My sister in law, Brittany, announced her pregnancy to our family over Easter this year and we could not be more excited! She and my brother are about to celebrate their 7 year wedding anniversary and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their baby girl, due in October 2013.

One of my joys in life is planning parties/showers and creating special details and moments for those honored. Along with my sister and Brittany’s mother, we threw together a beautiful day that is one to be remembered. One definite bonus to being due in autumn is that a summer backyard shower is a naturally beautiful setting, and we could not have asked for better weather for the day. Brittany’s mother has a gorgeous backyard garden that presented the perfect setting for a whimsical garden party. When Brittany announced she was having a girl, it threw us into a whirlwind of pink, gold, ribbons and bows. I wanted to incorporate pieces of what she loved, but also play on the sweet and feminine side Brittany possesses and the sweetness a baby girl brings into the world.

I am so proud of how the day came together and I am exited to share with you the details of a special time celebrating the miracle of life in our family.

Brittany’s mom rented tables and white padded chairs for the back yard and bought linens since she knew she would reuse them. She also happened to have enough silverware and vintage style servingware for guests which gave the shower such a chic feel.

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For each centerpiece, I repurposed birdcages I had used from my wedding that I found at Michaels. Brittany’s mom did the floral arrangements with flowers from Trader Joes’, and I found a huge set of old books from thrift stores for less than $2 and also from my mother’s book collection!


I cut squares from burlap and hand stamped them with gold ink polka-dots. Each centerpiece was slightly different which added to the charm of the decor.

I made each napkin ring using unfinished wood rings from amazon and ribbon from Joanns. I alternated using glittery gold ribbon and ivory and gold polka dot ribbon.

One of my favorite activities to provide at showers and birthdays are these Wishes for Baby cards. These ones are from Allison Kizer Designs on Etsy. It is a unique version of guestbook, and a sweet memento for baby to read and look back on one day.

I had bought a few dozen of these quilted mason jars for J’s birthday and reused them for the shower. With daisy cut lids and straws, it made such a sweet addition to the party.

We chose to do a brunch spread and had the shower begin at 11am. We served yummy, healthy breakfast foods. Our menu included egg muffins, fruit salad, yogurt, two flavors of homemade granola, fruit salad and gluten-free coconut berry muffins. The food was a hit and made for delicious and beautiful shower food.

The beautiful mama-to-be!



 I made this gold and pink glitter banner using paper found at a craft store and twine. I cut the circles with a cameo machine, and strung them between two shepherds hooks. My sister in law loved it so much, she took the banner home with her!

The baby shower favors were these muslin bags filled with two teabags and a small tag that said, “A Baby is Brewing.”

Even though I loved every detail of the shower, this next part is probably my favorite addition to the shower because of how fun it was. I was anxiously awaiting a friend or family member to have a baby girl so I could do this. Neither of my sisters are very into typical baby shower games, so it creates a unique challenge to find a way to engage guests without boring them. For this shower, I put together a make-a-headband project.

I collected an array of elastic lace, and other FOE materials for the headbands and made them in an array of sizes from newborn to 2T. I assembled a basket full of felt, tulle, netting, chiffon, sequins, ribbon, feathers, beads and buttons. In addition I printed out inspiration pictures and directions for about 5 different types of headbands/flowers.



This project was a hit; it got almost every engaged and now baby girl has a wonderful collection of headbands!

Details::

Flowers: Trader Joes
Birdcages: Michaels
Muslin bags for favors: Amazon
Napkin rings: Amazon
Wishes for Baby: Allison Kizer designs
Straws: Peak Bloom
Daisy cut mason jar lids: Let’s Party Creations & Fancy That Loved
Headbands supplies: Joanns, Mary’s Supplies, Peak Bloom

Lastly – a picture of the my sister, beautiful mama, and myself (my sister, on the left, is also pregnant with a baby girl!).