Baby Shower Part II - Behind The Scenes

I recently told you about some baking I did for a baby shower. When I left off, I was finally finished with my baking and my friend Karen told me she was coming over so we can work on the party favors and centerpieces. Even though I was exhausted, I couldn't say no. Back in the days of my gift basket business, she was there to rescue me on many occasions - especially during the crazy holiday season. How could I possibly say no?!?

Before we get started I just want to go on record to say that the photos in this post ARE NOT MINE. They come from Karen's phone. I'll gladly let her take ALL the credit for these bad boys.

It's times like this - the night before an event, that it comes in handy to have a friend that's a complete Michael's addict. We had all the crafty supplies we needed to bang these babies out.

Both projects were pretty easy. She got clear plastic baby blocks to use as the party favors and bought an assortment of jelly beans from Economy Candy to fill them with. We tried to make them like sand art - layering each color to come up with a pretty design.



The blocks were going to be stacks of 3 so we tied ribbons to the ones that were going to be on the top of the stack.

For the centerpieces, Karen was adament about getting wheat grass. When we went to the NY Gift Show last month, we were on the hunt for wheat grass ideas. She ended up getting it in the flower district and also got some plain wood boxes to use as the base for the wheat grass. They looked nice, just a bit naked. Just needed to be dressed up a bit.



We took 2 coordinating shades of ribbon in different widths and wrapped it around the center of the box. Since the baby's last name will begin with an R, we had the idea to make monograms to use in the center of the boxes. Wouldn't you know, I was recently at Michael's and just so happened to buy an R stamp in just the right size that we needed. See, sometimes addictions pay off . We punched out white textured cardstock using a scalloped edge square punch and stamped the R right in the middle. (or rather middle-ish)



Once Karen started stamping, she just couldn't stop herself. She was gettin' stamp happy!! This is what happens when your close to delirium! The centerpieces really turned out nicely.



We were finally done for the evening!

My part was done. Now the next morning, Karen and her crew went over to the venue to set up.



She found some fabric that she wanted to use for the dessert table. I think it was a perfect fit for both theme and color scheme.



Besides the cake and cake blocks, she also had a tray of chocolate covered almonds on the dessert table.



The tray was mine. I don't mean "was" in a "it was mine and I let her borrow it for the party" kind of way. That's true, but in this case I mean it as "that was my tray until I got a text message saying that it crashed to the ground and broke to pieces" kind of way.

Bye Bye tray. I'll miss you!

Well, the shower turned out to be a success. The mom and dad to-be were very happy!



Uh! The things you have to do to show your appreciation! Wouldn't thank you cards be enough?

Guess not, after this load. I think they needed to rent a U-Haul to get this stash home.



They'd still be at home opening gifts and writing thank you cards but they got a little sidetracked.



2 weeks early!!