this cute little shower idea is to die for! i love how adorbs it is. such fun little details and delectable sweet treats to serve your guests.
i love how the theme plays off of stereotypical ideas of when a women is pregnant. pretty decor, fun theme, and very cute ideas! a pretty in pink party that would be entertaining for all your guests.
[showers ahead! beautiful table spread]
i love the hanging parasols. such a whimsical touch to any event space. the gorgeous centerpiece is filled with my favorite flowers…garden roses and peonies. so beautiful and romantic. each setting has lovely light pink napkins, pink hobnob glasses, and champagne for each guest.
[craving station]
how cool is this?! wine, ice cream, hot sauce, chocolate, pickles, fruit, sushi, and pasta. an odd mix that sounds so right…to a preggo lady! i remember the days when i was pregnant, if i wanted something to eat, i wanted it now. or i would eat the weirdest combos. for example, i would eat ice cream and then spicy doritos. yup. one after another.
or fruit was my biggest craving. i needed fruit everything. whether it was fruit juice, fruity gummy bears, fresh fruit, popsicles, whatevs. it always hit the spot! so, whether it’s what is pictured above that you display or whether you want to personalize it to the momma to be and her cravings…create a table spread that’s unique to her!
[pickles and ice cream]
[what are you craving for today?]
[champagne for your guests…served in a lovely hobnob pink glass]
[juice box for the mom to be]
[strawberry and champagne cupcakes]
[chocolate bars]
decadent cupcakes and bittersweet chocolates make for great endings.
this shower is so darling…i love all the feminine details and how cute the theme is! it’s a perfect idea for any momma to be. add in some savory entrees and voila, you have yourself a perfect baby shower.
the next one on my mind is an animal themed baby shower. you can go so many ways with this one! my girlfriend, jodi, had an animal themed shower the prior year. it was so cute, the favors were beautifully packaged animal crackers and fun little animal sign holders. the invites, the table signs, and the games were all cutely tied together.
the shower below inspired me with my gender reveal party from this past summer! the colors scheme and the little animal topped jars started my imagination and ended up with this final result here! it was a great party…look how a colorful baby shower inspiration led into a marvelous gender reveal fête!
here are some fabulous ideas for an animal themed bebe shower:
i am a big fan of backdrops, any type of fun decor you want to whip up will always be a do! i love the streamer style background for this dessert table. the strung wooden animals add a perfect fun element to the decor. you can find some similar one here.
for the desserts, you can’t go wrong with cupcakes! this shower has fruit tartlets, vanilla cupcakes, and strawberry shortcakes on a stick. yum!
[beautiful floral arrangements…i love roses, especially garden roses!]
i like the wooden drink stirrers, a very festive touch. how fun! depending on the season, pink lemonade is a perfect, fresh drink for a baby shower. otherwise, choosing a seasonal drink is easy…there are so many fun recipes out there. like for an autumn shower, an apple cider, cranberry, and ginger punch would be delicious!
i love how romantic the ribbon streamers look, a pretty walkway entrance for your guests. if the party is outside, you can use a tree limb to complete the look or over a doorway, if indoors.
of course, flowers always complete a party. i love soft, warm colors. my favorite flowers? garden roses, ranunculus, peonies, and anemones!
i love the little animal wooden cutout straws. so easy to do! you can find similar straws here.
i love the soft, pretty pastel colors of this party and how whimsical and romantic the decor is! such great ideas to use at the next baby shower you throw or any fete to be had!
i love throwing parties and i love hosting people {we need more space!}. it’s so fun for me!
i’m always thinking of creative ideas for future fêtes. ya never know when you will need to whip up some fun decor!
what has got me thinking of baby showers lately, is the fact that i will be attending several showers in the next few months {whoa}! i’m so excited for my friends, who are having babies, and i love going to a good party!
here are some of my favorite themed showers i have seen of late. watch out! some great inspirations headed your way {aaaaannd, it’s not just for baby showers, these ideas are great for any party!}…it will fill your head with awesome creative ideas!
i absolutely love the onesie clothes string! what a colorful, fun idea. a very creative touch. you can buy inexpensive onesie and have each guest personalize it by decorating each one making it unique and a perfect gift for the mom to be!
the table spread is just darling with the colored glass {i love colored glass…hobnail, milk glass, green, pink…}, you can visit vintage shops, ebay, or etsy to collect fun glassware. or to add to the eclectic look, have your friends, who are helping out with the shower, bring their own collections!
how cool is the book garland?! it’s made out of old children’s books. just cut up the pages and cover each ‘mini’ book with colored construction paper and hang it up with clothes string/twine/fishing wire and clothes pins. pepper in little paper poms and voila! a themed decor to elevate the ambiance.
what a yummy table spread! since most showers are mainly during lunch time, make it light bites. whether you are a cook or you will get it catered, make sure you have something sweet and savory. i love a hearty salad, a meat dish, a fresh side of pasta, and some good ‘ol carbs to top it off! depending on where you place the food table, you can easily create an inexpensive backdrop to the table. rummage through your stash and find color coordinating streamers or purchase some at a dollar store, to create a whimsical background. of course, flowers always, always add a perfect finishing touch to any table spread!
get creative with favors by sticking close to the theme of the party or representing the mom to be by giving away something that is so ‘her’! i love these onesie sugar cookies as favors, perfectly tied into the baby shower decor.
the lower right hand corner photo is the invite to the party. how lucky was this lady to have a friend hand draw the invites {like myself, who had a dear friend, darling olivia, create our wedding invites…you can see it here}. if you do have an artistic friend to recreate classic children’s book characters or just print them out, it will make for a unique invitation. bind the pictures accordion style {washi tape would be a perfect accent} with the right wording and font, you will have such a cute invite everyone will rave about [and something special the mom to be can save}!
[beautiful!]
what a wonderful party, non? i have a few more favorites i will sporadically share soon!
i love well illustrated children’s books. i love classic stories. i love simple, modern, vintage, and clean books.
i’m excited to build a library of fun and educational books for little o. here are some of my favourite books that baby olive already has on her bookshelf!
finally, i made valentine’s day treats for my darling nephews!
first, i made s’more packages for them. i created labels on craft paper that said, ‘everyday i love you s’more’. i had purchased hershey’s bars, peeps pink marshmallows hearts, and organic graham crackers for the fun contents inside.
i filled each bag with lip and heart sprinkles {fun element}, placed the ingredients inside, and sealed the bags with the labels. i then placed felt hearts on each label as final touches to the festive packages! ta-da…valentine’s day s’more treats. a yummy, festive, edible gift anyone would love!
[lovely tasty ingredients]
[voila! final product ♥]
[awww, everyday i love you s’more too!]
next treat? a box full of goodies! i purchased these precious boxes from the dollar section at target {love that area!}, found a few fun toys to fill the present up with, and stuffed the bottom of the box with soft pink tissue paper to add to the festive packaging. i love all the bright colors and fun patterns.
i filled the colored patterned glassine bags full of conversation hearts and wrapped each bag with twine to seal it shut. each box contained a fuzzy pom alien, a squeeze toy, tattoos {they are nutty about tattoos!}, silly putty, candies {nut free, of course}, and their bag of s’mores!
[aerial view!]
i had so much fun making these little gifts for the boys. it’s always a joy for me to have time to create and get crafty!
i’ll add a few more surprise trinkets and voila! valentine’s day gifts for r + b! yay!
i hope you are scheming up some great ideas for valentine’s day. i have a dozen more creative things i want to do! there’s never enough time in the day or week! whether it’s a yummy dinner recipe, a crafty gift, or a sweet treat surprise! happy day to creativity!
olive and i had an afternoon delight filled with yummy eats and a little shopping.
we met up with jodi and jett at southport grocery. i love going there!
we were a bit worried about the space inside, because it’s quite a small shop/eatery; but everything worked out though! we were able to squeeze ourselves in and enjoy our time there. i love spending time with jodi and jett. he is sooo stinkin’ adorable. like i’ve said before…i love his noggin’! his big head and big chubby cheeks are so cute!
jod and i caught up and enjoyed our time together. we got up to date with the latest news and oohed and ahh’d over our babies.
olive was quite, quite cute on our ride over to wrigleyville. she was wide awake on our way out and the whole car ride there. she was never like that before! she was so intrigued by her environment, just bug eyed and looking around. it was so cute. i couldn’t get enough of her adorable face all curious looking and gazing at everything. she was awake all the way to the restaurant, once we got inside and seated, that is when she started to drift. about 10 minutes into us being seated, she zonked out. too cute.
[jett looking cute and getting creative on the table paper. already an artist!]
[selfie fun]
[sleepy olive. what a little peanut.]
[excited to eat!]
[baked oatmeal and bacon! it was sooooo good. what a {somewhat} healthy, sweet treat to start the day with!]
after brunch, we strolled over to anthropologie to shop around. i had to get a few gifts and just absolutely love that store! they have the cutest, most whimsical house ware items. my most favorite, favorite candle is called volcano…i’ve been buying it for years. i loved it when they offered it the mercury container, so pretty and very festive for the holidays too!
i also fell in love with this matte lipstick! such a pretty color…it’s called geranium from albeit. a bright, poppy, coral pink. it’s goes on smoothly and lasts a really long time! it totally brightens up the face!
{albeit matte crayon}
jod was shopping with me but i felt so bad dragging her ’round and ’round in circles trying to figure out what to buy! we finally hugged and parted ways and i kept circling the store! i finally decided on a few items…a couple of gifts for others and a couple things for myself 😉
it was quite an enjoyable afternoon, being able to relax with friends and my little one!
yay!! another rainbow! i just wanted to share with everyone the pretty rainbow i saw the other week! i, unfortunately, could not capture the whole beauty of it. it was actually a full, complete, end to earth’s end rainbow! by then i was moving and i couldn’t photograph the pretty prism. i was so happy! it was so cool to see. i rarely see rainbows but i haven’t seen a full scale rainbow in ages. isn’t it fantastic how rainbows can just make you smile from ear to ear? lovely.
this past saturday, we participated in service day at st. clement!
it was an all day event that turned out amazing!
we started out by heading out to st. clement, by 10:30 am. team captains were required to get there early so we could greet all our volunteers. we walked inside and found our sign and assigned pew. we waited, patiently, for all our teammates to arrive. one by one, we greeted everyone. it was great to chat and get to know one another before we started our prayer service.
fr. ken started our short prayer service and reinforced our thoughts for the day. how important it is to pray, serve, and give, st. clement’s mission statement.
after that, we headed on our way over to bishop conway residency. we piled ourselves into two cars, jaimie {who so graciously volunteered} was our second driver. the traffic down fullerton was obnoxious {as to be expected!}.
what felt like forever later, we finally arrived at our destination. we walked in and jaimie, kelly, and jen were already waiting for us. we received a cute little wooden box {painted and decorated} as a gift from the residences, which was so nice!
we headed downstairs and i found aixa, the head cook, and introduced myself to her. we needed to eat lunch, so she showed us a room we could sit down in and eat. after, lunch we headed back into the kitchen to start working! aixa had us clean up. we cleared plates, glasses, food. some of us did the dishes, a few swept and mopped. the boys took out garbage. we set the tables for dinner. we prepped food for later. after all the clean up and prep, we then played games with any of the residences in the game room.
there was uno, dominos, and rummy going on! kelly and i joined a group playing rummy. we watched, we learned, we asked a lot of questions. our group was so funny. especially robert and linda. oh, did they love to bicker! linda felt robert made up his own rules and robert was always eagle eyeing everyone to make sure they weren’t cheating! bernadette seemed to be sleeping the whole time {although she wasn’t and was funny and kind}. charlie was a serious player with a knack of not enunciating any of his words and rosita, who i sat next to as well, was so stinkin’ sweet! she constantly smiled at me and always included me in everything.
after several rounds, robert asked if i wanted to play. i was still confused because it seemed like they made rules up as they went! but i was biddable, so i agreed and here i went with my first game of rummy! it was great, rosita helped me out a lot. time really flew by and before we knew it, we had to leave and head back to st. clement for the 5 pm mass. it was sad to go, we had so much fun!
we then went upstairs and had our time for reflection. i led the prayer and provoked our thoughts. how did we feel? how did we see the lord’s goodness in today’s events? i quivered a bit while reading, it got a little emotional for me! as we left, the officer in the front handed out little handmade thank you cards from the residences! it was so cute!
our trip back was quicker and we got there with plenty of parking left {smallest parking lot for a really big parish!}. we all sat together for mass and the group volunteered me to walk in the procession! ha, no one wanted to, so of course, they said, ‘you’re the team captain, you do it!”. so i went to the vestibule, grabbed our sign {each sign had the location of the place we volunteered at} and waited for the procession into the church to start. all the little kids, who participated in service day, went first {they planted their ‘fans’ into the pots around the alter} and i led the group of sign holders into the procession.
after the wonderful mass, that was led by fr. manny, we heading into the school for dinner {beer, wine, pop, pizza, pasta, bread, salad, + dessert}! it was so great to mingle, see everyone, and really revel in the day’s activities.
[cinco de mayo decor]
[sweeping and mopping! kelly..rich..tammy..jen]
[allison + jaimie doing the dishes]
[allison, eric, + jen playing dominos]
[bridget + jaimie playing uno with perl // she was sassy!]
[kelly watching the rummy game // linda is to the left and bernadette to her right]
[rummy]
[handmade thank you cards from the residences]
[dinner at the school]
[rich + i are dead center, three rows down from the top!]
it was such a wonderful day. it was so fulfilling, fun, happy, joyous, and a very humbling time. the biggest service day to date, 400+ participated this year!
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1thessalonians 5:18
what a wonderful start to may! warm weather, sunshine, and a day off! woooo! i love all the flowers blooming and the warm sunshine on my skin. so fantastic.
it's time for dining al fresco.
it's time to get in some cubs games.
it's time for some long walks.
it's time for open windows and breezy winds
to flow through the home.
i love, love, love not having a million layers on!
anyhoo, happy may y’all! i hope it’s a good month for all my lovies!
