Baby Shower Week: Center Pieces - Ducky Style

Okay so this one didn't make the Circle and Dots theme but I still thought it was super cute.  Plus super easy and cost effective so I wanted to share and inspire.

I call this my Rubber Ducky Centerpiece

What you need:

Wide Mouth Vases or you could use Mason Jars

Mini Rubber Duckies (can be found on Amazon.com or OrientalTrading.com)

Blue Food Coloring

Faux Snow (I picked this up at Walmart after Christmas Clearance - a large bag for .62) its basically white plastic bags shredded into tiny pieces.  You could easily do this yourself  with a few backsides of Walmart bags.

I added the plastic 'snow' to the vase about half way up. 

Then mixed the food coloring with water in a pour-able mixing bowl.  

Poured the water into the snow filled vase and added a duck

Super simple, very cost effective and cute!!  With all the Ducky Shower ideas on Pinterest you could easily work up a shower centered around ducky's!!

Baby Shower Week: Cupcakes

The great debate.. Cake or Cupcakes?  

We decided to go the budget method and went with cupcakes instead of investing in a super cute modern cake. At first I had planned to make and decorate the cupcakes myself, I estimated it would cost me about $10 to make the cake and frosting from scratch (sorry not a fan of boxed mixes).

I ended up buying cupcakes from Sam's Club (36 cupcakes for about $13.00).  Then I found valentines Day sixlets in pink, white, red.  I bought 2 bags for 2.00 at Dollar General.  Then I separated the pink from the other colors.  I found edible glitter at Hobby Lobby in green so I could incorporate the pink and green into the cupcakes.  (Note: you can buy all different color sixlets at Hobby Lobby for about 6.99 a bag).  

We also used green and white cupcake liners as sleeves for our cupcakes.  It worked really well hiding the baking liner and giving us more polka dot decor.

Instead of placing the cupcakes with the rest of the food we incorporated them into the decor.  Our centerpieces consisted of 

-a piece of scrapbook paper (.36 each a Hobby Lobby).  

-a vase (or sundae cup) filled with crushed tissue paper (1.00 per package at Dollar General - we used 2 packs for 8 tables).

-polka dot ribbon pinned with straight pins to the vase

-fun flower plates (1.99 each at Hobby Lobby)

~M~

Baby Shower Week: Decor

Baby Shower Week: DECOR

What better way to decorate for a circle themed shower 
than with  
Circle Garland!!

This turned out super cute. I wish I had pics of all the circles before they were sewn together.  I'm honestly not sure how many circles were used...  My co-hostess did all the cutting out of the circles.  She used a circle cutter for the smaller circles and for the larger ones traced a hula hoop on poster board.  The smaller ones are all scrapbook paper or cardstock.

Once the circles came my way I used my sewing machine on a 8 stitch per inch setting and ran them through on a straight line with a little space between each circles.  This part was SUPER easy and QUICK.  I think I spent about an hour sewing circles.

We had circles everywhere. You can see them on the wall and the larger garland was hung from the ceiling by using bobby pins with the extra thread tied to the bobby pin.  Since the room we use had a suspended ceiling the bobby pin was stuck into the grid lines on the ceiling.  They all held tight through the entire shower. We had to use a ladder to take them down because tugging on them didn't work!

We used Dollar Tree fabric table clothes on the tables.  The chair covers are actually polyester fabric from Wal-mart at 1.50 a yard tucked and pinned with straight pins into the fabric chairs (these are the link together chairs many churches use in place of pews these days).  She tied a green tulle sash on the back and the transformation was AMAZING!

This was our Mom-to-Be table.  The marker board reads - 'Reserved for Future Breast feeders of America'.

Now how do you have a Joint shower and decide where to put each girls gifts??? We used one table and split it with half Green table cloth and half Pink table cloth.  We then printed a 'K' and a 'J' on card stock (matching the circles) and then cut them into a circle.  Each letter was pinned to the front of the gift table designating where each girls gifts went.

Like the decor?  Stayed tuned this week for even more Baby Shower ideas!!
Linking up at these parties!!!

~M~

Baby Shower Week: Game Time - The Price is Right

This is a tough one... I always feel like a game is expected at showers, but not always welcomed.  So we came up with a clever game that just involved our Mom's to Be.  Since they were going to be the ones 'on the spot,' we wanted to make it worth their effort.

I call this 'Baby Price is Right'.

Here is what we did:  
1. Purchased 8 items of varying value all for baby (bottles, diaper cream, shampoo, toys, washcloths, towel, baby care kit).  Note: if you coupon and watch your sales you can really keep the cost very minimal for this game.  All together I spent under $10 for all these items.

2. Printed the name of each item on 8 envelopes.  Inside each envelope was the 'actual retail price'.

3. Gave each Mom-to-Be a Marker Board (see how to Here)  These were also used to reserve the special guests table.  Plus they got to take them home to use in their nursery to write sweet nothings to their bundles!

4. Just like at the Price is Right we showed off the item up for bids.  The Moms-to-Be then wrote down their best guess without going over.  The Mom who came closest to the actual retail price without going over WON that item!!  It worked out perfectly for us as each Mom got 4 gifts!

(Tiebreaker idea - have the girls write guess how much you paid for the item up for bids if you were savy and caught a deal this is a lot of fun!)

The game was a HUGE hit - the Mom's loved it, the guests had fun with it too!  Plus it only took about 10 min and audience participation was optional.

~M~

Baby Shower Week: Gift - Hospital Survival Kit

Baby Shower Week: Gifts

Welcome again, to BABY SHOWER WEEK!!

 Day 2: Gifts

 

Gifts - I never quite know what to do... Buy off the registry, get crafty and make something, gift card (I just can't bring myself to do a gift card unless it's a long distance invite that I need to mail a gift for).  Me personally, I love a thoughtful gift.  Something that means the giver thought about the receiver.  I love to watch people open those types of gifts - the ones where their faces light up or eyes tear up.  This is probably the reason I'm not a fan of registries or gift cards... (no offense, just not my preference).

I love to give a thoughtful gift!  I love to spend time thinking about the friend or family member. Reflecting on memories really tune me into the connection and impact that person has in my life.  Granted, not all 'shower's or 'gifts' involve someone we know intimately - so a registry gift works.

Something else I love... Pinterest!!!  I found this 'pin' on Pinterest and immediately wanted to do it for the shower we were throwing.  The 'Hospital Survival Kit' is perfect for a Mom-to-Be - plus you can be really personal with it or general if its for a co-worker or your cousin's wife.  Thanks to Jen at 'My Own Road' for posting this idea on her blog - you can go read her inspiration for the kit at her blog linked above. (Plus she is so generous she provides the FREE printables on her blog too!!!)

So here is my take on the Hospital Survival Kit:

Personal Items

1. Headbands (found at Dollar General 4 for $1)

2. Soft Lips (picked up at CVS for free on Thanksgiving Day)

3. Mini Lotion from Bath and Body (.99 if you find them when they are 'new' and by register to 'try').

4. Nail  Polish (Revlon is my favorite!! (clearance with coupon .27 at CVS)

5.  Lifesavers - keep that breath fresh! (CVS sale .99)

6.  Skittles (pick up a bag of the parents-to-be favorite candy).

7.  Dried Pineapple - I had to throw in something semi-healthy...

8.  Tootsie Roll Caramel Apple Suckers (my favorite!!  I can't find them any where but Amazon.com has them for about 10.00 for 48 or GFS has the same box for 6.99)

9.  Not pictured - I found Snyder's of Hanover Pretzel bits at Big Lots for $2.00 and snuck them  in last minute.

I think the total cost was about $30 for both kits (including the bags and tissue paper).  The receivers LOVED the gifts and I hope they get to use everything during those joyous hours spent in the hospital.

If you want to make your own make sure you check out 'My Own Road' for the printables.

Thanks for visiting! 

We're sharing this post at these great parties! 

~M~

Baby Shower Week: Invitations

Welcome to BABY SHOWER WEEK!!

 Day 1: Invitations

A friend & I (Michelle) recently planned a joint shower for two awesome gal's who are both expecting little girls.  Somehow we decided on a 'dot' and 'circle' theme (I'm pretty sure Pinterest had some influence in this theme...)

These invites were SO simple!  Here is what you'll need:

White Card Stock

Colored Card Stock

Sewing Machine

Glue Stick

Printer

We settled on the wording and printed the info on the white card stock.  We used 8.5 x 11 pages cut in half, approx 4.25 x 11 for each invite.  Then we cut enough circles with a circle cutter in 1.25" circles - 6 per invite. 

Before sewing the circles a small dot of glue stick was put on each circle to keep them in place.  Then I simply   sewed a straight line across the center of the circles and trimmed the excess thread.

Simple, Cute and Low Cost Baby Shower Invites!

Check back this week for 5 more days of details from this 'Circle' & 'Dot' Baby Shower!!

Thanks for visiting! 
We're sharing this post at these great parties!


~M~

"Naked Lady Party" A-K-A Style Swap!

I know what you're thinking...

"What is a "Naked Lady Party?"

 

Let me explain so you can rock one of your own!

A "Naked Lady Party" is a STYLE SWAP!!!

It's when (clothed) ladies get together with their unwanted fashion goods & swap them for others' unwanted fashion goods. There really isn't much nakedness going on...the name is just for fun :) We had private areas to change which I highly recommend.

At ours, each person brought at least one bag of clothes/shoes/accessories - more was welcome, of course! I gathered some girls' bags before the swap a few of us organized some things the night before. Then when guests arrived on the night of the swap, they placed their goods in the appropriate spots while others snacked.  There was a table for accessories, a spot for shirts, another for sweaters, an area for footwear, a place for pants & a closet full of hang-up items. It could have been more organized, but our group was rather informal & small. We also had mirrors up around the house...for obvious reasons. We even had some small ones on the floor for shoe-mirrors, which was helpful.  

After about 30 minutes of waiting/organizing/snacking, WE DUG IN!  With our 10 ladies, digging in was FUN! For a larger group it might be wise to take numbers, then take turns & set a limit of how many items to take & try on at a time. These rules are helpful for a larger group of ladies.

 

It was seriously like a bunch of sisters getting together to play dress up!

 

I would hear of these parties when I was in college & thought they were SO genius! Here I am ten year later & have finally arranged & been to one! 

  I swear I couldn't sleep that night because I was so excited about my "new" wardrobe! And from what I've heard, I'm not the only one who felt this way! There's already talk of holding another one for FALL!

 

  

My dressing area

 So many laughs!! And so many stories of where different garments came from...like a proposal...or why certain clothes were being let go. Lots of bonding & girl talk going on too :)

 So what do you think? 

Are you ready to clean out your closet, invite some friends over & host a NAKED LADY PARTY of your own?!? 
It's something to think about :) Have a great weekend!!!

-Julie 



Linking up at these parties: