Entertaining: Creating a Baby "Surprise" Shower

Putting on a baby shower is a very intimate thing. It's not a bon voyage to a friend; it's celebrating a new chapter of her life. OK, I'm being a bit dramatic, but now also imagine you don't know the gender of the baby. That was our predicament when my friend Kathryn, Ashley and I prepared to create a perfect baby shower for our beloved friend and sister, Victoria.

Invite:

I love the website Etsy and that is where I began my search for the perfect invite. I know that Victoria loves the vintage/shabby look, but since I didn't know the sex I wanted to make sure it wasn't too girly yet still had a bit of a feminine touch. I found four invites that I felt Victoria would love and sent them to her to see and to pick her favorite. The baby was a surprise, that didn't mean the invite had to be too. The invite is important because it sets the mood for the party.

Food:

A baby shower is usually held around the noon hour. People will walk around and chat... usually about the mom-to-be and how great she will be as a mom! It's not a formal sit down event, so we kept it simple. I wanted to add color so we had a fruit- berry salad. To add details to the food, Ashley added chalk label tags.

Decor:

This is where our creative minds really went into overdrive. It means use your resources! I went to the websites Etsy and Pinterest for help.

Instead of pink, blue, baby boy and baby girl decor we each had the same idea of birds, vibrant green and yellows. It's not the colors that make the baby shower, it's how you use them.

- Dream Maker Baby Shower Game was my find on Pinterest. Everyone writes a dream wish for the baby, you attach a pretty ribbon to it and tie them all to an item of your choice.

 

 - One game that is fun and everyone gets a kick out of is the My Water Broke Game. Everyone has a drink with a miniature toy baby frozen inside an ice cube. When the ice melts and your baby is set free you yell,  "My water broke." The first to shout is the winner.






- "Measure of Love" game idea came from a shower favor that I saw online.  A company actually makes spoons with engravings. I liked the idea but I thought it would be cute and crafty to do them myself, so it had more of a "personal feel." 

"I found the 'measuring spoons set' at World Market.  She says "I used antique 1940's typewriter font for the tags, and just printed them onto the paper with the name, date, and measure of love words on it.  I used a stamp for the bird (obviously anything goes) - I cut them out from a different piece of paper and mounted them (with mounting stickers) onto the tag to give it more dimension." said Ashley.

- Embellish a Mason Jar as we did with a polka dot green ribbon around some fabric and tada!

- Sometimes things jump at you. Look around in the bins at Target or Michael's and they always have something. I found some 3D stickers with P's on it and added them where I could add some color.

- Simple wood spoons and forks can be jazzed up by adding the initial of your choice with a stamp.

- Kathy was just in love with the tissue paper banners she had seen on Etsy and knew it would add pizzaz to anything. 

- Finally add some cute cupcakes and you will have them eating out of your hands.

As I mentioned you don't have to go crazy in thinking boy or girl. You just have to add details with your friends and use your resources, like we did with Etsy and Pinterest. 

** Since this was written our mommy to be welcomed a baby "GIRL"