A Baby Shower for 3 Lovely Ladies

This past Saturday, my friends and I threw a baby shower for three of our other friends (Julie, Ally and Becky) who are all expecting. It was great fun planning and a good time was had by all.


We started off by sending out invitations by Kathleen at Twig and Thistle. I calligraphed them as well. Since Ally and Becky are having boys and Julie was waiting to find out the sex, we went with a blue and green theme. It's a pretty palate and doesn't scream baby. In fact, I tried to keep everything as neutral as possible... I'm not a huge fan of overly theme-y baby decorations.

These Martha Stewart tissue pom poms (kits are available at Michael's) are the best decorations. They're cheap and easy to make and they add a lot of punch. I made the bunting out of Amy Butler scrapbook paper and bias tape. The great thing about keeping things "theme-free" is that you can re-use the bunting and pom poms for another special occasion.

*Stay tuned this week for a tutorial on how to make bunting.*

We ended up doing a group gift to each of the new mamas and a wishing well. I found these adorable baskets at Michaels and we filled them up with gifts. I also made a Maternity Hospital Bag Check List made from a post by The Stamford Wife. I thought she had some great pointers that just had to be passed along.

Click HERE to download your own copy!

My friend, Meredith, made these cute stuffed elephants! Aren't they adorable?! What's even more amazing is that she just learned to sew this past summer. She's got a natural gift!

We made lots of yummy food and had a signature "mocktail"... cranberry juice and seltzer. And take a look at those roses. I have a secret... instead of going to a florist, contact your local wholesale flower distributer. I lucked out; I contacted a wonderful florist from the Ithaca Farmer's market and she ordered the beautiful roses for me from the wholesaler. It was a great deal- $58 for 50, yes, 50 roses. I would have paid at least $150 if I had gone through a florist.

(Please disregard my ugly rental kitchen floor)

So basically the roses arrived all wrapped up in a large bucket. I unwrapped them and let them sit for a few days so the blooms could open. The day before the shower I stripped off all the leaves and thorns and arranged them. Simply start by placing three of the largest blooms in one hand, and keep adding flowers one by one while rotating the arrangement so you get an even circle. The key is to arrange them exactly as you want in the vase in your hand (this means some of the center flowers will be taller than the ones on the end so it creates a subtle dome effect.) Then trim off the stems to the height you want them in the vase.

And speaking of vases. Why spend a ton of money on the vases, when it's all about the flowers? Go to your local Salvation Army and pick some basic, simple containers for pennies. Seriously, I think I spent $2.50 on these three vases. They cleaned up beautifully and are a perfect vessels to showcase the stunning flowers.

Finally, each guest took home a customized box of marble magnets. I designed them with the owl motif from the invitation in the blue and green colors. Each box was tied with embroidery thread.

The magnets were made from the same Amy Butler paper as the bunting and I even snuck in an owl so that guests will look at it and remember the day.

*Stay tuned this week for a tutorial on how to make marble magnets.*

Congrats Ally, Becky and Julie! You're going to be wonderful moms and we can't wait to meet the 'lil ones!