Wind In the Willows Themed Baby Shower

I wasn't the hostess this time, but I did provide some simple flowers and decor for my friend Shaun's Wind in the Willows baby shower.  She's expecting her first baby this summer, and I can't wait to meet little Abigail!   

So, I'm one of those weirdos who has no idea what Wind in the Willows is about.  After a quick google image search, I found out it stars a toad and a badger and other woodland creatures.  And there's a canoe in it. So I decorated accordingly with little woodland touches and lots of wildflowers.

I'd been eyeing this froggy vase for awhile, and this party was the perfect excuse to buy it.

How gorgeous is that pink beronia?  Like hundreds of tiny fuchsia lanterns.

I found some cute garden statuary to use as decorative accents.  I fell in love with them, but sadly, they didn't survive my latest decluttering session and were all sold at my garage sale.  Honestly, what was I to do with all those mushrooms and hedgehogs?  (I did keep the frog.)

I made a cute paper canoe garland using an origami tutorial that I just can't seem to track down right now.   Sorry!  I'll add it here if I find it.  The little oars are made of bamboo skewers, too.  

My friend Aime created a cute onesie stamping station.  How genius is that toilet paper roll heart stamp?  

I added to the project by making some foam shape stamps.  I happened to have a bag of mini corks in my stash, so I glued on some pre-cut foam flowers.  I even cut out my own shapes (stars, water drops, triangles, etc.) out of a sheet of foam and the stamps turned out great!  It's my favorite way to decorate fabric now.  I'll post a more detailed DIY on that later.

A sweet and simple shower for a beautiful mommy. Congrats, Shaun!!!

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Berry Themed Baby Shower

My friend Aime's favorite kids' book is Jamberry, a delightful story about a bear and a boy who go on a berry-picking adventure.  I wanted to throw her a pretty, feminine shower in honor of the little girl who is due this Summer.  (See the Hawaii themed shower I hosted for her boy, Hitoshi!) 

Aime's half-Japanese, and while we don't look like twins, I definitely think we could be siblings.

 This felt ball wreath welcomed guests into my home.

The flowers were punchy berry blues, pinks, purples and reds.  Lots of sweet william, veronica, sweet peas, chamomile, and of course, hypericum berries.

The following pics were snapped by our Church friend Pat.  She served as our historian and captured some sweet moments! Thanks Pat!

I whipped up this berry fascinator so our mommy-to-be would fit in with our theme :)

The invites were gorgeous (and so reasonably priced) by Pixel Paper on etsy.  She was super fast and accomodating.

Super low-key food spread: salads, build-your-own-sandwiches, etc.  My friend Kathi helped a lot with the food (Thanks Kathi!!)

Paisley linens (plastic, can you believe it?) with simple flowers and strawberry painted rocks.

Build-a-bow station!  I just put out ribbon-covered barettes, tacky glue and random baubles, felt flowers, and buttons from my collection.  I've learned that the more simple the project, the more likely guests will actually participate.  

Dessert station!  I definitely put my Silhouette Cameo to work cutting all the banners and signage. I definitely think it's paid for itself by now.

Paleo strawberry short cake!

Dairy free fondue was a big hit, made with coconut milk and chocolate.

Aime:  I am so grateful for the friendship that has blossomed over the past few years.  You are a woman who I look up to in so many ways (even though you're quite a bit younger than I am :) ) I feel like you are always full of kind words, optimism, and grace.  Can't wait to welcome baby Sophia!!!

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Berry Crafty!

I hosted a Jamberry themed baby shower for my good friend Aime yesterday.  What a sweet time!  I'll share pictures soon, but here is a sneak peek at some of the decor.

This first project was something I pinned on my Fun DIY Projects board (check me out on Pinterest!)  Supposedly people use these painted rocks to deter birds from eating their real strawberries.  I just thought they were cute.  

Sisi insisted on painting her own rocks!

Then I put my Silhouette Cameo to work and cut little strawberry blossoms.  I used some spray painted thumb tacks as the centers and hot glued them to twigs.  I also added some adorable felt blueberries.  I figured the more non-perishable decor I could make ahead of time, the less stressed I'd be on the day of the shower.  All these projects were super cheap, too.

And of course, no ex-florist is gonna leave out fresh flowers.  I chose country flowers in bright berry shades.  

Decorating for parties (especially for wonderful, appreciative friends!) is super fulfilling, and so much less stressful than decorating for weddings.  

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Sisi the Sushi

The day before Halloween, I saw this adorable onesie on etsy, and got sad that it was too late to order it.  We are a sushi loving family, for sure!  Then I decided to give it a whirl myself.  A perfect last minute baby costume!

Simply fabric glue and/or stitch the felt shrimp and fake grass garnish onto a onesie, wrap some black velvet trim around the belly for seaweed, and use neon green and peach felt for the ginger and wasabi.  I also made a ginger/wasabi barette, and stuck chopsticks through her hair.  After the fact, I realized I should have also decorated a Chinese takeout box for her to put her candy in! Someone else can steal that genius idea :)

Surprisingly, Sisi was delighted to wear this getup.  She kept smiling in the mirror and saying "Fishy!!"  She even kept those chopsticks in most of the evening (although I nearly poked my eyeball out carrying her in my arms.)

Joe and I threw our costumes together literally minutes before we had to walk out the door.  I put on a striped dress, made a prisoner badge ("g-dg-d2shus" = goody goody two shoes) and whipped up this crazy jailbird hat (which I secretly want to wear again some way, some how.)   I guess I'm supposed to be a glamorous prisoner? 

 Joe borrowed my wig, jacket and scarf and went as an 80's glam rock drummer.  

Trick-or-treating was a confusing experience for Sisi. A mechanical skeleton pirate with blazing eyes sent her sobbing and quivering in my arms.  She didn't like when people answered the door in scary costumes.  But after shaking off the trauma, she was excited to walk up to the doors, carefully choose one candy and put it into her bag (even though we couldn't bear to let her eat any of it). Sad thing was there were only a handful of other trick-or-treaters out.  Guess everyone was at the mall!

I told her if she gave me all her candy, she could have a piece of chocolate covered banana. She took me up on that.  My  friends were laughing at how easy the trade was.  (Next year she might put up a little more resistance once she actually knows what candy is.)

Joe and I felt sooooooo grown-up taking our child trick-or-treating.  Parenthood is still surreal.  How have us goons been entrusted with raising a toddler? 

Already looking forward to next Halloween!!! How was your's?

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Puppy Themed First Birthday Party!

 Excited to post pics from Siena's first bday party!  I accomplished my goal of keeping it mellow and cheap.  I used the heck out of my Silhouette Cameo, too.  Honestly, I have a lot to learn about hosting a kids' party.  I naively set up the lunch tables in the blazing hot sun, almost ran out of sandwiches, and bought about 10x too much dessert.  But I think I'm being hard on myself- people had a good time!

The wall o' onesies.

I might do this every year.  She wears those shirts all the time!

 Doggy bags :)

 Here's where things got tricky.  Goody bags were the highlight of my childhood, especially when they were filled with candy!  But I just couldn't abandon my paleo-ness.  I had to make them somewhat healthy, which I'm sure was SUCH a bummer for the kids.  I did include chocolate covered raisons (aka "kibble") which was a stretch for me.   Next time, I might forego goody bags and just do one cool gift for each kid, like a book.

fruit leather "rawhide", chocolate raison "kibble", stickers, ball, and popcorn.


 I didn't really know what kinds of activities were appropriate for a 1 year old's party.  I just scattered some beach balls around, sidewalk chalk, and a craft table (which everyone ate at b/c it was in the shade. duh!)

 

I wanted there to be plenty of food offerings for the paleos and non-paleos.  And I wanted it to be somewhat healthy (once again, probably a bummer for the kids... :(

 

 

 

 

 We mostly had Boston Terrier heads all over the place, as they went with the color scheme better.  But I made sure Cavaliers made an appearance, too. 

Joe put together a sweet slideshow of pics and vids spanning Sisi's first year.  Everytime I walked by the TV I got teary eyed.

A fire hydrant on the bathroom door :)

I love you, sweet girl!

As I was cleaning up after, I told Joe, "Next year, no party!  Too much work!"  Then two days later, I was planning out next year's party theme. Definitely a labor of love.

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