Over the weekend, my sister-in-law Laura and I gave a baby shower for our sister-in-law Jill. We were going for festive and fun. There were also some elephants involved, but all in all, not too themey.
We made the invitations with some papers my mom had on hand, but she only had a small amount of each pattern. If I had thought ahead a little, we could have used the same papers in the invites and then at the party, but I didn’t. Either way, I think they turned out colorful and fun. And everything didn’t end up being so matchy matchy, which is a good thing.
The elephants were made with a Martha Stewart Crafts paper punch. I love how their little ears pop out.
I like decorations that can be reused or repurposed, and nothing says “baby” like tiny onesies, so we hung a clothesline full of onesies and sleepers. I collected these up over a few months shopping the clearance racks. I paid less than $10 for all of them. Little boys’ clothes seem to be more plentiful than girls’ clothes on the clearance racks for some reason.
For the big table, I laid out a colorful bamboo runner (actually, it was just three placemats set end to end) and made these stand-up cards from pretty paper, spelling out “hello baby.” Originally I wanted to do a banner of some sort, but thought this was a good alternative.
For the extra tables, I did something a little simpler: just some flowers and a paper elephant cutout for each. Aren’t those lillies beautiful? Trader Joe’s, $5! Seriously, they have the best (and cheapest!) flowers. We split a large bouquet between two vases, but they still look so full.
I’m a fan of edible favors; everyone generally has enough “stuff.” I saw this idea to make larger versions of iced animal cookies, and thought it would be super cute and fun. We changed from pink and white to blue and white, but I think the idea still carries over.
We ended up using an elephant and a hippo (you may not be able to tell that’s a hippo, but it is. And he’s got a cute smile.)
I had never made cut out cookies before, so Laura did all of the cutting. We decorated with blue and white royal icing and rainbow sprinkles. I love these cookies so much!
The cake was decorated by Laura’s husband, Mike. He’s kind of the official family cake decorator. Laura always orders a plain frosted cake from a local bakery and then Mike comes up with a design.
This is not my house, by the way. Laura was nice enough to host at her lovely home.
Overall, I think the shower was a success. Now we just have to wait to meet baby!
You did a fantastic job Erin! You really have such a knack for design. And I’m glad you mentioned that wasn’t your house. I kept thinking maybe it was but wasn’t sure.
Thanks, Jodi! Laura’s house is of the same vintage as ours, but the layout is somewhat different.