Baby Bird {A Bird Themed Baby Shower}

by Amy | Jan 20, 2015 | Blog, The Art of Gathering

I simply cannot believe I’ve let so much time pass before showing you these photos.  I honestly don’t know where the time goes.  But I digress…Today I’m so excited to be showing you images from a baby shower we threw for my sister back in December.

It was an amazing group effort from our mom, aunt, a couple of Erin‘s friends, and myself.  It was an effort that spanned across state lines, and an effort that paid off big.  In my opinion, it was a fantastic shower.  I’m so happy I convinced her to let me help throw it and so very grateful to everyone who came…despite the party being only a couple days after Christmas.

Erin is going with a “Bird & Books” themed nursery…so that’s the theme we went with a book and bird themed baby shower as well.  The shower was held at our county Conservation Club, where my dad is a member.  Their lodge was a perfect backdrop.  It was cozy and rustic…and they have an amazing fireplace.  I made this word art for the nursery.  It’s a quote from Jason Mraz, one of Erin’s favorite artists.  I think it’s the perfect wish for a tiny, new soul.

Erin’s friends Courtney and Nicole pulled the decor together and they did an amazing job.  Courtney decoupaged kids’ book pages to jars, which Nicole filled with pink-painted twigs.  Every table had a lace runner and a bird house or two and a couple glittery clip on birds.

Since I’m a huge fan of order at parties…I created a “program” that we put at every seat.  Basically, it told guests what activities were available–to encourage as much participation as possible.  Courtney and I whipped up tiny favor nests from Spanish moss.  It was a quick–but messy task.  They are house in favor bags and filled with Jordan Almonds.  If I did it again, I’d go with chocolate covered almonds.  That’s what I thought I bought–but alas, we ended up with these hard-on-the-teeth treats.

Because we are a pretty casual bunch, the activities were loosely structured.  We set up a diaper-note station, where guests were invited to use colorful Sharpies to write clever notes on a stash of diapers to be used during late night changings.  We also set up a onsie decorating station, and asked guests to write a childhood memory on a small card at their seat.   I like that we didn’t opt for a set time to do each activity, but let folks do what they wanted at their own pace.

I was responsible for buying onsie decorating supplies and I tried to keep all level of artists in mind.  In the end, this is what I decided to buy:  White onsies ranging from NB-9 months in size, markers, alphabet stencils, flourish stencils, iron on jewels, iron on embellishments, iron on ribbon, iron on “screen printing” images, scissors, iron on fabric {cut any shape.}  It was nice that all the embellishments were permanent and instantly set–no paint or drying time.

Everyone did an amazing job.  I was so excited to see how everyone loved making their own creative onsie.  The iron-on elements and stencils really them look nice and purposeful…not like a bunch of people just wrote on some clothes with markers.  I think having those things on hand also made this station feel more accessible to ladies who don’t necessarily see themselves as artsy.

I loved the design suite I put together for the shower.  Once the main elements were created, I reused them on every piece of paper at the party.  It helped keep things consistent.

We played two games.  One was “Name That Book,” which you can see in the image above.  For this game I searched the Children’s Book Guide online.  They offer a list of the top 100 Children’s Books of All Time.  I used 24 for our game.  I copied the covers onto a sheet–very small–and blotted out the titles.  Guests then had to identify as many as they could using only the tiny image as a guide.

Our other game involved childhood memories from all the guests.  Each person wrote a memory on a small card at their seat.  I collected them, then read them one at a time to Erin.  From the pile, she selected one as her favorite {Apples to Apples style.}  That lady was our winner.  Then Erin tried to match each memory to the guest that wrote it.  This was such a fun game, since all kinds of memories were shared.  They included things like:

I remember dancing to the Lawrence Welk’s show when I spent the night at Grandma’s house.

While my dad was mowing the lawn, I ‘operated’ on my sister’s arm using a play doctor’s kit and a real razor…the pretend anesthetic didn’t last….

As I child I liked to drink lemonade and read in the shade of a tree.

I would sit behind the couch and say every swear word I knew.

I used to look at my reflection in a blank TV screen and whisper news stories to myself.

I grew up in the city, but I had family who owned a farm.  Once I mistook chicken poop for gum and ate it…

That last one was our winner.  I’m telling you, it was a great time.

Game winners each received one of these necklaces which I crafted up with my bare hands.

It was a great time.  I hope Erin had as much fun as I did.  Congratulations {again}…we are all s excited to meet the newest Kennedy!

PS…I did a really crummy photo job with some of this.  But–I’m too excited and I can’t help bragging.  Do you see that chevron stick in the background of the photos above?!  It’s a growth chart.  I made it and I love it.  It’s just a 4″x6′ piece of wood that I sanded and stenciled!  Perfect for tracking the rapid ascend of this growing family!