Baby Shower

My family & I headed back up to NJ last weekend to meet the newest member of our family...my nephew!  My kids were soooo excited to meet their new baby cousin.  So..with baby M (now that he has a first name we can call him baby M...he used to be baby P for their last name) on my mind I thought I'd share the pictures from the baby shower we had  for my sister back in November.  We held the shower at my aunt's home.  She has an awesome great room to accommodate everyone for the party.  I found lots of ideas on this amazing blog.  Maybe you can find some inspiration for the next party you are hosting.

***Warning***  There are lots & lots of pictures.  You know a picture is worth a thousand words!

I'll start with the desserts & candy bar which were set up in the dining room because you walk through that room to get to the great room.  I bought the lanterns at Party City.  I had grand ideas of making my own tissue paper pom-poms but ran out of time because I like to procrastinate like that.  But these were awesome & more "boy-ish" anyway than pom-poms would have been...don't ya think?  I made the garland out of scrapbook paper & ribbon.

I had a couple of the glass jars and purchased the rest from Home Goods & TJ Maxx. 

I made a sign for the candy bar out of scrapbook paper & printed a label using Microsoft word on my computer...nothing fancy...as I don't have any fancy label makers...yet ;)

I also made labels and attached them to plain white bags for guests to take their treats home in.  Got the idea for those labels here.  I decided to go with the colors from the invitation & mix in some classic toys rather than going with a "theme" shower.  And I was thrilled to find a shower with the same invitation as I had used.  I had already found the coordinating scrapbook paper at Michaels, so I used many of the ideas I found on this blog..

Those cute labels were used on each of the jars to identify what was in them.  Just in case you didn't realize those were M&M's...lol!

I made my own cupcakes.  They may not look perfect but they are my sister's favorite flavor! 

I asked that guests send me a baby picture of themselves prior to the shower to participate in this game.  It was fun trying to figure out who matched which baby picture.  I got that fabulous huge bulletin board in Home Goods.  You'll probably see it in a future post in my daughters room. 

I wanted to incorporate a plane as that is the theme of her nursery.  I had the most difficult time finding a plane then came across this little guy in the dollar section at Target.  So, I bought 2 of them.

We kept the drinks simple a few flavors of soda, water & I made white sangria...which was delicious!

The food table was set up over the pool table.  My cousin made bruschetta....yummy!!!

More yummy food pictures...loved the tomato & fresh mozzarella  kabobs.  My aunt made harvest chicken salad on croissants that was delish!!

Can't ignore the cute decor.  I made labels for all the food.  Those Dr. Seuss books were a gift from my kids to their new baby cousin.  They each wrote a note on the inside cover of the book they gave Baby P.

More adorable decorations.  I ordered the blocks from Amazon.  I got them as a gift for my oldest child & all 3 kids played with them.  They are great...mine are still in perfect condition.  Hope Baby P enjoys them just as much!  The sock monkey & little wagon are also from Amazon.

I found this awesome idea for a mad lib style advice card here.  Guests filled out the cards at the shower then I slipped them into a small scrapbook for my sister & her husband. 

Another great idea I found here.  A welcome sign for the front door.  I printed out the letters using microsoft word on my pc then bought some thin fabric and traced the letters onto the fabric.  I used thin sharpies to color in the letters to coordinate with the colors of the shower theme.  Hung it on a dowel I bought at Micheals with some ribbon. 

I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of my family.  Thanks girls!!

I had a great time planning this shower!  I hope you can find some inspiration for your next party.  There are tons of ideas out there!  A few of the guests actually asked me if I could plan a party for them.  Too bad they live 9 hours away from me.  But that got me thinking about how much I love planning, coordinating and executing these ideas...hmmmm could this be a new hobby or dare I say career path?!  I'll have to show you some of the things we did for my sister's bridal shower & wedding and let you decide. ;)