Celebration

After a long work day yesterday, I returned home to discover that my April Owls & Books Baby Shower was featured on Ohdeedoh.  You are blessedly unable to hear the squeal that I uttered in that moment.  It was even more exciting that I learned about it from a rader's comment prior to seeing the email from Ohdeedoh.  Hooray!!!!

I love Ohdeedoh's content and often look to them for inspiration.  If you aren't a frequent visitor (though I imagine most of your are), it's a great source for parenting tips, design ideas, crafts, and new products.  In fact, it was an Ohdeedoh article that helped begin my obsession with felt food, which you are all probably very aware of at this point.

Thank you to Ohdeedoh, particularly given that the photos were not great.

You can see the whole article under A Bookish Baby Shower.

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Baby Shower: Owls & Books, Part V

Here are some free printables for the Owls & Books Baby Shower.  Enjoy!

Shower Game:
Game where participants have to determine the real children's book title from the alternative name.  Page is designed to print two per page.  Just cut down the middle, leaving two pages that are 4 1/4" x 11".

Owls and Books Baby Shower Alternative Titles Game

Favor Tags: 
These tags can be folded in half and stapled to a gift bag.  File prints four tags per page.  Print on cardstock.  Cut 1/2" off of the left and right sides as a guide.  The tags should be 3" high (1 1/2" when folded) and 4" wide.

Owls and Books Baby Shower Favor Tags

"Welcome Baby" Circle Stickers: 
Print on adhesive paper to make stickers.  File designed to be cut by a 1 1/2" circle punch.  I used the stickers to decorate the cups.  However, they could be used as cupcake topers, on napkins, or on favor bags.  The uses are endless.  Print 25 per page.

Owls and Books Baby Shower Circles

Bookplates:
These bookplates can be included in the invitation for guests to write a special message for the baby.  Print on adhesive paper.  File prints 4 bookplates per page.
Owls and Books Baby Shower Bookplates
More details are available on the shower including:

• Part I - Invitations
• Part II - Games
• Part III - Decorations
• Part IV - Food

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Baby Shower: Owls & Books, Part IV

And the final baby shower photos...

I was inspired by How Does She's Napkin Dress.  To continue the owl motif, I made little stickers to dress up the cups.

The menu included spice cake cupcakes with book cupcake toppers, chocolate fudge owl cupcakes (inspired by Hello Cupcake), red velvet cakeballs (inspired by Bakerella) as well as the more savory antipasti platter, three-quarter dip, and bruschetta.

To see the other ideas, check out the invitations, the games, and the decorations.

Check back tomorrow for free printables.

This party has been featured on:
One Pretty Thing:  Baby Shower Round-Up

This post is linked with:

Oopsey Daisy:  Baby Week
Creative Party Place

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Baby Shower: Owls & Books, Part III

More details from the shower...

We had a bowl and cards for everyone to leave a blessing for the new parents and baby.

I dyed a onesie brown and then stenciled it to match the owl motif from all the other materials.  I then stenciled burp clothes in brown and displayed two on a hanging clothesline (the others were packaged up with the gift).

The favors were little bags of brown sugar and spice cookies in the shape of baby bottles.  Obviously, I need to work on my icing technique more.

And of course Mr. Owl.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of his brother who was the cuter of the two.  The little owls were inspired by Not Just a Mommy's Owls.

Don't miss the earlier posts with the invitation and the games.

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Baby Shower: Owls & Books, Part II

I was inspired by Twig & Thistle's quiz card.  In keeping with the book theme, the challenge was for guests to determine the real title for each book.  (Ex:  "Evening Salutations to the Celestial Orb" is the classic story "Good Night Moon")  The other game was a crossword custom designed for the expectant parents.

To see the invitation, check out Part I of the Owls and Books Baby Shower.

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Baby Shower: Owls & Books, Part I

This was baby shower weekend and I am utterly exhausted.  It was my first experience hosting an event while working full time, having a toddler and a baby, and having my husband out of town.  Coming right off of Easter, I felt really behind going into this past week.  Thankfully I have a great family that helped with the kids so that I could get things ready.  And despite some last minute changes due to lack of time, the event really came close to reflecting what was in my mind's eye.

Given the lack of time, I did consider just doing a basic shower.  But in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it.  (1) It isn't me.  (2) I wanted this shower to be special.  This one has been a long time coming.  It was for a very special couple who has found out that they are adopting a baby very soon.  I know it is risky to have a baby shower before the adoption.  However, we decided to do one beforehand to help them get the basics for the first weeks.

The colors of the nursery are brown and green, so we went with those as the colors.  The parents are avid readers, so I chose to go with a book theme.  However, books by themselves seemed too grown-up.  We needed an animal.  Owls... they're cute, a little different, whimsical, and give the impression of being wise.  Thus, this became our "Owls and Books Baby Shower."

Since I have a ton of pictures and need some time to process everything, I'm going to break this down in a few parts.  Part 1... the Invitation.

I think Invitations set the mood for an event.  They are a great indication of things to come.  For this occasion, I designed a brown and green invitation (8 1/2" x 3 1/2").  It started with a little story:

Once upon a time… there was a couple preparing for their family to grow from two to three. So their family and friends showered them with love… and diapers, bibs, bottles, and other gear to get them ready for their new adventure

Invitees were encouraged to bring a book instead of a card.  I included in the invitations a bookplate for guests to fill out and place in the book as a lasting memory.  The invitation and bookplate both reflect the owl motif that will be seen repeatedly in the shower.

For the final touch, I lined the envelopes with a green print paper.  If you are interested in doing this, I've included a tutorial below.

Come back later this week to see the rest of the details behind the party.

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