Nautical Baby Shower

I loved everything about styling this baby shower for my friend. I chose the Vintage Nautical theme because her husband is in the Navy and I wanted to honor his service in the celebration and how perfect that the color scheme was red, white and blue! I was excited, to say the least, when I found out it was a boy because I LOVED the "Ahoy it's a Boy" concept. I started planning in early summer so there wasn't a shortage of nautical decor. Where the Green Grass Grows on Etsy designed the invitations, I think the bakers twine was the perfect touch! I pretty much add it to everything:) I wanted to do a "message in a bottle", mainly because I found a cute bottle with an anchor on it, so she designed "wishes" cards that guests could fill out, roll and tie with bakers twine (of course:). The Honest Company made the diaper cake easy for me since they make adorable anchor diapers. I kept the details simple by adding only a little bath toy tugboat and ribbon. The favors were hands-down my favorite part! The momma-to-be is an esthetician so I thought what could be better than to give the guests something that beautified them?? I used Essie nail polish and made the flotation devices with lifesavers and a red sharpie, then tied them on with jute twine. The ladies all loved them! The floral arrangements were another favorite. For the vases, I used the larger size tin cans (the ones that tomatoes come in) and hot glued sisal twine to them. I chose blue hydrangeas because they are simple, beautiful and fill the vase with just one stem. I made another arrangement in a vase I already had and just added the invitation to it since I had an extra. Then there were the lanterns...these were the bane of my existence for days! I couldn't just settle for plain white lanterns, I found some nautical stencils early in my planning and I just HAD to stencil on these. I won't even mention how long the first one took (or the agony I went through making the decision to do another) but they turned out so cute so it was all worth it! The lifesaving device was another favorite. I found it on Amazon and the frame at HomeGoods. I was originally going to frame a maternity pic and that would be that, but then I discovered the part on the back of the frame that holds it up was broken so I improvised and made this adorable welcome sign for the front door. The cake table is always my favorite part to design, I feel it's the centerpiece of the party and I love desserts! The delicious banana chocolate chip cake with chocolate mousse was compliments of jennywennycakes.com. The navy blue anchor cake pops were from Simply aMayzing Sweets, I made berry mascarpone tarts in mini dessert cups, and finally the lemon bites from the ever-popular and hardly glamorous, Costco...I just added navy and white striped paper straws to tie them into the theme. For the other details on the cake table, I found the cute buoy on sale at World Market and the rope at Michael's. Where the Green Grass Grows also designed a cute little poem for the table. I literally decided on the centerpiece for the guest table as I was setting up, (which goes against everything I believe). I had a burlap scrapbook page, a bottle with twine, the spool with the clothes-pins I used for the onesie banner and one of the floral arrangements. I put them all on the table and it came together perfectly!

I'm not a big baby shower game person but I found a cute (and free) printable for the Price is Right at http://sisterssuitcaseblog.com and it went with the nautical theme so I couldn't help myself. It was a fun and quick way to fill some time between eating and opening gifts.

And last but not least was the "Daddy Doody Kit". I filled a clear paint can I found on Amazon (I found later that you can get them at Michael's and cheaper too) with rubber gloves, a face mask, "poop deck" plaque (sailers can appreciate this), baby food, first Father's Day onesie and a few other little goodies I picked up. The daddy to be came at the end of the shower and he got to open his gift and be part of the fun.

This was such a fun shower to style and host and everyone had a good time which is always my measure of success!

Vendors:
Invitations & Paper Goods- Where the Green Grass Grows https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGreenGrassGrows
Cake- Jenny Wenny Cakes http://jennywennycakes.com
Cakepops- Simply Amayzing Sweets https://www.facebook.com/SimplyaMayzingSweets
Price is Right Printables- My Sister’s Suitcase Blog http://sisterssuitcaseblog.com

• What People Ate

  Lentil/Bruschetta dip with corn chips Caprese skewers Veggies & Hummus Chicken Salad sandwiches on Mini Croissants Turkey, Swiss & Pesto Sandwiches on Brioche Rolls Veggie Sandwiches on Ciabatta Bread

• What People Drank

  Blueberry Lemonade "Mom"osas with Pomegranate or OJ

• Desserts

  Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Chocolate Mousse Pink Champagne Cakepops Mini Lemon Cakes Blackberry Mascarpone Fruit Tarts

• Party Favors

  Essie nail polish with Lifesavers tied on with jute twine

• Activities / Games

  Price is Right-Guess price of items in a basket and whoever is closest to the total wins.

• My Sister

  Other

  My little sister, Sarah Greer is always a trooper! She picks up anything I need last minute, the desserts and helps prepare the food the morning of. She isn't for hire but I have to give her credit so she knows how awesome she is:)

• Where the Green Grass Grows-Etsy

  Graphic Designer

  Andrea is the best designer I have ever worked with, she sees my vision and always delivers exactly what I am looking for. If I need anything redone or any additional items she is on it.

• Jenny Wenny Cakes

  Cake designer

  Jenny is another amazing person to work with, she makes not only the most adorable cakes but they are also delicious! I get so many compliments on her cakes and there is never any left.

• Maybelyn with Simply aMayzing Sweets https://www.facebook.com/SimplyaMayzingSweets

  Cake designer

  Maybelyn makes the BEST cake pops hands down! They are so delicious and always very beautifully designed and she packages them with a custom tag for free with a minimal delivery charge...LOVE her!