A COMFY & COZY SHABBY CHIC BABY SHOWER

This past weekend, I was blessed to be able to throw a baby shower for my only sister, who will be giving birth to her first child next month.  Since it's going to be a baby boy, I decided to give her a super girly baby shower, since she's soon to become outnumbered in her home by boys! One last girly hurrah!

As the guests arrived, they were asked to sign a large picture mat with words of love for the new baby.  As soon as he arrives, the sign in the middle will be replaced with a picture of the little guy and will make a loving addition to the decor in his bedroom.

The shower took place in the early afternoon on a Sunday, so I decided to serve a light brunch with a light salad, a delicious chicken salad, various muffins, and some fresh strawberries.  Rather than using a fancy serving dish for the fruit dip, I decided to put it in a mason jar, to go along with the shabby chic theme, and to break up the formalness of the china! A silver coffee set from my mother in law and some grocery store tulips were used as part of the decor.  (And, in case you're wondering, I did remember to remove the tulips from the wrapping before everyone arrived!) :)

I have a wall in my dining room where I display pictures of my kids.  Rather than take them down for the party and put up something else, I chose to cover the pictures and make the frames spell out "Oh Boy", followed by ultrasound pictures of the little guy! (Yes, I'm aware that the middle "O" is sideways...I need to pay closer attention when I'm gluing!) Also, an easy way to decorate chairs for a party is to drape the back of the chair with a piece of fabric and tie it together with ribbon.  For this party, I decided to use tags created for me by my friend, Melissa from Tag Me Chic.  It's something a little different and interesting, don't you think?

My talented friend Genevieve from Celebrate Today...the Superchick Way was kind enough to design these adorable shabby chic Kandy Kones for me and I think they match the theme perfectly! Loaded up with some colorful bunny shaped marshmallows, these Kandy Kones were a big hit with the kids at the shower!

When it came to decorating my fireplace mantel, I was lucky enough to have Jenny from Hank and Hunt send me several of her adorable fabric garlands.  I love the difference in color, and I love how it's casual but fancy at the same time! She was also kind enough to send me most of the fabrics used for this party.  You can order your own goodies from Hank and Hunt here!  

When I say this crib has been in my family for years...I'm NOT kidding! I believe I spent a little time in this as a baby, as did my father...and my grandfather...and HIS father! Needless to say, it's definitely a family treasure.  I generally use it as a decorative piece that holds throw blankets but I brought it out to hold gifts for the party and it served its purpose well!

I wanted to send all our guests home with a little treat, but finding something that everyone will like can be tricky.  I knew I wanted it to be something edible, so they wouldn't have to worry about having one more thing to find a place for.  I thought about making some homemade lemon curd, which seemed very springy, but then I came across this, and knew this was the perfect gift!

These came together so quickly and made for a unique gift for our special guests! The best part, I was able to make all the pies for the shower and bake them at once, you can fit a lot of these little goodies on a baking sheet!

It was such a fun shower, very casual, just the way I prefer! And, the final test as to whether the party was a success...

Finding a fork in the trifle bowl from the clean up crew...okay, maybe it was mine! :) So sorry I forgot to take a "before" picture of the trifle, but in case you're wondering, it was a Brownie Heath trifle...very easy and very yummy!