Do you love me this much?

This post is about a very sentimental gift.  We've known this sweet girl since she was two and she has been special to us ever since.

Woodland Baby Banner for Baby Shower

Work is still crazy busy, so I haven't had much time for new projects much less writing posts about them.  It's a good thing I haven't published all my projects from the Baby Shower we hosted way back in January!  ;-)  

Here are some of my previous baby shower related posts:

Ten Steps to Hosting a Stress Free Baby Shower

Woodland Babies Centerpiece Tutorial

Cheesecake Bar

Aunt Margie's Punch Recipe

The Big Day

We had such a fun day!  What do you enjoy most at baby showers?

This simple banner came together so quickly.

The adorable card stock animals and mushrooms were snipped from the leftover invitations.



I also used the same sweet felt woodland babies from  The Centerpiece and threaded both onto raffia.  The white spacers are cotton balls.  

As guests arrived, they were given pretty little shapes of paper and asked to write advice or encouragement to the Mommy-to-Be.

Then they hung their note on the banner with a striped paper clip.

It made for a sweet activity and a cute backdrop!

After the shower, we gathered the notes into a small basket.  All those sentiments are still being cherished by our beautiful guest of honor!



What advice do you like to give new parents?

;-)  -Marci

Woodland Babies Centerpiece Tutorial

This little twig bouquet was the centerpiece for a baby shower we hosted in January.  The theme was woodland babies.  Would you like to see how I arranged it?

Here's the tutorial.  ;-)

Of course it begins with a vase.  You can see this one is 10 inches tall.  For this type of arrangement, I prefer to work with containers that have a narrow neck. 

Baby showers should be colorful, right?  ;-)  I added mult-color glass beads for weight as well as holding stems in place.  (No water will be needed.)  Beads don't work well for soft stems, but the twigs will be OK.  It will require a bit of twisting back and forth as the branches are pushed into the beads.

A good rule of thumb for height proportion is keeping the finished bouquet above the container between one and two times as tall as the vase.  So, with the vase at 10 inches, my finished arrangement should be 20 to 30 inches tall.

We recently had some lower limbs removed from a grand old oak tree in our front yard.  I snipped these twigs from it. and then spread them across our sidewalk to see the shapes.  I left a few leaves here and there. 

Using the curved ones first, I begin working.  Three are pushed down into the glass beads, equal distance apart around the vase with stems crossed.  

Three more are pressed into the glass beads equal distance apart with stems crossed.  Repeat until full.  ;-)  As I get closer to the center, I use the straighter twigs.

Once the bouquet was this big, I did some snipping and trimming, just to even the sides a bit.  The wind is blowing the leaves.  ;-)  Now for the fun part!

How cute are hedgehogs?!  I purchased these felt ornaments the second I saw them.

Woodland babies were snuggled here and there using a small loop of raffia pinned on the back.

A few things were added to complete the centerpiece.  The evergreens shrubs are small pots of rosemary.  The touch of lace is a crocheted collar that belonged to my daughter when she was a baby.   I also added a ceramic fawn and a huge acorn.

A large chopping block added some height.

Here's my centerpiece and all the tasty treats!



Previous baby shower posts:

Ten Steps to Hosting a Stress Free Baby Shower

Cheesecake Bar

Aunt Margie's Punch Recipe

We had such a fun day!  What do you enjoy most at baby showers?

;-)  -Marci

Aunt Margie's Punch Recipe

Baby shower posts continue!  ;-)  We had such a good time hosting one in January!

What a pretty Mommy-to-Be!

Here are a couple of previous baby shower posts:

Ten Steps to Hosting a Stress Free Baby Shower

Cheesecake Bar

For us, so many punch recipes are waaaaaaaay too sweet.  My Aunt Margie is a genius hostess and always serves this one.  It is perfect with cheesecake! 

Aunt Margie's Punch Recipe

2 Lemons

1 Orange

1 Lime

One Recipe of my Sweet Tea, still warm from the stove

One Recipe of my Sweet Tea frozen into Ice Cubes

Juice one lemon into the punch bowl.  Slice the rest of the citrus carefully, to make it look pretty and place inside punch bowl.  Pour the still warm recipe of Sweet Tea over the citrus a few hours before your party and let come to room temperature.  Just before the party, add the frozen Sweet Tea ice cubes.  As the punch bowl empties, keep adding Sweet Tea ice.  This keeps the punch cold AND full!

Our other drink options are a pitcher of un-sweet tea, a couple bottles of wine, and coffee pods for our Keurig.



Those tiny pods are a handy way to offer lots of flavors in a small space.  We have the little drawer underneath the machine to keep them tidy.



I like to offer varying sizes of glasses.  Those punch cups never seem to be quite big enough!  ;-)

More baby shower posts to come, along with a complete tour of my kitchen!

What is your favorite punch recipe?

;-)  -Marci

Ten Steps to Hosting a Stress Free Baby Shower

Baby showers are so much fun, but hosting one can feel a little daunting!  While they can be a lot of work, it is so worth the happiness of getting everyone together and celebrating the pending arrival of a darling new addition!  

We recently hosted a shower in our home and had such a great time.  This gorgeous Mommy-to-be has been our neighbor since was three!  She doesn't remember not having us in her life.  The very second they told us of the amazing little miracle on the way, I offered to host her shower.

(Handsome Husband uses beard products from THIS PLACE)

Here are my thoughts on how to plan a stress free party!

1.  Ask Guest of Honor for any preferences, dislikes or restrictions and choose date

2. Discuss Baby Registry with Mommy-to-Be to have an understanding of what she likes

3.  Choose theme or color scheme

4.  Request invitation list to get a feel for the numbers

5.  Consider location and where to photograph guests

6.  Plan menu and create list for food as well as needed table ware

7.  Choose decor, considering time needed for crafting ;-) and create list

8.  Prepare and send invitations via electronics, snail mail or both

9.  Cook or order menu

10.  Final Set Up

Please come back for more baby shower posts.  I'm writing tutorials for the the centerpieces and garland I made, along with editing photos of the food and drink tables!  Whew!  I can hardly wait to show you!

What's your favorite thing about baby showers?  How do you like to plan them?

;-)  -Marci