I’ve been pretty MIA lately, especially in regard to this blog I started. Finding time to sleep has even been an issue for me. But, here I am back and possibly better? I’ll let you be the judge.
I have always been into planning parties and love helping friends and family with the whole process from invitations to food and desserts to decorating and favors. My brother got married last September and I was lucky to be Maid of Honor for my Sister-in-law to be. I was so excited – I had never experienced being a MOH and I couldn’t wait to plan her Bridal Shower. I won’t bore you with all the details that went into planning this beautiful event; however, I will show off all the photos… and tell you that I had at least three breakdowns before the guests arrived because it was raining and my balloons were blowing away. Minor breakdowns… okay there were tears involved, but the sun came out for the party and that’s all that matters!
Recently, I helped a friend plan a baby shower for her soon-to-be baby girl. Once the news broke that it was a girl, the planning began and I got right to pinning. (I don’t know what I would do without my trusty Pinterest boards). I sat with her mother and sister and the ideas started flowing. The obvious theme of pink, white and gold was chosen. From there we had created a shopping list and some ideas of what we wanted at the party. I picked up on the creative end of things and started buying supplies immediately. I hit my go-to stores: Michael’s, Hobby Lobby & Home Goods. However, some of my favorite finds came from Amazon. I have an Amazon Prime membership so that totally helped, but all you have to do is type in what you’re looking for and BAM – lists and lists of options. I might have gone overboard on the ordering. Definitely went overboard on the ordering. My mailman and UPS guy definitely think I have a problem.
After meeting with the Mommy-to-be’s Mom and sister again, we set a date, location, guestlist and chose what decorations we wanted. We knew a candy bar was going to be encorporated and I was happy to organize that. Home Goods for the glass vases and dishes, Amazon for the candy, Amazing Savings for the two ferris wheel cupcake holders, I made the cupcakes myself (delicious & cut the cost of ordering and purchasing them) & the same goes for the chocolate covered pretzels. Homemade is the way to go. The two tutu stands, one with cupcakes – the other with Ferraro Roche chocolates, were something I also made. Two pink porcelain cake stands from Home Goods with strips of tulle cut and tied onto a string, then hot glued around the edge of the cake stand. And wam bam insta-tutu’s. Those tutu’s and the ferris wheel cupcake holders were my absolute favorite part of the candy bar.
As for other things at the party – we did the centerpieces, a diaper raffle, favors, table arrangements and other small details. For the centerpieces, we painted large mason jars light pink and hot glued a wide gold lace ribbon around the center. The flowers were from a wonderful local florist, who was nice enough to add a couple extra roses into the jars at no additional cost. Always, always use your local businesses! A diaper raffle is such an awesome idea at a baby shower. A small card was included in each invitation letting everyone know that if they would like to participate in a raffle prize giveaway to please bring a package of diapers of any size. This helps the new parents out so much and I’m sure they won’t have to buy diapers for a while. The favors were also a fave of mine from this party. Miniature bottles of Barefoot White Zinfandel wine (which is pink) with a small, circular “Thank You” card tied on with a beautiful gold ribbon. So simple, yet so pretty and it really made the table arrangements look complete. I had also made a “Welcome Baby Girl” sign from paper, sticker letters and twine. This decoration is a staple of mine. It’s always a great way to complete a display area or create a spot at the party for people to take photos. Here are some highlights from this beautiful baby shower.
I have so much fun planning and creating things for parties – I can’t wait for my next opportunity!
The Brown Eyed Guide 