Baby Shower...

It seems the *party du jour* to be hosting, the guest of honor, or otherwise a part of in the blogoshpere is the BABY SHOWER I, too, was part of this seeming phenomenon.

Saturday, February 5, 2011 I hosted a baby shower for my older brother & his girlfriend's bun in the oven: my soon-to-be-born brand-new nephew, Benjamin Richard. It was the mommy's wish that her family and mine work together to host this shindig and I was all for it! What a way to meet new people. Unfortunately, through no fault of anyone's, family's, mom's or baby's, the timing wasn't the best. With Christmas 3 months before the due date, it was difficult to pick a date within the "preferred" time-frame to have a shower (month 7 of pregnancy) while still bearing in mind that families have lots of stuff going on in December and expenses unrelated to baby showers during that time. I know my schedule was FULL in December. Hence the shower date of 2/5. 6 weeks after Christmas and 6 weeks before baby's scheduled arrival. First contact was made between families in September and luckily we were able to plan a lot before the holidays came, so it wasn't a huge hit on my pocket-book all at once.

Here are the details of the shower. Hosted by both Grandmas, and all four Aunts.

The invitations from Tinyprints.com

The final inspiration board. The colors were pale blue, lime/kiwi

green with accents of orange and gray.

The favors from beau-coup.com

The back-up favors. We had some issues with

UPS delivering the favors on time

(with expedited shipping no less)

so I had to throw something together last minute.

Game Prizes, also from beau-coup.com

the Benjamin banner...if you look really closely, you can make out his name.

The cake made by my mother-in-law (for free!) Love her!

Trying to tie in the invitations, the clothesline decorations.

All the outfits were gifts to mommy and baby from Auntie Jenny

"Guess Who?" A game we played. The object was to guess who was who!
Mom, Dad, Ben, or big sister!
(Mom's 16 year old daughter from a previous relationship)
Seemed tricky enough, the mom's mom got one wrong! :)


My DIY diaper cakes (tutorial found here)

The floral centerpieces. I don't know about you,

ut I LOVE me some fresh flowers at parties.

I think it livens and freshnens the whole place up!
Courtesy of Denise at FloralDecor in Palmyra

"Bet the Baby Stats"
Each guest guesses what Baby Ben's

birth date, weight, & height will be.

Entry fee was $1.00 per guess,

the prize is a 50% of the "pot." The rest goes to Ben's savings fund.

Activity of the day: Burp cloth & onesie decorating.

Using fabric markers or paints, each guest was able to decorate a onesie or a burp cloth

with various designs and words, creating a one of a kind wardrobe for baby Ben!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to participate...I still have mine to do :(

Gift table set up



Beverage station: iced tea, grape punch, water, hot beverages

The food was the only part of the shower, I didn't have to do!. Thankfully, the mommy-to-be's sisters were able to help out here and with the paper products. We had Beef Barbeque, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, lunch meat tray, and a veggie & fruit tray. I didn't get any good pics of the food, and very little of the shower in progress. I'm still learning to play photographer! :)

I had a ton of fun planning the shower, and hope that the mommy-to-be had a good time, and enjoyed the fruits of my labor, so that her labor might be all she need worry about when it's time for baby to arrive!

Baby Ben was due to arrive in mid-March, but he seems to want to come early. We're now looking at 1-3 weeks away for Mr. Benjamin's arrival!!! I can't wait to meet my new nephew and see the family name pass on. Have you hosted any parties lately? Share you tips and tricks. Happy Planning!