Shower Sunday: Blackberry Pie & Cocoa

I love baby showers!  They are so fun and the themes are endless.  My sister-in-law is expecting a baby girl and we were so excited to plan her shower.  The inspiration for this shower came in the strangest form - dessert!  Kaysee loves blackberry pie and the colors were perfect for a baby girl shower.

All of the decorations came together perfectly!  We kept the decor simple with lots of small things making a beautiful tablescape.  The home decor of the hostess just so happened to fit perfectly.  Purple napkins, raspberry pink and purple M&Ms, red and purple mugs, fun pink & purple tissue paper puffs and a soft, purple blanket draped over a white tablecloth for a pop of color and texture to the table.

For drinks, we again kept it simple.  For an evening shower (7:00-9:00pm) in November, hot cocoa was the perfect warm beverage.  We had four flavors of cocoa (regular, dark, mint and salted caramel), three flavors of marshmallows, whip cream, sprinkles and crushed candy canes for toppings. Delicious!

Our inspiration was blackberry pie - so obviously, that's what we served for dessert.  Delicious at any temperature, we made the pies earlier in the day to avoid a time crunch.  They were delicious!  Serving only one dessert choice made the menu simple and delicious.

We kept our activities simple, too.  I don't know many moms-to-be who really enjoy the typical shower games.  They can often be awkward for guests, too.  We had three activities - the first two were as close to "shower games" as we got.

This final activity was harder than I anticipated!  We each wrote down wishes for Addison and Kaysee collected them for her memory box.  This activity would only work for moms that want to remember by keeping mementos.  I printed out extras for people who were not at the shower to fill out.

 Finally, we included a "station" for addressing your thank you card.  Even if you say you don't, most guests do like to receive thank you cards from the mom-to-be.  This makes it a little easier for mom.

Overall, it was a great shower!  It was small, but beautiful - fun, but simple.  

We're so excited for Baby Addison to arrive!

It's in the small things!

Shower Sunday: Owl Shower

This gender neutral baby shower came together with oranges and reds to balance out the blues and greens.  The inspiration for the shower theme came from the baby's nursery and bedding. Simple, classy and colorful!  And you can't go wrong with owls!  

The shower was held on a Friday evening and dessert and drinks were the big draw.  You can't go wrong with the classic combination of chocolate and fruit.  Mommy is vegan so all the food was, too!  Look at this gorgeous spread!  The reds and browns really popped!

The centerpiece cupcake tower helped tie the party together.  Guests were asked to paint ceramic owls to be used in decorating the baby's nursery.  The owls came from Oriental Trading Company and were the perfect touch.  It's all about the small things!  I spray painted the owls brown before the shower and outlined the eyes in white and painted the beak orange.  My pre-painting sample was placed atop the centerpiece for a nice, small touch of theme.

I'm not a huge fan of shower games that involve Momma and her belly.  However, I love it when guests have an opportunity to share some parenting wisdom or tips.  With a little twist to that, since Mommy and Daddy are "wise owls" already for baby #2, we asked guests to give advice to baby.  They wrote on small leaves and stuck them to a canvas with a tree painted on it.  After the shower, I modge-podged over the leaves and hung it in the nursery!  So fun, with lots of advice ranging from "Dream Big" to "Brush your teeth" - definitely a repeat for future Baby 2 showers!

The guest book was really a book!  I bought a fun book about owls (It's all about the small things!) and asked the guests to sign the book as a start to Baby's library.  Love this idea!

At the end of the night, we sent guests home with a "It's Been a Hoot!" owl treat box.  The boxes were also purchased from Oriental Trading Company and were decorated using circles, ovals and hearts!  This idea came from Pinterest and was so fun and easy, my three-year-old helped assemble.  They turned out cuter than imagined and we filled them with trail mix.

It's all about the small things!