Baby Shower: Cute As A Button

My friend Christine is having a baby girl (after having two boys), so a shower dripping in pink was the only option.

I went with "Cute as a Button" as my theme.



Wanna know how to save money and still pull off a super cute party?

Before I begin, I have two things to say:

1) I am not an expert party planner. That title goes to Lindsey. Frankly, I learned all these tricks from going to enough of her parties. I'm just passing it along. Doing my part, you know.

2) STEP AWAY FROM THE PARTY AISLE. Put down the crepe streamers. Don't even *look* at the latex balloons. And if you even so much as glance at the matching plate/cup/napkin sets, I will reach through this computer screen right. now. Don't think I won't turn this car around...

Oh wait...

First, keep in mind what holiday/season it is. Trying to throw a lavender party in the middle of December can prove to be a challenge. Valentine's Day was only 2 weeks before the shower, so I decided on pink/red/white...but NO hearts. I wanted to take advantage of all the pink/red decor in stores (and on clearance on February 15th!), but I didn't want to confuse the shower for a Valentine's Day party.

A banner strung on red grosgrain. (I own a Cricut...if you don't, find a friend who does and borrow it).


Another money saver is to use fresh flowers wherever you can. It adds lots of color, and it's always festive and nicer looking than those weird honeycomb centerpieces you buy at party stores. I always go to Costco for my flowers. You get a ton for cheap.

Scour your house for things you can re-use. I already owned this runner and I have a few boxes of mason jars for stuff like this. Some grosgrain ribbon and a big pink button hot glued on adds some detail.


Don't spend a ton of money on paper napkins. Buy solid napkins in a coordinating color and then stamp them. Michael's sells a bunch of stamps for $1 and it only takes a minute. Ideally, I will one day bite the bullet and just buy a big bunch of white cloth napkins. Keep in mind that the fewer paper products you have, the nicer your party will look AND the cheaper it will be.

Again, mason jars as cups in lieu of matchy paper cups. Pink straws bring in more color.

Remember how I said to scour your house?...notice the red pitcher? Perfect. Also, make it a point to incorporate your party colors into your food and drink. It just adds one more level of detail to your decor. Without succumbing to balloons and streamers.

Invest in plain white serving dishes. White is key. That way, you can use them for any party and any color scheme. And when I say invest, what I actually mean is buy random white pieces whenever you come across them on clearance. I have good luck at Kohl's. The "runner" you see there? Just four rolls of ribbon strung across a white tablecloth and some extra buttons sprinkled along. Speaking of tablecloths...do me a favor and promise yourself to never buy those icky plastic ones please. "Invest" in 3 or 4 white tablecloths. Use them over and over.

Um, I pretty much hate streamers. Unless you can come up with a fun and funky way to use them, don't do it. I usually make Martha Stewart's Tissue Pom Poms, but I feel like I've used those the last few parties I've done and I was tired of it. So, this time I cut a bunch of pink/white/red circles, taped them to thread, and then hung them from the ceiling.


Throw parties as a team if you can. You know all those people who call and ask if they can help? And you know how you always say "oh no, I'm fine!" Knock it off. Accept the help. You get no brownie points in heaven for throwing showers solo.

In this case, Kate and Ruth were in charge of food for the shower. I knew Joy owned these cake stands (because I covet them everytime I go to her house), so I borrowed them.

Feel free to raid your friends' houses too. Well, that is, if your friends have good taste. If they don't, please refrain.

White blank notecards stamped in pink. Set stuff like this out. Again, might as well take advantage of the detail.

I paid Joy to look this happy. That, or she's packing a flask of something...and I don't think it's Sunny D. ;)
I only include this because it makes me laugh. Poor Jill looks like she's a bit afraid of being dropped.

Here is Kate holding Jill...who incidentally looks more like Kate's daughter than mine.

Jeannett!
Did you really go out and buy new dresses for your girls just so that they matched the party????!!!



I plead the fifth.






Thanks to: Kate, Ruth, Dori, Debbi, Joy, Lindsey I., & Laurie for all your help!

Twin Baby Shower #2

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a younger, hipper version of Martha Stewart throw you a baby shower?

Well, I had the privilege of Lindsey and Joy hosting my latest baby shower.

It was....BEAUTIFUL.

Every time I go to a Lindsey-hosted event, I am always amazed and wonder how on earth she can ever outdo herself the next time...and EVERY time I go to another event, it is better than the last. This time was no exception! The decorations were impeccable with so much attention to detail, and the food (organized by Joy) was FANTASTIC. Little chicken salad sandwiches, turkey and basil sandwiches, waldorf salad, fresh fruit, chocolate covered strawberries, and a cake made to look like a nest!

You really have to check out Lindsey's blog for photos. I brought my camera, but never even took it out of my purse!

Thank you ladies for throwing such a fabulous shower!!!

Twin Baby Shower #1

My mom threw me a really fun baby shower on April 4th. I know, it's been a while, but between the news of Henry's surgery, the latest orders from the doctor, and just being plain exhausted, I haven't gotten around to posting. (Sorry Mom!)

The room was decorated so cute with lots of pink and some lime green thrown in. (And not a single streamer! I'm proud of you Mom!)

How fun is this cake?! The top tier was white cake with strawberry and whipped cream filling and the bottom was chocolate with chocolate filling. Yum.

In true Mom fashion, there was MORE THAN ENOUGH food to go around.

The back patio for spill over...

Note to self for next baby shower...try to not sit with your legs WIDE open (this was about the only picture out of 40 of me opening gifts that was even halfway decent!)...and be sure to keep the girls in check (and no, I'm not talking about the babies in this case!). And shhhh...I'll likely be wearing this dress to my next shower, so pretend you've never seen it! :)

There were a lot of people there...probably 40 or so...and I was SO SO SO humbled by everyone's generosity. It seriously took me over an hour to open all of my gifts...every gift bag had like 6 or more outfits in it! Every time I commented on this, I would hear "But we just couldn't help it! It was so FUN to shop for twin girls!!!" Needless to say, I won't have to buy ANY clothes for the girls (talking about the babies now) for the next year...at least!!!

Thank you to everyone who came and who helped pull it all together! I know how much work a shower can be, so I truly appreciate it.

Now, onto my next shower...this Saturday!!! :)

Showering Baby Emma

Joy and I teamed up yesterday and threw a baby shower to honor the adoption of Baby Emma into the Hawkins Family. I love tag teaming an event...it really makes the whole thing so much easier to handle!
New mommy Becky and precious Baby Emma.

Joy (and sweet little Esther) hosted at her beautiful home in Arroyo Grande. Part of me wished I had hosted...because then my house would have HAD to be clean! :)


I was in charge of decorations, and since Emma is 7 months old, I thought I would go with a fun, bright color palette of bright pink, lime green, chocolate brown and a little orange.


Joy made these ADORABLE cakes. And for the record, for as cute as these are, the tasted 10 times better! Seriously may have been one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever had!


What can you do with an empty tin can of corn, some scrapbook paper and ribbon? Make baby shower vases of course!


I don't know what I would do without Martha's Tissue Pom Poms. So easy, so inexpensive, and so dang cute!
Stamped napkins...because details help make all the difference.


Arts and Crafts is a requirement if you come to one of our showers!


Natalie and Kate showing how its done with style.


Lindsey and Cathy following directions like good little guests!

Dori did a little devotional comparing adoption of children with our own adoptions in Christ and then went on to tell Emma's beautiful adoption story. Dori was Emma's foster mommy and has had her since she was five days old...and she was thoughtful enough to take photos of all of Emma's firsts and put them in a baby book for whoever her forever family would be. As you can see by Jen and Lindsey's faces, she had the whole group of us crying.


So many of us in fact, that we had to actually pass around a box of Kleenex!



And no shower would be complete without opening a ton of fantastically pink and ruffled baby girl outfits and the subsequent oohs and aahs of 16 women. Emma will be the cutest baby on the block (not that she isn't already!)!

Congratulations Hawkins Family!
We love you and couldn't possibly be more thrilled for you guys!