DIY Baby Shower Time

Are you as blown away as me that it is the middle of August? Last I checked my calendar, we were at the start to the summer- my little nephew was just being born, everyone was planning their summer escapades, pulling out their swimsuits, and firing up the grill. We had the entire summer ahead of us and we were all starting to dust off the flip-flops (or if you're like me, yours may stay out year round) and dig through our cabinets for the sunscreen. Fast forward two months to mid-August. We now see the racks of fall clothes hanging in the stores, the sweaters neatly folded on displays, the pumpkins and Halloween decorations lining the shelves that started back in July (which could be a whole other post sometime) and the teachers heading back to school for orientation.  Is this even possible?

Though the majority of summer is now behind us (did I just write that? ) and we are moving towards the fall, I am excited to say that we finally got to meet our new and first-ever nephew, Greyson. 

Handsome little man, huh?!  It's been an extremely busy summer for a host of other reasons, but we were so excited to finally get to meet the little man and host his baby shower that we had actually planned back in March for what we thought would be an April shower. (literally) However, if you recall, my sister had some complications that would not allow her to travel; therefore, we made the decision to host the shower after little man was born and I must admit, it was kind of fun to have the guest of honor in attendance (and no, Lydia, I think Greyson just may have trumped you on the guest of honor status). 

Greyson's Great Grandma

Greyson's Grammy

I have to admit, planning this shower/party was so much fun. I often joke and say that if I didn't work in the orphan advocacy/social work field, you'd probably find me somewhere out there planning events or doing DIY house renovation projects all day (for someone else and with someone else's money of course-you can have a lot more fun that way...). When my mom and I started to talk about ideas and a shower theme (yes, ya'll- we had a theme- we're nerdy like that) we decided that since Little Man was the first grandson in the family and since his dad has a little obsession with neckties, we wanted to go that route as well as incorporate his nursery colors of grey, orange, and teal along the way. From there it just sort of exploded with a host of ideas as we went along. During this process, I just might or might not have introduced my mom to far too many crafty tools and gadgets that make things like this far more simple to do. 

It's amazing the ideas you can come up with and the projects you can do with punches, different kinds of paper, string, ribbon, washi tape, and my all-time favorite, glue dots. (yes, people, I should buy stock in those things-- a seriously genius invention) If you've never used glue dots, I suggest you march down to your closest Michael's or Hobby Lobby with your 40% off coupon in hand and investigate. They're magic in a box, literally. No need for that messy hot glue gun when you have glue dots. 

So, as the idea fairy continued to sprinkle her idea dust on our heads, I decided that we needed to pull a few things into the room. I wanted use Little Man's initials in the room, his date of birth, and last but not least, somewhere we had to throw in a pair of cowboy boots for good measure. (After all, he is a Texas boy) My mom still had my brother's cowboy boots from when he was a little guy, so we dusted those off and incorporated those into our decor. 

From there the ideas just went all over the place. (hint-- don't do party planning late at night or your brain won't shut down- just trust me on this one. You'll thank me later.)  I decided that part of my shower gift to my sister was going to be making a number of DIY projects for the shower that she would be able to use in his nursery later.  I love "do it yourself" projects and could do them all day long if I weren't working. I seriously might have an addiction. Just maybe. For the first of our shower decor, I started off with a large cardboard initial and some yarn that was textured. It was honestly the softest yarn like substance I've ever felt. (If only I knew how to knit) The cardboard "G" then was wrapped in yarn and then with the help of the hot glue gun, I added an orange banding around the letter with ribbon.

As you can see in the photo above, we used orange and teal ribbon and took clothespins and wrapped the front in patterned teal and orange washi tape, which also made an appearance on our cups and napkins as well. Washi tape comes in about a million colors and patterns and might be right up there in cool factor as glue dots. (just maybe) With luck, I found the perfect size textured white notecards and placed a hole punch in them and grouped them with baker's twine into sets of three. We then gave instructions to the guest to leave advice for both mom, dad, and a love note to baby "G". 

We then wanted to make things easier for our new mom and have everyone fill out their mailing address for thank you notes. Washi tape to the rescue to transform boring pens into vibrant ones. With the help of a little bit of scrapbook paper, grandma's antique bowl, and some nursery artwork I created and framed, we had a fun little entry way table, complete with our fresh flowers inside of our cowboy boots. 

Scrapbook paper and chalkboard stickers come in handy for making labels for various items. It's a very easy way to make your tables at your party stand out and give instructions or identify items if needed. You can also find chalk pens which are a pretty great invention too!

Since our shower had been planned prior to Little Man's arrival, we had already planned a little popcorn bar with the concept of "Ready to Pop".  

Since items had already been made and put into motion months prior, we just went with it. I gathered vases from around my house and used an assortment of various ribbon that we stumbled upon in our trips to the craft store. I found an amazing assortment of 6 styles of orange ribbon all in one pack in the .99cent bin at Michael's. I might have been a wee bit excited about that little find. 

For our food table, I also made more framed art for the nursery and incorporated it into our theme. 

We took clear plastic cups for our fruit salad and with the help of our little paper punch, we had the perfect size dots to put on each cup and write Greyson's date of birth and his initial.

For our centerpiece, I pulled a white vase and silver-grey branches from our house, added a band of washi tape down the center and printed off one of the photos that was taken shortly after Little Man was brought home. I purchased wooden initials from Michael's, took and painted them white, then added some ribbon from that .99 cent ribbon pack to add some color on the front and another ribbon on the back to make a hanging loop and hot glued everything on. 

 (Yes, ya'll-- that's dust in the picture, just pretend you didn't see that)

For our "gift table", which was the mantle and fireplace area, we took printed scrapbook paper and baker's twine and created Greyson's name and made a free-handed necktie pattern and traced and cut out various printed neckties and strung everything together. 

One of our last main DIY projects were our tissue-paper pom-pons that we strung along the "sweets" table. These were made with a very simple process of cuts/folds and then rolling and folding them over and securing with washi tape, leaving enough of a hole to string them on whatever type of ribbon or string we desired. We also had a reusable chalkboard sign that we labeled the dessert table with. We used two different wrapping paper prints as table runners for both the food and dessert tables and also covered a cheap canvas with wrapping paper and tore and scrunched pieces of tissue paper and used hot glue to make Greyson's initial for a backdrop.

We made cupcake toppers with toothpicks, printables, and glue dots with the messages "Ready To Pop" - "Baby Greyson" - & "Congrats Aaron & Lydia" and punched out colored dots to put on the candy cups. I added a band of washi tape to the cupcake plate and then with straws, baker's twine, and chalkboard stickers, made a name banner for the cupcakes.

(this is the photo that when I looked back at after the shower I had to laugh, as the Type A in me immediately realized I had forgotten to put the candies on the front cupcakes & the washi tape had gotten bumped and was no longer straight. LOL)

We made bowties out of grey napkins and washi tape and wrapped the plasticware inside. 

Now it was time for the food!

 Balloons were strung from removable clips around the center of the room. Clear balloons were filled with orange and teal confetti. 

Doing what she does best....

Four Generations...

Aaron & Lydia:

"It was so awesome seeing you all and planning this event in your honor and in honor of Greyson's new life. We love and miss you guys and can't wait until we see you next time. Congratulations again on Little Man. He is simply adorable, even if he doesn't like his auntie to hold him. :)"

Baby Greyson:

"We loved having you come to visit and wish you lived closer. It was such fun throwing a big party for you and your new momma and daddy. I don't think you had as much fun at your party as we did, but that's ok. I'll also forgive you for not letting me ever hold you without crying and fussing. Because you are ridiculously cute, I'll let you get away with it this time, but you need to practice your people skills before I see you again. Apparently you liked to make explosions and cry whenever your momma handed you to me (I think she planned it out on purpose every time you were hungry or needed changing-- pretty strategic huh?) You definitely know how to cry when you are hungry and boy do you make it known (a little like your daddy). I know you were eyeing your uncle's cowboy boots on the entry table from when he was a little boy. I'm pretty sure your momma and daddy as well as other relatives, will buy you a very cool pair or two when you are older. You do live in Texas, after all. Personally, I think you need to take your time growing so you are still little the next time we see you. That's just my opinion, but I'm pretty sure your mom and Grammy agree with me.  We look forward to seeing you again sometime soon!

Love, 

Auntie Leah & Uncle Nate

** credits to my amazing Mom for running all over kingdom come with me and joining me in my party-planning shenanigans and to my friends Katrina & Kate for being extra sets of hands to assemble, cut, punch, and glue things together. Appreciated the extra hands everyone provided-- I owe you one!