Picnic Themed Baby Shower

Another party in my PARTIES PAST series:

SEPTEMBER 2011: CATHY'S BABY SHOWER

This is a shower for my sister Cathy, who was pregnant with her first baby - a girl! We went with a literal shower/picnic theme to complement Cathy's gray, pink, & turquoise nursery.

I made white and blue tissue paper "clouds" (tutorial here) and hung an umbrella above the food table, and set out a pink gingham table cloth for our picnic munchies.

Check out our yummy picnic spread!

We had deviled eggs, mini sandwiches, cookies, cheese & crackers, veggies, and a fruit salad.
Drinks were a pink punch and water bottles.

For the plates, cups, and napkins, I used picnic baskets lined with turquoise gingham fabric.

It turned out really cute! Thanks to Stephanie, I didn't have to climb up onto my parents' dining room table in all my 8-month-belly glory to hang up the decorations.

Here is the entrance table.

It has advice cards for the mom-to-be, a rainboot full of pens,

and a picnic basket to add your completed card.

I also set up a craft table for the guests to make something for Cathy. I used the same hair clip materials (tutorial here) that I had used earlier this summer for Pia's shower, and also set up a onesie-making station (I got the idea from a 2009 post by Oh Happy Day, that has since been removed, but tutorials are everywhere now!) Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the completed projects, but they turned out really cute.

Pink & Gold Baby Shower

I got to host a baby shower for my sister-in-law Paige. She and my brother-in-law are having their first baby next month - Baby Jane!

We decided on a gold, pink, & chalkboard themed shower.

Here's the invitation. I found a free "chalkboard background" online, and then looked up about a dozen different invitations to look for ideas on the style I wanted. I also downloaded a couple new free fonts to my computer to get the chalk look.

On to the shower!

Sign directing you in as you approached the house

Welcome sign at the front door!

These 2 signs start to give you a hint of the shower colors - the bunting banner on the first sign will be displayed more inside, and you'll see more of the chalkboard signs and light pink inside too.

First Impressions

We transformed the front room (which is traditionally a large living room/dining room combo) into our main food area. It housed our long food table, 3 round tables, and most of the shower decor.

This shot shows you a sneak peek of the gold chalkboard sign on the back wall. It's a baby countdown. (idea here and here)

Some centerpiece close-ups.

And here is a view from the other side of the room.

The food!

We had a mid-afternoon shower, so filling lunch food was in order.

We had mini roll sandwiches, a green salad from Sassy's Cafe filled with chicken, berries, and a yummy dressing, tortilla pinwheels (here) spinach dip in a bread bowl, and gourmet cheeses with crackers & pears for the main food.

For desserts, we had mini cupcakes, rice krispies treats, brownies, and an assortment of pink & gold candy.

Drinks were cucumber water and strawberry lemonade. Yum!

You can kind of see in some of the shots the other details on the food table. I used mini chalkboard signs that I painted pink & gold to label the food, and held the forks and paper straws in gold buckets.

In the family room, we had a gift table and extra seating so everyone could watch Paige open her presents. I also set up a stats board, where guests could guess the baby's birthday, birth weight, and height.

I am not personally a fan of baby/bridal shower games, but I know that we need SOMETHING to do at a shower, so I'm always on the hunt for crafts that guests can do. Making onesies and baby bows are always fun, but I've done those in parties past, so I was looking for something new.

Then I came across the idea to build an alphabet book (here). So cute! Everyone who wanted to contributed to a page, and I am going to scan them into a photo book. I will have another post soon with more details.

Super cute super fun shower! Everything turned out great, the food was delicious, and the guests had a fun time. Triple win! Here are a couple more pictures for you!

More decor shots. We made a tissue paper tassel garland (tutorial here) to hang in front of the food table and along a buffet in the family room, as well as a circle garland to act as a backdrop to the food.

I hope you enjoyed this baby shower tour. Let me see your fun parties!