A Muse Thing

January 16, 2012

Baby Shower for Eleanor: Part 2

Watching the gifts being opened

The mom-to-be deep in baby related conversation

Opening gifts

After having brunch and opening gifts I wanted to have some sort of activity for everyone to participate in. Since I knew Amanda wouldn't enjoy the typically baby shower games, I decided that we would all decorate onesies! My vision is that Amanda will wake up in the middle of the night to a fussy baby who needs to be changed and when she reaches for a new outfit she is reminded of one of her friends who loves her. It also helps that some of the onesies will bring a big ol' smile to her face.

I made a few examples so that I could have something to show the girls and so that I could make very clear instructions.

Example 1

Example 2 Front

Example 2 Back

I set up a few different stations around the house with instructions at each point hoping to curb some of the chaos.

I had a table full of scissors, cookie cutters (to use as stencils), stamps, fabric markers, stencils, and paper. Let the mess and creative juices FLOW!

There was a table with an iron, but that part wasn't interesting in a picture.

I was SO impressed with what these girls created!

Here is a picture of all of the completed onesies together

Since they turned out SO cute, I have to share some close-ups!

A mermaid! Brilliant.

This one looked store bought! (front)

What's cuter than little designs on the patootie? (back)

The mom-to-be hand drew this little elephant for Eleanor! (front)

With a little E on the back for added cute factor (back)

Eleanor already has LOTS of siblings, they just happen to be the four legged kind. I made this onesie with her animal loving daddy in mind. (front)

Can't resist a little booty bling! (back)

The shower was a huge success and everyone had a great time. It was definitely a labor of love and I really enjoyed putting my creative talents to work. Party planning/throwing happens to be one of my favorite things. I just LOVE seeing the honoree's reactions and hearing everyone's little comments about decor or treats. It makes all of the late night cutting and pasting worth it.

Plus... I can't wait to see little Eleanor in our couture creations!

January 13, 2012

Baby Shower for Eleanor: Part 1

My sweet friend Amanda is pregnant with her first baby and I had the pleasure of throwing her work baby shower. True story: I do not work with Amanda, but being married to her co-worker gets me into the club. Amanda is not a super girly girl and I knew that she didn't want your typical sherbet punch and belly measuring baby shower. We needed to do something unique and special for this wonderful lady.

I started off by choosing non-cutesy invites that reminded me of some decor she had picked out for the nursery. You can find the invitations here.

After that I decided on a menu. Since this was going to be a baby shower brunch I wanted to have some sweet and savory dishes. I decided on the following:

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Cups (found here)

These were delish! Since they are made in a muffin tin, there is nowhere for the bacon grease to go so next time I would set them on a paper towel for a little while before I transfered them to the plate.

Sausage Rolls (found here)

When I picked out this recipe I was worried that the Italian seasoning wouldn't be a good flavor fit for a brunch but I was WRONG. You really can't taste the parmesean or Italian seasoning, you can just taste the YUM.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

(out of my new Trisha Yearwood cookbook)

I was SO worried when I pulled this out of the oven because the center fell, but this was the hit of the party! It had this wonderful crunchy outside and a super moist inside. The sour cream really adds to the rich flavor.

Strawberry Rice Krispie Pops

I wanted to have a hint of pink without overdoing the girly, so I decided to make rice krispie pops with strawberry marshmellows! The subtle strawberry flavor was a great surprise when you bit into the pop. I dipped them into white and milk chocolate and decorated them with all sorts of sprinkles! I put some floral foam into a basket and used it to display the pops!