Baby Shower

I recently helped my uncle plan his wife’s baby shower. I was in charge of the cake, invitations, and the decorations. I had several ideas and craft projects in mind for the shower and was delighted that he gave me all the creative freedom. I had to pull off all the projects on a very tight budget. Originally, the budget was $100.00, which had to be bumped up to $140.00. I know that it sounds impossible and it nearly was but lucky for me I had many of the materials already on hand.

The baby shower was a small event and it was co-ed. My uncle and his wife are expecting a baby girl, however she did not want an all pink baby shower. I had purchased some thank you cards in a shape of a baby’s bottle. These would be perfect. They have polka dots in yellow, green, pink, and purple. The invitation set the theme for the shower. It would be a baby bottle theme. They invitations are so cute but I had to think of something to cover up the thank you.

To make the invitations I used the Baby Bottle Thank You cards purchased at Wal-Mart. They are blank in the inside. I used a round 1 ¼” circle whole punch and a 2” scalloped circle punch to cut out circles in the matching colors of yellow, green, pink, and purple. I then took the 1 ¼” circle I whole punched and punched it again with a Martha Stewart safety pin punch. I really loved the way they came out. To jazz it up a little bit I added a self-adhesive pearl.

Since the cards are blank I printed the invite information on vellum paper and affixed it to the inside with brads in coordinating colors.

The inside read:
A Baby Girl is On Her Way,

Join us for her Mommy's Special Day!
Date:

Time:

Address:

The centerpieces were also part of the bottle theme. I bought size 1 Pampers Swaddler's the big box with 92 diapers. I used every single last one and if money wasn't tight I would have used two. I just liked how the diaper bottles looked with more diapers to a layer. I also bought washcloths at Wal-Mart. and used those to cover the diaper on top that makes the pacifier and also to make a the the cap for the bottle. There is three layers each with six diapers rolled up and rubber banned together. To cover the rubber bands I used ribbon in coordinating colors that I bought at Michael's. I made five of these in about 30 minutes very easy to make.

The Wreaths:

I used 14 diapers and a floral wreath that I bought at the Dollar Tree :). I fastened them with rubber bands and cover the rubber bands with bows of ribbon. I also attached huge pacifiers and rattles that I had used for my sisters baby shower almost a year ago. I'm so glad I had some of her stuff still to use because it saved on the budget. I used tulle to make a bow on top and also to add something to hang it by. I made two wreaths to hang on two huge trees that framed the outdoor space where the shower took place.

For each guests that arrived we would pin with these beauties. I bought the bottles, clothespins and safety pins from Michael's, the rattles I already had as well as the baby feet and baby hands. I used a glue gun to affix the pin to the back of the feet and hands. I also used a glue gun to attach the bows i made and then to attach the bottles, rattles, and safety pins to the bows. These are my favorite craft items that i made for this shower. They were so cute and everyone loved them.

For the Mommy to be I made this ribbon..Well I actually finished it. My sister was originally the one who was suppose to wear the pin but since i was busy with all the details of her shower I never finished it. I stamped a piece of paper with the mommy silhouette and also a Mommy To Be stamp I had purchased at Michael's at the Dollar Bins. I had purchased the buttons on orientaltrading.com. For the little sister I made a special button as well. I added confetti hands and feet stamped a scalloped piece of paper with a stamp of a bottle and added a sticker that said Sister. I embellished them with some of the items I had purchased at Michael's.

Now for the cake. This cake is my first attempt at carving and by far the biggest cake I have ever done. It took lots of batter, strawberries, lemonade cans (concentrate juice), and whipped cream (stabilized from Smart and Final). I baked about 8 10" cakes and 3 6" cakes. The 6" cakes were for the pacifier and the bottle cap parts. I cut all cakes in half and stacked them on their sides with strawberries and whipped cream for the middle. The cake was DELICIOUS. It has been the best cake I have ever made!!! It was lemon which got its flavor from the concentrate juice I replaced it for some of the water. I finished the cake with polka dots, just like the invitation. I wanted to recreate the invitation and I think I succeed the cake was a hit at the shower.

Another element that was inspired by the invitations was the baby bottle cookies. They are my usual sugar cookies. Iced with white Royal Icing for the bottle part, the cap was in iced in green, and the pacifier in a "ivoryish" color. Once the cookies dried (about 2 hours) I added the polka dots in the same colors as the invitation. I then wrapped them up and added a cute bow. I used these pails I bought at Target. I love Target they always have some great stuff. The cookies were also a hit!

The planning of this shower was a little stressful because of the budget and I only had a couple of weeks for planning, but it was also fun to plan and I am very pleased with how everything came out. I have s couple of baby showers coming up so keep on reading for some new ideas and fun stuff.