fawn&forest

Today's your last chance to enter to win the Virtual Baby Shower over at the ever so lovely blog Tangled&True! Jump over there right now + leave your comment on the post with your name to enter!

With over $760 in prizes, Fawnandforest.com also contributed to the love with a Moby Wrap (you choose the color), a set of Fresh Baby food trays and a First 1,000 Days Journal by Nikki McClure.  

Hooray for Tangled&True + the winner, which will be announced tomorrow morning! 

Kelly's baby shower was a lot of fun + a total success, as you can tell from the smile on Kelly's face!

Psalms + I kept it simple in the decoration department. White table cloths, natural kraft paper runners and large chocolate brown pieces of paper as anchors on the tables. Three large arrangements of cherry blossom branches in cylindrical vases filled the space (which worked well as the ceilings are quite high) and a smaller arrangement of cherry blossoms greeted the gusts (top middle) on the entry table. Tucked into the cherry blossom arrangements were small greetings -- 'welcome baby liam' + 'congratulations' printed out on cream cardstock + cut down to size.

The decorations were minimal + not overdone, yet filled the space wonderfully. Space + scale is something to certainly consider when planning the decorations. Also realistically take the time you have to devote to preparations into account. We knew we would be spending more time on food + lunch, so it was realistic to keep the decorations simple + sophisticated. 

Congratulations Kelly! 

So Psalms + I have decided baby shower games are actually a lot of fun. Make them look nice + everyone will happily play along.

Game No.1: celebrity baby name quiz. Kelly was quite eager in the game category, suggesting a celebrity baby name quiz. Kelly, being a celebrity baby maven came up with the questions + designed the game herself! So fun.  You can print the PDF and email me for the answers. Out of all 19 questions on the quiz, the winner only missed one answer. Wow.

Game No.2: guess. The guess-how-big-mom's-belly-is game got a lot of laughs + concentration at the last shower we hosted, so we decided to play it again. And the preparation is quite simple, each guest receives a nicely packaged length of twine. To make, you will need about 4 feet of cotton twine, neatly coiled, with a coordinating tag (Psalms used this cool recyceled paper for both games and the bird punch + cardstock from the favors, gluing the inside of the tag closed). To play, pass scissors around having the guests cut the length of how big they think the Momma's belly is. The person who has the closest guess, wins.

Prizes for the winners are a must. These towels would be an excellent choice! Images by Psalms.

I'll be honest. I was a bit nervous when Kelly said she would like her baby shower to be at 1pm on a Saturday. That meant one thing: lunch. While Psalms + I both know how to cook + make all the food bits look nice, serving lunch to 25 guests would be a new undertaking for us. Good thing we are into simple (as in very very simple) + deliciously fresh food, right?

Kelly's Mom volunteered to contribute the main dish for the lunch buffet, chicken salad served with buttery croissants. While I can't seem to locate the exact recipe (it had pineapple + was quite delicious), this one also looks quite tasty.  To accompany, we served a spring greens salad with strawberry vinaigrette + a dashing array of sliced veggies + dip. Additionally, individual fruit salad cups were also on the buffet, an idea inspired by Jordan. A much more appetizing alternative to the usual droopy-runny fruit salad. Lunch for 25 was a success + quite simple. And not a quiche in sight!

But above all, Kelly requested cake. Not the hip to the moment cupcakes, but a buttercream frosted, half sheet cake in all it's goodness from her favorite bakery. No messing around, let's eat cake! Apparently all 25 guests had the same cake craving as the vanilla + chocolate cake layered with a copious amounts of chocolatey filling was a hit.

And what's cake without cookies? Of course. I made grammy's chocolate cookies + almond cookies (can't locate the recipe, but it was similar to this one minus the jam) for the dessert table. We also served the usual suspects: coffee, tea and a handful of sparking water + juices. And remember how I said no one serves punch anymore? Well, I do, I guess! As a tribute to all the "cloud" punch Kelly has celebrated with growing up, I forged into unknown territory (under the guidance of the grandma-to-be) and whipped up my very own batch of "cloud" -- lemonade, lemon-lime soda and half a tub of vibrant lime green sherbet in all it's glory. 

Party favors are fun + Psalms does such a wonderful + thoughtful job.  Our color palette for the baby shower was natural, earthy creams + browns with bits of blue + green, which was beautifully reflected in the favors.

For the favors, Psalms made coconut macaroons for each guest to enjoy. They were delicious! She packaged the favors by placing 3 macaroons in a cello bag, then tied a thin brown ribbon to enclose. For the label, she purchased these sticky labels, punching out small cardstock birds using a craft punch, and glued the birdies on. Using rubber letter stamps, Psalms stamped the initials of Kelly's bun-in-the-oven. 

Photos by Psalms, thanks dear! 

Welcome to another baby shower week! Our friend Kelly is due in a month, so a baby shower, held this past Saturday, was certainly in order! It was a lot of fun and ended up being perfectly "Kelly".

First things first: inspiration. Kelly is the type of girl who is naturally beautiful + effortlessly put together. She enjoys simple design + lives in a mid-century home with her lovely English husband. They are expecting a boy and will be using off-white naturals, chocolate, aqua + olive green in the nursery. 

With inspiration, Psalms + I chose invites from Kelly's favorite, Egg Press (above left). I also included an additional information enclosure shown right, with the invitation.

Part 5: Decorations. 
This is perhaps  a partial-post as the bright+fun baby shower is this evening + the decoratios are currently sprawled accroos my dining room table. The first baby shower week: bright + fun has been a good example of how "bright fun" does not have to equal juvenile + primary. A lot of color has been used, selectively. It's casual + very festive. It makes you smile + fits Mom Sara perfectly. 

Tabletops: The basis of the tablescapes are white tablecloths with colorful wrapping paper runners. Wrapping paper (or colorful art paper) is a great way to bring color and centralize the decorations + theme. I did not buy fancy wrap but gave a nod to bright-Swedish-bits and chose kid-orientated paper at Ikea. Big, bright animals + lots of loud color. It was a print that Mom Sara really likes and has in parts of her nursery.  Inspired from the wrapping paper the colors orange, blue and green are used for the other decorations .  

Garland: In order to simplify decorations + not make the shower look like a kid's party, we have focused the decorations to the food + reception tables. I created 2 garlands (banners?) using this printable template to say "welcome baby spencer" in both Swedish + English, by printing the template on orange cardstock and stringing the letters with a rich orange cotton yarn. The two banners will hang from the front of 2 tables.

Flowers: In addition to vases of fresh flowers (I am thinking bright daisys) I have used this pattern for fancy flower decorations to create cheerful paper decorations in bright blues + greens. Not only are the flowers simple to make but reinforce the bright+fun inspired theme. 

Image at left via here. 

Part 4: Food + Bevs + Dessert. 
The consumable portion of a baby shower greatly depends on what time of day, location, how many guest will be attending and overall inspriration for the shower. For the bright + fun shower we are keeping it quite simple: crudites, bread + cheese, cupcakes + cheesecake tartlets, a fun sparkle-beverage + coffee. The shower will be held on a Friday night at 7p. Post-dinner time but certainly in need of snacks, treats + beverages.

Food: The beautiful crudites (shown in image at right) are really quite simple + basically just need assembly. However, making them for 25 people could be a little much. A fresh vegetable platter from your local market is perfectly acceptable. If you are not so hot on the plastic platter it will most likely come on, give props to semi-homemade + arrange on your own plates + you are set. And don't forget the dip. People will most likely ask if they bring something. If you are having a casual shower this is a very accomidating offer. Take them up on it. Food such as bread + cheese would be a great option and does not require much preparation. 

Beverages: Not sure if people are still doing the fruit punch thing with 7-up and bits of floating sherbert? There are some lovely updated punch recipes, though who owns a punch bowl these days? I don't! I guess you could rent one. A selection of sparkling soda is a fun option, especially flavors from Dry and Izze. Sparkling water, coffee + tea are good standards. I thought these drink "parasols" were a nice touch, pattern can be found here.

Dessert: My favorite. I am still not sick of cupcakes! Cupcakes are less daunting to make than a traditional cake and always make people smile. Snag inspiration from your favorite cupcake shop, such as  Sprinkles (image above middle). Unless, by chance, you live near a Sprinkles or other cupcake joint + could always buy a couple dozen. We will be having several desserts (cupcakes + cheesecake tartlets), self-serve buffet style. I will also be making these funky, but tasty Swedish cookies called Chokladbollar. Mom Sara will surely notice the thoughtful Swedish touch! (Image left + right from Martha. Middle image from Sprinkles.)

Part 2: Party Games.
As I mentioned before baby shower games usually bring on the uncomfortable cringe. They can usually be quite embarrassing and because of lack of organization, can leave the guest feeling bad as they don't know what's going on.

But wait! Party games can be fun. Kept simple + with an aesthetically pleasing presentation, you'll have everyone excited to join in. In planning party games, keep in mind a few things: what kind of attendees you have, how many people, how well the guest know the expecting mom+ the personality of the mom. A shy mom woul perhaps not want to have her belly "measured" in the 'guess the girth' (above, right) game. Some games don't work with a large crowd and other games, such as the 'character attribute' (above, left) would not work so well if the guest do not know the expecting dad so well.

Game no.1: How well do you know Mommy-to-be? I found this well designed + conversation inducing game off of the somewhat defunct blog, Nested. She re-did 2 classic baby shower games, well designed and in a printable pdf format. Sweet! Print off on coordinating paper (in the case of our bright + fun shower, I used a lovely shade of orange) and provide each guest with a sharpened pencil. The person who guesses the  most of Mom's answer's correctly, wins!

Game no.2: Guess the Girth. Dorky title, yes. But when you have reached the later weeks of your pregnancy, well, you feel sort of "girthy"! This  is one of those classic shower games that when presented poorly (think acrylic yarn in pastel hues, sloppily cut + handed out to guest!) preceeds the cringe. How to get your guest to surely exclaim you are the next Martha Stewart? Cut roughly 4 feet of neutral heavy weight string or lightweight yarn, neatly wrapping it to obtain a tidy circle of string. Then cut tabs of paper (roughly 1"x4"). Using a question-mark stamp, stamp the top portion of the tab, then fold in half horizontally. Next put the neat swirl of string into the folded tab + stapled to close (the open part of the tab will be at the top). Simple + to make 30 took me just over 30 minutes. When it comes time to play the game, here's the scoop: each guest gets a piece of string + using a pair of scissors cuts the string to the length she think is the girth (circumference) of the Mom's belly. After everyone snips their string, measure Mom. Whoever has the same length (or closest to) of string, wins!

A Prize for the winner/s: Does not have to be fancy or expensive and can certainly be something amusing, like $5 in cash. Depending on the crowd, universal prize ideas could include: Coffee, something interesting, iTunes, something sweet, or a Moleskine. I'd be happy to play a shower game with prizes like that!

Part 2: The Guest Book.
The Guest Book is an essential part of the baby shower. Not only does it document who attended but has the potential to be a gift of love that will certainly be treasured for years to come. Books that serve a duel purpose and ones thoughtfully composed give mom the perfect jumpstart on the precious memory keeping for her soon to be new born. 

The Binth Baby Book is perhaps not the first book that pops into mind when choosing a guest book for a shower. However, not only will it be an incredibility amazing shower gift to give the mom but also has ample blank pages in the back of the book for guest to write their best wishes. Perfect for a guest book. Small glassine envelopes could easily be adhered to the pages, holding cards, gift tags + other small mementos. The Binth Baby Book is artfully printed + a beautifully handbound family heirloom. Worthy of perfect handwriting and the most luxurious pen! 

The refillable scrapbook by Kolo is another great option and is available in a handful of colors + sizes. Guests have the freedom to write thoughtful sentiments + quirky advise to the expecting mom and baby. Provide colorful pens and a polaroid camera for a spontaneous + spunky take on a guest book. With a glue stick and scissors, the designated assistant can simply take small snippets of wrapping paper + clips of ribbon and adhere to the pages as mom unwraps gifts, thoughtfully recording the gifts + the gift-giver under each snippet + clip.

Psalms choose a Kolo book in a cheeful green + had the idea to give each guest an adhesive backed 4x6" piece of colorful cardstock + a pen at the upcoming baby shower we are hosting. In doing this, guest would not have to wait for the guest book to be passed around or for someone to finish up. Each guest equipped with their own piece of the guest book, can take their time to write + contribute as they wish. Post-shower, we will simply adhere the cards into the Kolo scrapbook for mom Sara. Color + fun + very useful!

Welcome to Baby Shower Week! Hosting a baby shower is indeed a lot of fun but can be intimidating to pull off, successfully. The cookie-cutter imagery of baby bottles + newborn footprints in pastel hues is a bit dated. Not only do baby shower games make us all uncomfortably cringe (is that chocolate "poop" in the diaper? what?!) but the whole deal of it can be dreadfully boring. 

Part 1: Inspiration, Invitations + Favors.
The best inspiration for a baby shower comes straight from the expecting mom + dad, of course (and the gender of the baby, if known). My friend Psalms + I are hosting a shower for our dear friend who is Swedish, married to an American. Sara likes bright colors + bold prints (think Ikea, now!) and would appreciate a non-minimalist, fun-kid style sort of celebration. And she's having a boy. Inspiration!

Invitation ideas are limitless. Basically boils down to how much time you have, want to spend or how crafty you are. Invitations are fun to make + fully customizable. There are however, hundreds of amazing options available for purchase. While I can't locate (online) the invitations we used, this blank card from SweetBeets would be a lovely option by handwriting or printing the information inside. Assemble the guest list!

Planning + putting together the favors is the funnest part. Not only does assembleing 25 party favors induce a surge of productivity + accomplishment, but also allows you to let out a bit of creative energy. Psalms thoughtfully created the favors, shown above. A quick trip to Ikea for the finger puppets + strange (but fitting) Swedish candy, along with hand stamped gift tags, coordinating ribbon + cello bags is all it took. Simple, colorful + continues the theme of colorful fun-kid Swedish style. Because Sara speaks Swedish, Psalms made and attached stickers (using her printer + sticker paper) that say welcome baby spencer in English + Swedish. Perfect. Inexpensive, simple to create + a wonderful thank you to the guest for celebrating a new life. (images by Psalms.)