Baby Shower

Last Wednesday I finally got to throw the baby shower I had been planning for weeks. One of the attorneys that I work for is having a boy in April, so I offered to throw her shower. I was very excited about it, because every since I started visiting many of the homemade craft/party planning blogs on the net, I've wanted to throw my own. Unfortunately, at the time I started all of this, my daughter's 4th party was only a couple weeks away, so there was no way I could possibly do all the things I would want to do in that short amount of time. So I looked forward my next possible opportunity, and that was the baby shower.

Since it was a work baby shower (meaning we did it over the lunch hour with other attorneys and staff), it was quite a typical baby shower, but I wanted to make it special.

Since she is having a boy, the color theme was, of course, blue. I started off creating party circles for the cupcakes, inspired by TomKat Studios. That also inspired the "It's a Boy!" banner that I created to match. The cupcakes themselves were vanilla with an almond buttercream frosting, and very, very yummy!

For her nursery, she used a few Amy Butler fabrics to make the bedding and some of the room decor, and luckily I was able to find Amy Butler scrapbook paper at Michaels that matched. I took the paper that matched the patterns she used for her bumper pad and decorated the cupcake stand, alternating the paper. The frosting actually matched the cupcakes very well, too.

Along with the cupcakes, I also made baby bottle candy pops. For the first few batches, I tried to use blue candy melts for the bottle rims and then do the rest in white, but it didn't work out so well. Towards the end, after discovering that candy making may be a little harder than I thought, I added brown chocolate pops and raspberry flavored pops in solid colors. That was easier. I displayed them by sticking them in styrofoam inside blue containers that I got on clearance at Michaels, that kind of look like cupcake liners. I then covered up the visible sytrofoam with light blue and gray M&M's.

The party decorations weren't my only project. Part of my gift to her was a frame to match her room decor. I purchased a wood frame from Michaels, and used one of the Amy Butler patterns to cover it. I used Modge Podge for the first time, and sealed it with stuff I got at Hobby Lobby. After it was finished, I finished it off with a few faux rhinestones to give it a bit of bling. I was very excited about how it turned, and she was very appreciative of the gift!

So now I turn my attention to the most important party -- my baby boy's first birthday!! The party is now just three weeks away and I have a lot to do. We're going with a car theme, so I'm busy trying to collect ideas and items for decorating and party favors. One of my big ideas is to make car soaps as party favors. I purchased a very cute soap mold online and purchased some soap making supplies, but since I've never tried to makes soaps before, I probably need to get moving on it!!

I'll keep posting updates on the birthday party, and if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear it!