Fun Baby Shower Ideas

My sister is having her first baby in a few months. Of course she needed a baby shower, and OF COURSE I wanted to throw it!! {Like, one of my favorite things to do in the world... yep, true!} It turned out so fun and cute that I had to tell y'all about it. I only wish that I could claim each and every one of these ideas as my own, but mostly, I used the creative brain power of others :)... and the help of my other amazing sister who's baby was 2 weeks old at the time!

There's definitely something about a great location that just makes showers SO much extra fun... especially when the weather cooperates and the party can ensue OUTSIDE. We lucked out. No amount of decorating can equal a pretty ivy vine growing in the background....

1. Diaper Cake

One of my favorite things to make for an expectant mommy is a diaper cake. 

 I learned the trick from the gals at Our Best Bites (who are basically my personal tutors in so many ways). The cake is super easy and fun to make. Although it can get a little spendy depending on how fancy and frilly it's accessorized :). If you want to make your own Diaper Cake Centerpiece check out the tutorial HERE .

FYI: I used target diapers here and rolled them face down, just because I like white, but colors would look cute too!

2. Diaper Castle Cake

A family friend made this Princess Diaper Castle and brought it to the shower. Definitely a hit!  I'll admit, um,  I even found myself getting jealous for how much praise it generated ;).

Check out all of these amazing and creative diaper cake tutorials at Living Locurto , including a super astonishing diaper castle!

3. Questionnaires 

This shower was open house style with no formal games. My sister just wanted advice, and so I put her in charge of that  {I know, maybe a little bit jerkish of me, but she got what she wanted!!}

She found questions like these, and used them to create her own questions which she liked even better.  Then she typed and printed them with some free borders she googled. She's having fun times while reading through all the answers.

 The one on the left, I saw on pinterest- but could not trace back to the original source. The one on the right is available on Etsy as a download at the store Chomping at the Bit for $5.

4.

Ok, now for my VERY FAVORITE PART.... an Italian Soda Bar {again from the life-changing blog, Our Best Bites}...

I'm so sad that I didn't snap a picture from this shower, but just take my word for it... this is SUPER FUN! In fact, I'm even doing a smaller version of an Italian Soda Bar tonight for some people we're having over for dinner.

An Italian Soda Bar is welcome at ANY event. When you've got some of the goods, there's no end to the fun. It's good clean fun for ANY age... my kids think it's great!

As a member of the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), I don't drink alcohol.   I've never understood what all the fuss with drinking was about... the only time I ever tasted alcohol was by accident on an airplane. "What happened?" you ask. Well...

I was lucky enough to get "bumped" up to first class just after my 18th birthday on a trip to Hawaii. The flight attendants were giving cute drinks decorated with a pineapple and mini umbrella to everyone who wanted one. Being the naive girl that I was, I took it with NO idea that any spike was included.

Needless to say, I fell asleep and woke up with a gigantic head ache. Then.. ding, ding, ding... it hit me... the drink must have been more than the rotten tasting orange juice I'd just chugged. I asked the flight attendant if the drink contained alcohol. She answered in the affirmative, and I cried.

I frantically called my dad as soon as I got to the airport confessing what had happened. With a stifled laugh, he told me that it was ok.  Whew... happy for that reaction. I knew FOR SURE that alcohol tasted nasty and gave me a headache. No desire at all to drink it. Ever. Again.

Therefore... one more great thing about an Italian Soda Bar - I am POSITIVE that it is every ounce as much fun as going to the "fully loaded" parties, but tastes TONS better, and you'll be able to safely drive home!

Ok, excuse that side track... now I just need someone else to throw a baby shower for {and a few bucks to do it!!}

**If you want to throw your own Italian Soda Bar, find out how HERE. Get the cute, free printables HERE .

XO,
Nancy

Princess Brithday Cake Tutorial

 

We all know that the vast majority of little girls LOVE princesses, and have at least ONE princess birthday party, right? So, it's nice to have a basic way to decorate a princess cake. This is one that ANYONE can do.

Step 1:

Make 2 round cakes, one a size small than the other.

Step 2:

Cover the bottom cake in butter cream  frosting and fondant.

See THIS tutorial for further instructions on how to do that.

With ruler, mark dots one inch apart around the top of cake.

For the rest of the tutorial, click on the read more button:

Teacher Appreciation Week: All- Star Teachers

Welcome to this week's series of

Teacher Appreciation Week!!!

I had the fun opportunity this week to help with my girls school's Teacher Appreciation Week and asked some of the ladies at Potluck on the Porch to help.  I  helped decorate the teacher's lounge, halls, and ended up decorating a couple of doors at the last minute. (like the last 30 minutes of set up time)

The committee decided to set our theme around "All-Star Teachers and Staff" with a sports theme.  Here are the decorations we made:

Here is a great tutorial. We actually used paper napkins and it works great!!!!

This table is for the food we serve each day during Teacher Appreciation Week!

Each day we made up a fun name for the food we will be serving.

Monday: Breakfast of Champions: Muffins, Bagels and fruit

Tuesday: Concession Stand Snacks: Nachos and cheese, popcorn and other fun snacks

Wednesday: Tailgate Party: Crackers, meat and cheese trays, veggie trays and other party snacks

Thursday: Pep Rally Picnic: BBQ chicken sandwiches, chips, salads and drinks

Friday: "Time-Out" for Treats: Desserts



Table Decorations

For instructions click read more.... just below the pin it button.



Jan

Linking to: Uncommon Design

Creating my way to Success

Lollipop Cupcake Flower Garden- with Sprinkles

Lollipop Cupcake gardens are so simple to make...

...and they make little girls really happy!

I've never met a boy who didn't like them either:)!

 They are fun way to welcome in spring or summer, and to celebrate Easter or birthdays.
After watching "Wreck it Ralph" I wished I'd made these for the snack afterward!
 

They're my spin of a Martha Stewart idea I saw.

Find out how after the jump... 
click the "read more" button below...

Brazilian Birthday Party

Have you run out of ideas on what to do to throw that perfect party for your child? Look no further than to our friends down south....the Brazilians! Do they ever know how to throw a great one! We arrived in Brazil a few days after our baby's first birthday and my awesome sisters-in-law put together this little festa (party) for her. A couple of weeks later our nephew turned two so we got to party twice! Both my two year old and I left Brazil excited for her third birthday so that we could throw an awesome party of our own!

There are a few important elements that are necessary to make the perfect Brazilian party. These include:

• A theme
• At least one table covered with treats (doces). They have specific ones they use and I will eventually post those recipes.
• Fun little take home gift for the kids who came to your party.

There is a lot of room to be creative with things such as the theme, the location, the food that is served and the take home gifts.

Here is the little take home gift from her party. Inside of this little gift there were hair clips, candies, firework snappers, a whistle, little plastic animals and a few other trinkets. They also put in things like pens, notepads, washcloths, little party favors, pictures, stickers and anything else you can imagine a kid liking! They use all kinds of containers to fill with these goodies. My nephew went to one birthday party where they gave all the kids backpacks full of goods!  

For my adorable little nephew ( the one in the middle), they threw a futebol (soccer) party where everyone went dressed up in their favorite teams' jersey. His party was at an event center specifically designed for kids. There was a trampoline, bouncy air toys, dress up cloths, air hockey and video arcade games.

This was seriously one of the funnest kid birthday parties I have ever been to. I would highly recommend getting some ideas from these creative party lovers! We would love to hear about your best birthday party ideas and if you are looking for some Brazilian ideas, let me know. My husband's cousin has a huge party planning and catering business. . .so we've got an in! Hope your next party is a huge success!!

-Jenn