Alright, this is going to be a long post. I'll try to separate it into three chunks for some breather time in between: Baby shower and decorations, another pillow project, and some recipes!
--The Shower--
Two Saturdays past, my sister-in-law Eryn and I threw a baby shower for our other sister-in-law, Rebecca! Unfortunately with moving, planning, cooking, and everyone arriving on time or early - I had a hard time taking good pictures of the shower in action. Here's one after everyone ate the food and I realized I had never taken a photo:
The theme of the shower was pink and yellow diamonds, with a specific calligraphic "M" that showed up here and there.
For example, I monogrammed the white cotton napkins with the "M" for lunch, and I monogrammed burlap pouches to fill with notes and pictures for a "baby's time capsule."
Everyone filled out a card with their name and a quote or verse or some words of wisdom, then took a picture in our "photo booth" that can be put in their pouch - someday when mommy chooses, our little girl will be able to take out her time capsule and see what all her friends and family looked like the year she was born and what words of encouragement they had to offer her! The photo booth was a fun little section on the porch decorated with lanterns:
Also on the porch was a bulletin board of baby pictures from everyone in the family. It was so much fun to look at cousins and aunts, nieces and nephews - all at about a year old. My favorite picture we found was of Collin's grandmother, LaRue. The picture is beautifully classic, one of the painted-in color antiques and the best part is that Rebecca's baby girl will have her middle name from her grandmother. These all seemed like great reasons to frame the picture of LaRue for the baby room!
The other decorations for the shower were all made from tissue paper since I'm a big fan of cheap, disposable decorating. The lanterns were left over from the wedding and a little papier-mâché made them event-specific. The pom-poms are a common favorite from Martha Stewart, and I've given a step-by-step for how to make the fast and fun decorations!
First, you take eight sheets of tissue paper and stack them. Then fold the stack back and forth, like making a fan out of your church program when you were in middle school.
Then, take an 8" length of floral wire, fold it in half, and place the paper stack inside. Twist the wire to secure the paper stack.
Then, cut the edges of the stack to round the edges, fan out the stack on either side of the wire, and start pulling apart the separate sheets of tissue. You might have a hard time finding a good direction to pull the tissue, but I found that it worked best to work in hemispheres: the bottom sheets pulled down, then the top sheets pulled up. Fluff and hang!
--The Gift--
My mother-in-law, Teresa, asked me before the shower to do a little bit of my pillow-sewing magic on a keepsake from Evan's (the daddy) childhood days. He had a favorite nightgown of Teresa's that he claimed as his own blankie. She had just a few inches of the gown left, and asked if I could find a way to turn it into a little boudoir pillow for the baby room.
Since Eryn and I decided on a gorgeous shell pink and white quilt from Serena & Lily as our gift to Rebecca, I thought I'd make the pillow to match. I added the pink piping and quilted the gown to some cotton batting (and muslin backing) with a pink diamond stitch to match the quilt we bought. I used a thick white linen for the reverse. We also bought a sweet crib sheet in pink and mocha Florentine to bring together the pink quilt and the espresso colored crib Rebecca chose.
--The Food--
As far as the menu, we tried to stick to traditional shower fare, but with a little more interest:
-Strawberry Lemonade
-Slushie Punch (donated by dear Aunt Darla)
-Mango Salsa and Tortilla Chips
-Herbie's Cream Cheese Stuffed Croissants
-Chicken Salad Crostini
-Marti's Pimento Cheese and Pita Chips
-Strawberry Oreo Truffles
-Cupcakes by Mari
-Chopped Fruit Salad (Strawberries, Mango, Pineapple, and Raspberries with Honey Lime Glaze)
-Veggies with Ranch
A few of the recipes were big hits, so of course I have to share them with the world! You already have my recipe for Mango Salsa, but here's a few more:
Herbie's Cream Cheese Stuffed Croissants
Herbie's cream cheese is a creation of The Grit in Athens, and is included in their cookbook
Marti's Pimento Cheese
Marti's Pimento cheese is done by Marti's At Midday in Athens, GA. The only thing you ever need to order is Martha's Salad Plate - incredible.)
Oreo Truffles
These are classic holiday desserts, and most everyone has had them before. If you don't know how to make them... now you do!
Whew. Posting all of that was almost as much work as actually throwing the shower! It ended up being a great day, everyone had a good time, and I was more than happy to throw a shower for/with my sisters-in-law. I can't wait for more babies and more showers to plan... well, maybe I can wait a little while, haha.
Ashley Buzzy, you are ahhhhmazing!
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