A Cheery, Floral Themed (Surprise!) Baby Shower

Last weekend, my friends Rachel, Andrea, Anna, Neely and I threw a surprise baby shower for our dear friend Mary Welch.  She moved away a few months ago but was in town for the weekend, and had no idea what was in store for her when I picked her up "to go to brunch" Saturday morning!  Her reaction was beyond priceless, and I'm fairly certain that every single one of us was in joyful tears after her grand entrance.  She is an absolutely amazing lady with a huge heart, and to see her so thrilled was truly one of the highlights of my year so far.

When we started planning the shower, we decided to go with a bright, cheery, floral theme.  Mary Welch ("Melch") is such a glowing, colorful spirit, and combined with the arrival of springtime (and the fact that she's having a baby girl!), it seemed like the perfect plan. We wanted to keep things as DIY as possible in terms of decor, favors, activities and food, and did a lot of brainstorming to come up with different projects.  We chose to place fresh flowers throughout the apartment, and to incorporate lots of vivid, feminine colors and fun decor that included handmade hanging tissue poms in different shades of pink, letters for the baby's initials, and clotheslines full of baby clothes and bibs that Melch could take home.  Andrea came up with the clothesline idea and it was a huge hit!  For those of you planning baby showers, it's a great way to create an adorable decoration that doubles as a gift for the mama-to-be.

We wanted to incorporate a DIY activity in place of traditional games, and Rachel came up with the idea to make headbands. We purchased plain elastic infant headbands in different styles and colors, along with pretty flower pieces, bright feathers, and other fun accents.  Guests used craft glue to adhere the decorations and design their own one-of-a-kind pieces.  In the end, Mary Welch had dozens of beautiful, bright headbands to take home for her baby girl.  

All of the food was homemade (extra thanks to our very talented chef of a friend Laura for her delicious contributions!), and featured everything from unique salads, dips, and breads, to a springtime sangria and fruity non-alcoholic drinks, to my personal favorite: salted caramel brownie bits.  For the favors, I bought mini daisy, poppy, and sunflower grow kits, printed out personalized tags ("Nurture these flowers and watch them bloom, just like Amelia who will here soon!"), and tied them on with red and yellow ribbons.

Since Melch was the queen of this event, we made her a flower crown to wear (and as she always does, she looked stunning!).  It was a such a fun afternoon, full of friends and food and laughter and tears and all of the other wonderful things that go along with showering love on a special person before a big event in her life.  Preparing for the shower was seriously such a treat as well.  I feel pretty lucky to have such a kind, creative group of friends who love entertaining as much as I do!  I can't wait to do it again.  (Off topic, but I should add that the lovely mom-to-be is also an incredibly talented interior designer, and we plan on sharing some of her work here on Bubby and Bean in the future!)

The winner of the Big April Giveaway as selected by random.org is...

Congrats Lauren!  Please contact me at bubbyandbean (AT) gmail with your mailing address so we can get you your prizes!