showering a sweet mama.
on saturday, i had the chance to throw a little baby shower for my sweet friend kaely. our friendship has a wonderful story in that we met in college, but could have NEVER imagined we would find ourselves navy wives, stationed in the same place years later! her son finley & ellie were born basically a year apart (christmas babies!), at the same hospital, delivered by the same midwife! now, she is expecting her second baby boy in october & i'm just so excited about it!
it's hard to put into words the impact kaely has had on my young motherhood. i call her one of my "mama heroes" -- she is close enough to me in age/motherhood to really meet me in this season of life, while also having this incredible gift for encouragement, an unbelievable amount of practical/helpful knowledge about babies & never ever makes you feel judged when you come to her. plus, ellie LOVES her!! so, it was neat to get to celebrate her & this sweet new life she's about to welcome.
it also was really fun to take a lot of ideas i'd been wanting to try & put them into action! i started with a simple pennant idea. i designed the invites from there (printing them on paper source cards with navy envelopes & paper bag address labels).
since the shower was at two in the afternoon, i thought it'd be fun to do comfort foods. so, i designed a really simple menu: cinnamon rolls (these are my favorite!), red velvet cupcakes (tried the sprinkles mix & loved it!), pb&j sandwiches with a heart cookie cutter & fruit/donut hole (my fav trader joe's ones!) kabobs. i wanted to carry the pennants through, so i made simple signs for the food with quotes about motherhood.
i love the idea of really practical decorations, ones that could actually serve as my gift to kaely. so, i made some onesies with these precious iron-ons (i also made a big brother t-shirt for finley!) and made a giant version of the pennants for her (no sewing required -- thank goodness for hot glue guns!).
we played the celebrity baby name game with trader joes jam & some sweet stationary as prizes. finally, i used ikea paper goods/trays & trader joe's flowers in mason jars from our wedding to finish the table!
i wanted the guests to have some comfort food to take home, so i stuck my favorite chocolate chip cookies in brown lunch bags with a simple sticker to seal it.
last photo is me with my little helper a few minutes before the shower began :) it was really neat to spend the afternoon getting excited to meet this baby boy!
p.s. let me know if you'd like any of the templates for paper goods, i'd love for them to get some good use! & a huge thank you to my friends ila & allison -- this shower wouldn't have happened without you!
tulips & flight suits
Reader Comments (6)
Mary, you did such a lovely job. Everything looked beautiful and I know the mama appreciated it! I just gave a shower for my best friend's upcoming wedding, and it can be a lot of work...but so well worth it. Love that you started with the pendants and centered the whole shower around that! As always, thanks for sharing...I am definitely keeping these ideas for any baby showers I have to throw!!
love the comfort foods and pendant details! so cute
You are not only a blogger, you are an event planner, photographer, and friend extraordanaire! I am glad to be able to see my daughter's shower, since I couldn't attend! Thanks for all your effort and your friendship to her. Your little girl is adorable, too. Am enjoying your blogs.
I feel so loved! Thanks for your kind words, friendship, and lovely shower! You are the best! Xoxo
Wow this is just lovely! Well done :)
ADORABLE, thoughtful, sweet... everything!