Owly Baby Shower

"Whoooo doesn't love a baby?" That was my baby shower theme. These are the photos from yesterday's festivities - and YES, I got my cupcake... but was not impressed with the fact that it didn't start my labor like I had hoped. See that little finger indentation on the icing? That's my friend Ammie's little girl's mark. Party tip: make sure you watch the little ones if the cake is out on the counter!



Morgan was wearing her 'inspiration' shirt - complete with the little bird and branch that is very similar to what we'll be painting on her wall. I tried in the last two weeks to get the energy up to go paint the murals in the baby room, but it wasn't meant to be. There will be plenty of time for that later, I hope.



Decorating with owls was quite fun. The theme was expanded on with birds nests, ribbons and eggs. I used some older owls I have collected over the years - including this Avon owl that I've had since I was a wee little girl. We gave him a pretty new collar and he stood watch over the perfectly colored jelly bellies.



By far the biggest hit was the cake my friend Ammie ordered. We got the cupcake idea off of Flickr and altered it to be a buttercream icing creation. My downfall is buttercream icing. It wasn't as pretty as fondant, but it was EXTRA yummy.



We also had chili dip, artichoke dip, chips, crackers, cheeses, fruit, candy, and an incredible punch to go with our cupcakes and cake. The punch was my own creation. Here's the recipe:

BEE'S BERRY PUNCH

Adjust the amounts of each ingredient to fit your taste and the size of your punch bowl.

chilled ginger ale
frozen piña colada mix (run hot water over it to soften before putting in the punch)
bag of frozen mixed berries
raspberry sherbet
chilled berry/cranberry juice
crushed ice

Everyone enjoyed the punch. We got a lot of compliments on it. I wanted more myself, but by the time people started leaving and I had a chance to make it back over to the punch bowl, there wasn't any left.



Aside the punch bowl was the "diaper cake". Another baby-shower Flickr idea. I told you that Flickr was the bomb. So many creative people out there! We used wadded up grocery sacks as the center of each layer and rolled diapers to go around the edge before tying them off. It just so happened that I had a package with light green and white - which went perfect for our nursery-color schemed party. The tip top has a nesting stuffed owl. I had planned on tying off some pacifiers with ribbon and letting them dangle from the nest - but time got away from me and I forgot to add them.



Ammie found this cute white cupcake stand at Target. I glued a tiny orange bow at the top. We added ribbon to all the white table-top accessories. I thought her flowers she got half price at Lowe's were a nice touch to the table-top, too. You don't have to break the bank to have a nice looking party spread (well, if you know how to decorate cakes yourself, that is!).



Interestingly, I found out that Ammie had planned to do her two year old daughter's room in an owl theme, too. Not quite the same colors (she was adding in pinks), but her Pottery Barn owls were a cute touch as party decorations. Great minds think alike. I was glad little A let us borrow her owls (even if she did pull them down a few times to tell us which one was her favorite).



This was our artistic contribution to the party. I made an owl out of card-stock, scrapbook paper, and ribbon - colored with crayons and markers - to hang on the wall over a row of chairs. The little ones enjoyed coloring a few of them that I drew on paper, too. It kept the tiny hands busy while the grown-ups scurried to prepare for the guests.

During the party we played a few games - the guys got to identify the chocolate 'poo' in newborn diapers and the girls had a relay race to see who could dress and diaper a doll. More of the younger girls played than the grown-ups during the women's race. The doll owner finally got tired of sharing and took our prop, so we ended that contest early. We gave away two Starbucks gift cards to the winners of each.

All in all, the party was a lot of fun. I had to enlist my husband at the end to help open gifts because I started having some contractions and was unable to bend forward to look in the bags. I feel like I swallowed an exercise ball, I'm soooo big.

It's nearly 11pm on Sunday night and I'm having contractions as I write. All our bags are packed and now that we've had the shower, the carseat is ready and installed in our vehicle. We're as ready as we can be for the little 'hoot' to get here. If he comes tonight, we'll know for sure he's a night-owl.

I'll try to 'tweet' when I can if we head to the hospital. Until then, I may be hard to find online.



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