Baby Shower - For Mommy

I always like the idea of baby showers that pamper the Mommy to be. By the time the baby shower roles around they are really close to their due date and could use some pampering! This is also a great idea for a mom that already has children and doesn't necessarily need a baby shower. For instance, one of my friends has a little boy that has just turned one and she is having a second boy in October. She has alot of the necessities for this second baby, already. But, she could definitely use some pampering!

I found a great post, for this kind of baby shower, @ http://rowdystroudy.blogspot.com/2010/09/pamper-mom-baby-shower.html . This includes recipes for facials, scrubs and masks. I want to try them whether it's for a shower or not! This is such a great and inexpensive way to have a girl's night and shower combined.

Since this shower is all about mommy don't forget to make the gifts all about her too. Putting together things she would love is a great way to make her feel special. Also, bringing meals (like this breakfast gift basket above) is a great way to help her relax in the coming days.

Another fun idea is each guest doing a few scrapbook pages. Then the busy mom just has to add photos and comments later. This would be a great way to help mom organize her pictures and memories.

 

For the decor and food I think pretty and calming is a great way to go. I found this beautiful dessert table @ http://www.hwtm.com/index.cfm?page=albums/view_album&albumid=2786&categoryid=27 . This would be great for celebrating and pampering the mommy to be!

This shower theme could go so many different ways and can be really tailored to the mom to be. It can be a great way for her to unwind with her friends. Don't be shy about asking everyone to pitch in for this event. Then it won't be stressful for anyone!







Baby Shower - Children's Books

Before April ends I thought I would look at a couple more shower themes. I have a few friends that are having babies in the fall and thought it would be fun to look at some ideas for their showers. One of the biggest reasons I started thinking about this was an adorable theme I found on the Hostess With the Mostess blog @ http://blog.hwtm.com/

This shower's theme is children's books! How cute it that? I still love children's books myself, and thought this idea was genius. You could go so many directions with this shower theme. You can pick any books you want and make it gender friendly or gender neutral.

One of the first things that caught my eye was how easy this cake would be. It's stacked sheet cakes with the names of the books. They used fondant to make some of the critters and characters from the books they chose. It's such a cute, inexpensive, fun, easy cake!

They stuck with finger foods, and matched them to books. This is such a unique and cute idea. They kept with the book theme on the tables as well. Decorating each table to go along with the book that was at that particular table.

The second website I found with this theme was @ http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/a-bookish-baby-shower-117730 . They did these adorable cupcakes that would also be a cute and inexpensive dessert. I don't love games at showers, but I do love trivia. This shower's game had sentences that described children's books. The guests had to figure which children's book was being described. More fun than the usual shower games :)

This last shower I found @ http://www.aestheticnest.com/2011/01/party-golden-books-baby-shower.html was perhaps my favorite. I love Golden Books and I also loved the vintage and modern look that this shower's decor combined. These cupcakes are yet another inexpensive, but adorable dessert idea. Plus, the website provides the printables for the cupcake toppers and the cupcake wrappers!

Another great idea from this shower was inviting the guests to bring a book for the baby. They could pick up the above sticker (printable provided at website) and personalize the book. This is such a great idea! It allows the child to have a book collection started, as well as, being able to see the who the book is from. Love it!

One More Wedding...

Ok before I leave behind the posts on bridal showers I have one more. I don't have any particular friend in mind, I just simply love this idea.

On pinterest I have come across the theme of "Travel Wedding". I love to travel, so I thought this was a fantastic idea! Since not everyone would want a themed wedding though, I thought it would be a great idea for a shower instead. Especially if you used the destination of the honeymoon for the theme. Also, this is a great theme for a couples shower vs. a bridal shower. The travel theme can have enough masculine touches to be a comfortable event for the groom and his friends as well.

I think this DIY banner, I found on pinterest.com, is so cool! It is also really versatile because you can do any kind of scrapbook paper and use any colors! Great idea.

I really like this idea, from pinterest, of using a suitcase for cards from the guests. A sign or banner would also be cute and show the guests what the suitcase is for. So fun!

To begin with, I found this great tutorial @ http://kristasewinspired.blogspot.com/2011/10/vintage-paper-flower-tutorial.html#comment-form . I thought this would be a fantastic (and inexpensive) way to do flowers for a shower. But, instead of using book paper you use maps...

Like this!

I found this second way to use maps @ marthastewartweddings.com . This would be a really simple centerpiece. You could use coffee cans and secure the maps around them with scrapbooking tape. 

Another centerpiece idea I found @ http://www.theloveliestday.com/2010/08/fun-filled-travel-themed-wedding.html . Is simply using postcards! How cute is that!?

The brochure style invitation (at the top left) is a great idea for an invitation. It gives the guests an idea of where the couple is going on their honeymoon and what the shower theme is. I found this picture @ http://blog.invitationconsultants.com/2010/05/destination-travel-themed-bridal-shower.html . This invitation would be super easy to put together with Microsoft Office 2010's Publisher program. The templates makes it simple to put together a brochure. 

This second type of invitation I found @ http://greenhornliving.com/2012/02/01/a-vintage-travel-themed-bridal-shower/ . Is also an inexpensive but cute idea!

I love this cake I found @ http://www.coquetteanddove.co.uk/search?q=Stamp this is such a cute idea, to use colorful stamps as garland on a simple cake!

I also like this idea from http://www.hwtm.com/index.cfm?page=albums/view_album&albumid=285&photoid=6867 to put a simple cake on a suitcase. This could be a really inexpensive way to decorate not only the cake table but also around the shower. Picking up old suitcases at flea markets is a cheap way to decorate!

My last find @ http://www.thesweetestoccasion.com/2010/09/vintage-travel-inspired-wedding-ideas/ was this super cute dessert table. I really like the little details.

I could go on and on with this theme. I found tons of really great ideas online. It is a great theme that can be tailored to the couple and place they are going. Besides the fact that it's fun!



Weddings = Brunch!

I have a friend that is a country girl. She would love to have her reception in a barn, which would be so fun! I found a fun idea, for her shower, while looking online... brunch! I love breakfast food and brunch is a fun idea!

I found a post @ http://www.thesweetestoccasion.com/2011/01/wedding-brunch-ideas/ for having a brunch. How cute are these pancakes! I also love the idea of a pancake station, with various toppings.

This second idea of a bisuit bar that I found @ http://ellybevents.com/blog/tag/inspiration-station/ looks so good! I also really like the vintage decor and fresh flowers.

When I found this last post @ http://www.jepromets.com/2011/05/brunchinspired/ I just loved everything about it! I really like the fresh flowers, big and little chalkboard. The way the food is laid out is great as well.

Combining vintage, rustic and pretty colors for the decor is the way I would go with this. I think the idea of brunch for a bridal shower would be a great way to relax and have fun for the bride and her guests.

Weddings = Ooo La La!

My next friend hasn't set a date but is pinning her thoughts on a wedding, in the next few years. This is one of my closest friends, I wanted to mix an elegance with fun for her shower ideas. She and I both share a love for movies. So, I decided that would be a really fun place to start... a movie night.

I found this table and dessert ideas @ http://blog.hwtm.com/2012/02/parisian-girls-night-bridesmaids-movie-viewing-party/ . I really like the idea of the popcorn holders! The themes is "parisian girls night + Bridesmaids movie viewing". My plan is to stick with the glam of the parisian girls night but have multiple movies and maybe games. The desserts look really easy and cute. Plus, the printables are available on the website! Hurray!

The second site I found @ http://voices.yahoo.com/movie-themed-bridal-shower-397998.html gives alot of great tips for putting together a movie night themed bridal shower. Very fun ideas!

I want to add more color to the shower then just black and pink. My friend is leaning toward several bright colors, which she would use all of, whenever she marries. I thought these finds @ http://blog.weddingwire.com/index.php/weddings/bridal-shower-ideas/ were not only great colors to throw in, but also some great ideas. I love the advise box and the recipe cards! This promises to be a fun night :)

Weddings = Winter Inspired

One of my friends is getting married in December. I'm not sure what her colors are so I looked at winter bridal showers. There's some cute stuff out there!

I love the colors here for a winter bridal shower. I think for this one the invitation, meringue tower and cupcakes are so pretty! I found this @ http://blog.weddingpaperdivas.com/winter-bridal-shower-inspiration-board/ . This was a great find for me because it gave me something to start off from.

My second find was a post @ http://blog.hwtm.com/2012/02/vintage-gothic-wedding-dessert-table/ Although colors and the gothic theme would be changed, I loved alot of the ideas that I found in this post. The ideas used at this shower are affordable, but look very classy. I love that combination! Besides, I found a tutorial @  http://www.youtube.com/embed/MHYX0qXDVy0 for making a ruffle cake, it's not very hard!

I love this last find @ http://03388df.netsolhost.com/WordPress/?p=793 , of course I love anything photography based, but I thought this idea was really cute. The decorations were also simple, easy but elegant. All in all, a great find!



Weddings = Grey and Yellow

I have several friends that are looking to walk down the aisle in the near future. SO I decided it would be fun to find some ideas for their showers.

I began with checking out their ideas on pinterest and then went off to scour the web for ideas.

One of my friends is planning on using yellow and grey for her colors (so cute). So I began with my favorite go to blog for event planning, The Hostess with the Mostess. I found a great post on a "romantic yellow and grey shower" @ http://blog.hwtm.com/2011/05/romantic-yellow-gray-dessert-table/ . I loved this because it could be done inexpensively and the colors could be fine tuned for the particular bride. So fun!

The second blog I found @ http://eastcoastwedding.blogspot.com/2011/03/yellow-grey-wedding.html is actually for a wedding, but I thought it would work great for a shower too. Except for the cake the shower look easy to pull off and really pretty. Not to mention, I really liked the photographs on the suitcase and the tree with notes from the guest. But, I especially love the cupcakes with the books for pedestals! Plus, my friend loves to read.

The last blog post I found @ http://blog.hgtv.com/design/2011/08/16/entertaining-with-the-color-of-the-month-hosting-a-party-say-hello-to-yellow/ has really great ideas using alot of fresh items. My friend is planning on getting married in June so getting the fresh flowers would be no big deal. So pretty!

April Showers!

Since "April Showers Bring May Flowers" I decided to do a post on a shower I threw! So...

I love putting together events for people. In fact I dream of starting my own event planning business, that would also include photography. Last summer I was given the opportunity to throw a baby shower for one of my closest friends. It was so much fun! I waited with baited breath to find out the sex of the baby so I could begin to plan. Once we all found out it was going to be a girl my mom and I went into planning mode.

Ok, so showers have become way more exciting than they were when I was a kid. Then you had blue or pink cake, balloons, streamers and napkins. Now there are so many possibilities that when I began to plan I was overwhelmed! I finally decided to begin with the invitations. That way there would already be a theme picked and we could have a jumping of point. 

I really wanted the shower to be as personal to the mommy as possible so I brought her in on the theme picking. We sat down in front of the computer and looked at tons of invitiations @ www.tinyprints.com . In the end she was drawn to all the invitations with a woodland theme (which I thought was super cute too). The funny part is that we ended up not getting any invitations because she is the youth pastor's wife at my church so we just announced it to the church :)

Alright, I'm going to warn you now that I will be mentioning the Hostess with the Mostess website www.HWTM.com alot! It has become one of my favorite go to sites for event planning.

But anyway, since we didn't need any invitations I moved onto decorations. Since none of us involved in this shower planning had lots of money, I wanted to see what I could DIY. I decided to start by looking at blogs and websites for baby showers. It was so exciting to find that the Woodland theme was pretty big, so there were alot of great ideas. The spots that became my favorite were:

•  Hostess with the Mostess - www.HWTM.com
•  http://www.bumpsmitten.com/
• http://www.partyandeventguide.com/
• www.etsy.com

Here are some pictures of the finished product!

This was a free printable from The Hostess with the Mostess website.

I thought it was perfect for the dessert table!

I found these cute little cupcake toppers (the circles with the little animals) on etsy.com. I paid may $3 for the PDF and could print out as many as I needed. I thought they made great confetti also. We got scrapbooking paper with the color scheme but different prints for each table. Then the doilie under the mason jar to add some frill, since it was a baby girl shower.

We alternated the centerpieces with each table. For one we used mason jars we had at home, then picked up some rocks and candles. For the other we bought small flower pots and moss. We then got sticks from the back yard and hung little socks and my etsy find from raffia for (I think) a cute centerpiece.

I printed this "sign in" sign on scrapbooking paper and framed it in a frame I had at home. Then broke out the mason jar, rocks and candle again for this sign in table.

The little Mommy wanted to have a frame signed for baby Gracelyn's room. It was a really cute idea!

We had friends that made lemonade and sweet tea. It was a great way to share the cost of drinks and for everyone to get involved :)

.....I also found those cute cups, with matching plates and napkins @ www.partycity.com

I decided to get really brave and make the cake myself! I used a chocolate cake mix, then found recipes online for chocolate ganache filling and white chocolate whipped icing (it was REALLY good, if I do say so myself). When it came down to it though I chickened out on trying to decorate it with fondant. So I printed of the little "Welcome Gracelyn" card and bought fresh flowers at Kroger. It's important to google what fresh flowers are safe to put on a cake so no one gets sick!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

(Mom made from scratch...mmm)

Plain chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing. Then one of our friends made these beautiful white cupcakes (she iced them so pretty).

I picked up the "cake pop" sticks at Hobby Lobby and we used scrapbooking double side adhesives to stick two little cake toppers on the sticks. Arent' they fun?!

The dessert table... we used yellow and white material on the ends. Then put a sheet with a checkered prints to it and tied raffia with fresh flowers to the sheet.

We also had various dips, sandwiches and veggies that friends brought. It was alot of fun and a success! (Hurray) Bringing in friends to help with the food and drinks was a great way to help the budget and allow those who are busy to still be a part of throwing the shower.

Here's a few more pictures...

We discoverd that my friend Lis is the Master Wrapper! She wrapped the big gifts that people had gone together and bought! Talent!

Here's the gift table with a comfy chair, we swiped from the church nursery, for Mamma.

Here's Mommy and Gammy holding up a quilt one of the ladies made. How cute is that!

Declutter and Make Money!

I thought I'd throw in something a little different than the path I've been going down this week in this blog. As you can see on my profile I'm a student, so I am always up for a way to make a little extra cash. So I have discovered a great way to not only make some cash but get my house cleared of unused, unneeded STUFF!

A few years ago, before I went back to college, I had been laid off and decided to take the time to clear out the house. So I ventured into the ebay world and put everything I didn't want on there. I ended making around $900 dollars that summer! I think the thing that surprised me the most was that some of the stuff I considered piddly or junk sold! I sold a Dunkin Donuts coffee scoop for $7! Now I don't know that this amount that I accumulated is normal. So don't go into selling the things you want to get rid of thinking your going to get rich! But it is a fantastic way to get a little extra cash, along with, decluttering your house! Score!!

Here's a great blog tutorial on selling on ebay: http://www.selljunkinyourtrunk.com/category/ebay-selling-blog

I recently started selling various things around the house again and discovered amazon. The thing that drew me to this particular site over ebay was that I was trying to sell mostly school books, that I was done with. Amazon is a great place to shop online, so I figured it would be a great platform for selling books! In the end, I feel that ebay is great for selling small, easily shipped things; while amazon is great for books and media. Yet again, a great find for me and my quickly piling school books!

Here's a few pointers on selling through amazon: http://whicken.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-tips-for-selling-on-amazon.html

My mom has fallen in love with Craigslist! In fact, she sits and peruses it in her downtime to unwind. (hee hee) This site is fantastic for selling and buying things that you cannot ship easily. For instance, my mom most recently sold a 70 piece set of  china! That would have cost a ton to ship but driving to a local town to deliver it was no big deal. Craigslist is really good for selling furniture or buying it, for that matter! You can find some solid furniture on there and diy it to perfection. Paint is your friend!

Here is some need to know for selling on craigslist: http://www.liveoncash.com/blog/safety-first-when-using-craigslist

Etsy.com is my most recent find. Now I love to peruse this site in my downtime! Etsy is great for selling vintage (aka antique) items or handmade items. It's also a fantastic place to find decorations for parties! I've used it for that reason before. It's just plain old fun to look through too. I am always amazed at the things you can find on there and the talent that abounds in the seller's.

Etsy provides great tips and strategies for selling on their site here's just one: http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/the-quick-start-guide-to-selling-on-etsy/

Ok, so I'm sure you have heard of all of the sites I've mentioned at one time or another. But, I thought I would bring them up, along with my adventures using them. To remind you that they are great tools for clearing out clutter, and making some extra money. I want to mention though that most of these, if not all, take a percentage of your profit for using their site. I didn't feel it was too steep though and have enjoyed using their already set up selling platform.

So there you are, a rundown on the internet selling I have done, and have yet to do. I hope you enjoyed reading this and that it was helpful!