April Showers: Part 8

I am finishing up the series with one of my favorite sources for inspiration: Hostess with the Mostess.

Jenn has such amazing fresh, modern and practical shower and party ideas. Here is a look at some of my favorites:

Bling Baby Shower

Modern Alphabet

Beach Baby Shower

Bedtime Stories Baby Shower:

Citrus Twist Bridal Shower:

Modern Kitchen Bridal Shower:

There is much more on her website and also many great real showers on her blog.

While April is over tonight, I will be back tomorrow with some May Flowers!

April Showers: Part 7

Before I started my own company, I worked for the wonderful Ryan Larson of Savoir Flair Weddings. While working for her, I helped with this beautiful baby shower, captured by the incredible Laura Kleinhenz of Docuvitae.

Guests were asked to write down a wish for the babies as they arrived and then place their notecards in a cute little birdhouse.

I love using bassinets as gift holders:

The mama was pregnant with twins: one boy and one girl. There were three tables, which Ryan named "His", "Hers" & "Theirs". The escort cards were these adorable fences strung on ribbon with clothespins.

The shower was a tea, so guests were treated to delicious tea sandwiches and other light lunch items. I love how the watering can is hanging over the arrangement. So cute!

Ryan did such a good job with the centerpieces:

This one is my favorite- look closely. There is a little tire swing and sign hanging from the tree. I love the moss as well.

You cannot tell very well, but this centerpiece was a couple of baby blocks made out of carnations.

While the shower was over 5 years ago, the style is still adorable today. I love the classic, romantic garden feel.

April Showers: Part 6

Today is the last day in April, which means just one more day of shower fun.

I want to share a few more fun ideas with you. First off, following up on my earlier invitation post, I adore this invitation made by Karrie Pyke Designs.

Co-ed showers can be a lot of fun. It is best to stay away from typical shower games- guys are not into playing the "what what is in the tray that was passed around" game. I think it would be super fun to do a few guys v. girls activies or games. Keep score throughout the shower and the winning gender gets prizes at the end. This invitation would lend perfectly to a cute, chic backyard BBQ shower. I know my husband would be all over that!

One reader asked about creative baby shower games. One fun one is to have guests guess whose traits the parents would hope their baby gets. For instance, whether they would want the mom's eyes or the dad's baby blues. Whether they would want the dad's sense of humor or would prefer the mom's. Have guests write down their answers, and then have the mom-to-be give the answers that she and her husband previously decided on.

A great activity is to have guests decorate onesies for the baby. It is fun to see what people come up with and every new baby needs a handful of onesies. This works best with a smaller guest count though- no baby needs 30 of them!

We did this at a co-ed shower and it was a blast. It was really funny to see what the guys came up with! You can use permanent markers or fabric pens or paint. Be sure to put a piece of cardboard in the middle of the onesie so that the ink/paint does not bleed through to the back.

One of the best parts about a shower to me is the dessert. For baby showers, mini or "baby" desserts are great! These were from Vanilla Bake Shop:

How cute are these cookies, made by Melody of Sweet and Saucy Shop?

I am going to leave you with some photos of the baby showers that my sisters and family friends threw for me when I was pregnant with my little man (I cannot believe that it has been over a year and a half!):

Cute plates and napkins + lots of buttons + wrapped water bottles= super cute!

The theme of this shower was "I is for Isaiah" (my son's name). My sister cut out hundreds of "I"'s on her cricut to use as confetti all over the tables. It was really cute!

April Showers: Part 5

Just like Lindsey said yesterday, I love making invitations for showers. It is definitely one of my favorite parts! However, I know that some of you probably do not enjoy things like that or just may not have the time to glue 60 pieces of ribbon on to cardstock.

Today I want to highlight some cute shower invitation finds on Etsy. I seriously love etsy- I could spend hours browsing the handmade lovelies.

I love this simple and sweet invite from LittleChickenDesign.

What is great about these is that she emails you the invite and you can print them at home on your printer or have a local printer print them out for you. You are only paying for the digital file so it is really cost effective.

I love that invite as well because it lends itself well to matching party decor. I made these for a baby boy shower:

Another shower decor idea that I love is using the gifts as decor. As the mom to be opens gifts, you can hang the cute baby clothes on a clothesline for all to see.

These invites, made by seller caelum, also tie in with that similar motif:

You could easily make these yourself as well. Swap pink out for any color and use some fun scrapbook paper. It would be cute with the onesie cut out of fabric as well. 

A few more baby shower invites:

From seller SillyMeDesigns 

Another great one  that can easily set a theme. Desserts- sweet, delicious and will surely be a hit! Made by seller TucciPaperCo. 

Another cute one by TucciPaperCo:

I would love to do a preppy, argyle baby girl shower. Note to self: file this one away!

Now for some bridal shower invitations:

Super cute by MadluDesigns. I, personally, would make these invitations myself using circles of scrapbook paper or fabric.

So sweet and feminine, also from MadluDesigns. It comes in other color combinations as well.

From WestWillow.

If you are having a hard time coming up with a theme for a shower, I recommend looking at invitations. Many times, that can start your design for the entire shower.

More shower goodness to come!