Real Parties: Baby Shower

Party Details.

Well it’s official. I can finally admit that I’ve entered the time in my life when I’m no longer going to bridal showers and weddings every summer weekend. Instead…it’s a baby boom amongst my friends. And when I found out that my best friend and her husband were expecting a baby, I think that it took me all of 30 seconds to say, “Now that I’m in Chicago, I’ll throw you a shower at my place!”

We had the shower this past weekend, and I’m happy to say that everyone had a wonderful time. And my ignorance on most things baby-related ended up being less of a hindrance than I thought. Here are some of the details that I thought you might like.



Clockwise from top left:
1. Invite: I designed a shower invite using an umbrella theme and creating simple graphics to represent typical baby gifts.

2. Dessert: I opted for a variation on whoopie pies. Orange creamsicle – vanilla cakes, orange cream cheese filling, a slim layer of orange marmalade, and colored sprinkles to fit the theme.

3. Baby bingo: Inspired by a product made by Knock Knock, I created custom bingo cards for our guests. It kept everyone engaged in the gift opening…including the guys.

4. Flower buckets: I found these adorable orange tin buckets at Target for $1 each. Because I didn’t trust that they were leak-proof, I used a clear plastic glass as a liner and then filled them with white chrysanthemums. I was able to make 4 arrangements for a total of $10. What a deal!



Clockwise from top left:
1&2: Gift/Activity: I designed a set of alphabet flashcards that matched the nursery color scheme. Each guest wrote a little note to the baby on the back. I’ll have them laminated so that the parents can use them in a photo mobile as décor…and then as a learning tool as the baby grows older. I like the idea that as she learns to read, she’ll have little notes from family and friends.

3: Flowers: My motto is to stay monochromatic. It’s hard to go wrong and you can easily put together flowers yourself that way.

4&5: Signature cocktail/bar presentation: Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been keeping any neat looking clear glass bottles (from wine, sparkling lemonade, etc). I designed new labels to coordinate with our theme and filled them with a Hip Hostess favorite – Cranberry Ginger Jazz. I like the idea of keeping the bottles non-alcoholic and allowing guests to add a little zing if they wanted. Our liquor of choice was Rosangel hibiscus-infused tequila.

We all had a lot of fun and we were so happy to celebrate such an exciting new step in the lives of our friends, Jade and Zoran. Congrats to you both. We love ya!