A Royal Baby Shower

Here's another post of a shower I got to help throw in 2008! It was

a baby shower for Kristen Kocher - remember, she helped throw

the Fiesta shower for Rebekah?  Anyways, I helped Rebekah put this

baby shower together, along with our mom and a family friend, Brenda.

Here's Kristen and Rebekah, who made a t-shirt that said

"Addison's Aunt B" because that's what she wants to be called!

Here's a terrible iPhone picture of the invitations that Rebekah made,

which were WAY cuter in real life.  I still didn't realize how important

taking GOOD pictures of the decor was... so none of the pictures

really do this shower justice.

"Roll out the Pink Carpet

A Princess is on her Way

Celebrate Addison Mackenzie

On this Royal Shower Day"

So of course, we HAD to have a pink carpet rolled

across the center of the room!! It was a lot of work,

but the effect was worth it! We decorated the entrance

using princess dress up outfits - which were also gifts for

Baby Addison.  It was called "Addison's Royal Wardrobe."

Kristen received a sash that said "Mommy-to-Be" and her mom

got a sash that said "Grandma-to-Be." It seemed to fit nicely

with the "royal" theme, instead of making each of them wear a tiara!

We served brunch at the shower - breakfast casseroles, muffins,

cinnamon rolls, and the like. We also ordered petit fours as dessert.

I made a fruit arrangement as the centerpiece for each table, similar to

"Edible Arrangements."  I'm so sad that there isn't a single picture of them!

Rebekah made personalized bookmarks for everyone. Each one had a

different prayer on it.  She passed them out and asked each person to

pray for Addison for the specific thing listed on the bookmark.

They were strung up, as you can see in the picture below.

There were seven door prizes so each bag had a letter that spelled out

the baby-to-be's first name - ADDISON.  Inside, each had a different

vase, and a booklet that Rebekah and I made of different ideas on

how to decorate using the vase.  Such a useful gift for anyone!!

Kristen received so many cute gifts! I decided to showcase some of the

things I got her on a clothesline.  I hung each item on a string, and laid it

in a gift bag, so as she pulled each outfit out, they were all on display.

An easy thing to do, but makes the gift-opening so much more interesting!

One of the cutest ideas I've ever seen at ANY baby shower was the

"Daddy Diaper Kit." Rebekah came up with it.  She had the dad-to-be, Todd,

come at the end of the shower.  Rebekah presented him with all the things

he would "need" when helping out with the baby - a face mask, goggles, hard

hat, gloves, air freshner, baby powder, and so on.  The last thing she gave him

was a mini baseball bat, because one day, Todd will have to chase away all the boys

that will be after Addison. The whole production got some really good laughs!!

Each person received a pair of picture coasters, tied with a bow,

as their favor.  I don't have a picture of them from the shower,

but here's a stock photo of them.  It says "Thanks for helping

to make this a picture perfect day."

We were so excited that we got to help throw this shower for Kristen!

She is such a sweet girl, and her family has always meant so much

to ours. By the way, Kristen has a blog where she sells extremely

cute hair bows - check it out here! I've ordered some from her for my

nieces and they are always PERFECT.  One day I will learn how

to make bows, but until then, Kristen's my girl!! Hope you enjoyed

this post... have a great day, and God bless!!

Diaper Wreaths

My favorite baby shower gift of all time... the Diaper Wreath!!

I've made at least 20 of these over the last couple of years, and they always
get lots of compliments and "oooooo's" and "aahhh's"... but they are SO
easy to make!  I promise that ANYONE can do it!

Supplies:

1 white styrofoam wreath

about 12 diapers (size 1 works well)

plastic hairbands

ribbon

stickers

scissors

glue dots

Instructions:

Wrap the diapers around the wreath, securing with a plastic hairband.

The number of diapers used will depend on what size diapers you

use as well as the size styrofoam wreath you use. I prefer using

an even number of diapers (10 or 12 usually works).

Using the hairband makes it easier to tie the ribbon, because the

hairband is doing all the work of keeping the diaper closed together.

If the diaper has a design on the front that won't look good with

the ribbon, just wrap it with the back facing forward.

Tie a bow around each diaper. I usually use two coordinating

ribbons (which is why an even number of diapers is necessary),

but the same ribbon can be used for all of them as well.

Using stickers, place the name of the baby-to-be on the wreath.

I usually do their first name centered along the top, and the middle

name centered along the botton.  If you don't know their name, you

can put "Baby ____" and use the couple's last name =)

Depending on the stickers, I sometimes have to use glue dots to hold

them in place. Some stickers don't stay on the diaper very easily, and

the glue dots help keep them in the right spot.

Find the center diaper (which will be centered with the name).

On the back of the wreath, thread another ribbon around the one that's

already tied around the diaper.  Make a small loop and tie tightly. 

This is how the wreath will hang on the hospital door.

If you know the decor of the nursery, you can make the diaper wreath

to match.  I have some friends that have hung the wreath on the door

of their baby's nursery to add a little extra "cuteness" to the room =)

Here's just a couple of the wreath's I've made:

For my niece, Abby Brooke. I took the picture of it hanging on a

vacuum cleaner... but hey, I never claimed to be a photographer!!

For my second niece... at the time of the baby shower, the parents

hadn't picked a name yet.  So I did "Baby Raynes."  Then after they

decided on Tallie Brooke, I updated the wreath for the hospital door =)

This next wreath was for our Associate Pastor and his wife's third

child, Jonathan David.  It's the only picture I have of a BOY wreath.  

This last one, I made for someone I don't know =)

My friend at work was going to a baby shower for

one of her friends, so I offered to make one.

It turned out so cute - this is actually my favorite ribbon

now for a girl's wreath.  "Emily Dawn"

So, for the next baby shower you have to go to, try making

a diaper wreath... You will be glad you did! Plus, it's a much cuter

alternative to the "It's a Boy" and "It's a Girl" bows that they

sell in the hospital gift shop!! Have a great weekend... God bless!

I Heart Surprises

Yesterday was a fantastic day because I got not just one, but TWO surprises!!

First, a friend from church, Pam, called me and asked me to swing by her house

on my way home from work.  She had made a plate of cookies for me and my

husband! How sweet! We have gone to her house for a few different bible

studies, but since we are hosting a bible study at our house, we aren't able to

go to hers.  She just said she missed us and knew how much we loved those cookies!

She's so thoughtful and sweet! And the cookies were DELICIOUS! Thanks Pam!

THEN... I was looking through a box of things that my sister returned to me on Monday.

Something bright caught my eye, as I saw this cute set of summer "citrus" coasters that

she made... I guess it was my lucky day! I asked her if she meant to give them to me (like

maybe they fell in the box by mistake), but she said "of course they're for you!"  I had seen

the coasters on a blog (click here for the tutorial) and mentioned to Rebekah that we

should try to do them sometime.  And then, voila!, they appear at my house =)

It was perfect timing too - our bible study met last night, so they've already been used. 

Thanks sis... what a nice surprise!!



~Naughty & Nice Personal Shower~

Within a few weeks of my sister getting engaged (back in April 2007), I had decided the

theme of her personal shower... "Naughty & Nice."  I had to wait a while to really plan it

though, because the shower wasn't until May 2008. I asked a friend of ours from church, Kara,

to design the invitations, then I uploaded it to Vistaprint.  They were exactly what I wanted!

Just in case you can't make out the rhyme's at the top and bottom... they go like this:

"Help Beak put a smile on Gabriel's face,

with something nice... think silk, satin and lace!"

"Make Beak's blood rush straight to her brain,

with something naughty... think leather and chains!"

(FYI, Rebekah's nickname is Beak)

At the time, our brother owned a limo company.  So we had everyone meet at a

park, and a Hummer limo rolled up to take everyone to the shower! Thanks bub!

                       

The venue for the shower was at our brother, David's house.  He has this

large Spanish style home that has some pretty big rooms - and after spending

an entire day cleaning, it was the perfect place for the shower!! 

I decorated with white chair covers and pink tulle sashes, large vases

with red and pink feather boas, with cute feather whips coming out of the top of the vase.

Also, I had black and white floral trays and red candles.  It turned out so cute!

One of my "rules" for any kind of party that I throw is that there has to be

PLENTY of FOOD! I'm not one to serve cheese and crackers - I want

guests to come hungry and leave stuffed! For this shower, we had barbeque

sandwiches, french fries and veggies, along with a few other sides.

For dessert, everyone that wanted to got to make their own banana split =)

The game we played at this shower was courtesy of Rebekah's sister-in-law, Brook.

She put all different kinds of dress up outfits in a suitcase.  Our three volunteers had

1 minute (I think) to put together a "sexy" outfit and model it for everyone. 

They looked even more hilarious in person!!

For the favors at this shower, I gave out chapstick and panties! I'd always thought
that panties would be such a fun favor for a personal shower, so this was the perfect
time to do it.  I bought a bunch of white panties, and ironed on the logo from the
invitation on the backside.  I folded them up and put them in a black baggie with white
polka dots, and made little tags that said what size they were.  Everyone got to pick
their own size out (just in case we guessed wrong).  I don't have a picture of them
right now... but I promise they were adorable!

For entertainment at this shower, I had something special planned.  A few weeks
before the shower, I had my cousin and sister videotape me doing an instructional dance
video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller!" Rebekah and I thought this would be a fun song
to dance to at her reception, and wanted to teach all our friends the moves at the
party so they would be ready to dance at the reception.  So I dressed up in a crazy outfit
and made the video.  Our good friend, Jerica, edited it and made a DVD for us all to
watch and practice at the shower. She even included a bloopers section - which was
my favorite part! I copied the Thriller song on CD's and also typed out the dance move
instructions so everyone could take them home, in case they wanted
to practice (some people really did!). It was so much fun, and something
different to do at the bridal shower AND the wedding =)

I absolutely LOVED throwing this bridal shower

for my sister... hope you enjoyed it too!

Have a GREAT day, and God bless!!