5.08.2013

A Baby Shower Extraordinaire!

We are super excited about the baby that is coming into our family this year.  Our daughter is carrying our very first grand-daughter and we could not be happier. In order to let this new family know how much we love them, we threw a shower for Kaitlin while she and Jon are here visiting.

I've been working on this effort along with dear friend Chelsea for several weeks (pretty much exclusively!).  It was a pretty huge undertaking.

My husband was wondering what I was taking so much time doing, but once he saw the end result, he understood.

I'd say it was a success.  Fun was had by all, the food was tasty and beautiful and the new mama was thrilled!


This is all in my back yard, which, while not terrible, is pretty plain.  There is a lot of dirt, but add some twinkle lights and cloth covered tables with flowers and you can really transform a space.


One of the guests asked if the party was professionally done.  I was honored to have been asked such at thing.  The answer was NO!  We put the whole thing together with our own little hands. I came up with a menu, painted chalk boards, my friend Chelsea wrote the captions, created the games and we both planned how to lay it all out.


I had several friends who helped to build the tea sandwiches, put the flowers together in all those bottles and lay the whole spread out.


I used the theme 'garden party' as a jumping off place.  I pulled vintage linens from our collection of family treasures to be the foundation for the tables. The park bench you see below was in desperate need of refinishing, so, one evening, I got out the sand paper and sanded it down. (yes, I did nearly sand my fingerprints off.  Yes, I paid for this effort in pain for DAYS!)  Then, I added Thompson's water seal. Good as new!


We ended up tying the bottle groupings together with twine when the wind would not stop gusting enough to trust that they wouldn't just blow over.


Originally, I had painted all the bottles in varying hues of yellow and green but when all the paint dripped to the bottom of the bottles, twice, I realized I'd have to scrub them out and use them clear.  So, I added food coloring to the water to add a bit of color.



My daugher's mother-in-law, Becky, made the lovely tarts seen below. (They were amazing to eat too!)


Friend Chelsea artfully filled the water decanters with fruit and cucumbers to create delicious infused water that looked amazing and tasted great!


This is friend Chelsea, a treasure indeed!


The mother to be and her entourage!

Our menu included the following:

Tea Sandwiches (Curried Chicken and Cranberry, Ham and Olive Tapenade, Herbed Goat Cheese and Cucumber)
Strawberry, Mandarin Pecan and Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
Mini Quiches (homemade by awesome friend Rebecca!) Bacon Chedder and Florentine
Fresh Fruit platters with Yogurt Poppyseed dressing(homemade by awesome friend Chelsea)
Savory Coctail Meatballs
Mini Fruit Tarts (homemade by awesome friend Becky)
Frozen Eegee Fruit drinks in Strawberry and Pina Colada
Cucumber infused Water
Citrus infused Water
Bottled Vintage sodas
Gingersnaps (homemade by Grandma and quite delish!)

Actually, the only purchased food was the cake, all the rest was made in our kitchens!


Got the beginning of this idea on Pinterest and then added our own touches.  Both cute and functional as the mama now has a selection of onsies in varying sizes for all her baby dressing needs.



A lovely group of friends!


Lemon cream cake, to die for!



I was super excited to be able to buy beautiful flowers enough for the whole event for only $45 at Trader Joes!  Awesome!


Photos of the babies who are now making babies of their own.



I look a little peaked don't I!?  Well, such a party is a LOT of work.  But it was worth every bit!

I wish you might have been there!

6 comments:

  1. That is awesome, and your photos make me miss Tucson! It looks like it wasn't super hot outside that day, lucky for you! I LOVE the clothesline SO much.

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  2. Wow!! It looks AMAZING!!! I am IN LOVE with the decor you and your friend did!! WOW!!!

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  3. Ursula, it looks FABULOUS! Can you host my next baby shower?

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  4. So amazing!!! Love the decor, the clothes line with the onesies is fabulous. Your daughter is very lucky!! Congrats!!!

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  5. Amazing. I wish Pinterest had been around when my mom and I did my wedding and showers. We planned everything and people all wanted to know who planned and decorated. I think these parties are so much m ore fun!

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  6. Chuckling...you and me...so funny. If we lived in the same city we'd be an awesome Party-Planning team for sure. I love your pictures and this party looks amazing. Well done! I am certain those lovely ladies, especially the guest of honour, were hugely blessed by all your effort.

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I really enjoy your feedback, so thanks a bundle for taking the time to leave it.

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