepared are you for baby's arrival?
8. What is Amber's favorite pregnancy food craving?
9. In the beginning, how many times a night will your baby be up?
10. Which baby item that you purchased will most likely be the most helpful?
11. Do you think the baby will be born with a head full of hair, no hair, or inbetween?
12. Babies recognize mom's voice at birth, how long do they recongnize dad's voice? ( 2 weeks)
13. According to the nursery rhyme, little girls are made of what?
14. What are the first words that came out of your mouth when you found out amber was pregnant?
15. What are you looking forward to most about being a dad?



We ended with Amber opening her gifts. 
I couldn't help myself but to wrap her present in Atlas paper. 
It only went perfectly with the theme. :) 


 Gluten Free Recipes:

Seriously, the food was SOO yummy. I can't get over it. ( a BIG shout out to Ali B for some of the food ideas! Thanks Ali!}

No-bake Energy Bites

Broccoli, Grape, and Pasta Salad  ( to make it gluten-free, use gluten-free noodles.)

Coconut Joy Bites

Peanut Butter & Sugar Cookies:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
mix together, bake at 200 for 12 minutes, then add a hershey's kiss on top.

No comments:

Post a Comment