Hospitality {Baby Shower Edition}

On October 12th I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for a dear friend in my home. Kristen is having her first baby, however she is already a mother to her wonderful step-children. Kristen & Ronnie are expecting baby Alice somewhere between Thanksgiving and beginning of December. Kristen's story is a beautiful one. Although it is not my story to share, I will tell you the main portion...it is a story of redemption. A story of someone who didn't know if they would ever get to experience marriage, true unconditional love, or ever get to be a parent. Now her life if over-flowing with all of the above plus the freedom to love God without publicly....not just silently to herself. I am so overjoyed with happiness for everything that is happening in their lives that I could not pass up the chance to honor her with a once in a lifetime baby shower. And let's be totally honest here for a moment....the chance to decorate in pink was an added bonus for this mom of all things blue!

Without further ado...here is the overload of shower pictures.

The theme was:

Vintage Lullaby

{Both Mommy and Daddy are lovers of music} 

 Doll furniture, vintage toy xylophone, table clothes all found at my local antique shop.

 Vintage blocks are from my store. Red velvet and cream cheese cupcakes with musical notes made by Yumi's bakery in Grinnell, IA.

 

Vintage lullaby sheet music found buried deep at our local music store, along with the glittery musical notes etc.  In fact when I entered and told them what I was looking for...they quickly told me they didn't think they had what I was looking for. I persevered and found exactly what I was looking for!
 

Sleeping pumpkin, seen in a magazine and re-created my own version. Pink and white baby carnations held in tin cans wrapped in burlap. 

 Vintage sheet music cut apart and held together by jute rope. Each page is trimmed in glitter with baby's name written in silver sharpie on each page. Glitter notes in between each page. This was the centerpiece for the gift opening area...and also served as a special handmade gift that will be displayed in the babies nursery.

 Use the baby gifts as part of your party decor!

 

I have never seen a more excited and grateful mama to be! She savored every word on every card...every piece of tape....every wrapping. It was a joy to watch her enjoy these moments.

 

Seriously? Ridiculously cute!

 Fun activity! Everyone decorated a baby bib for baby Ali! Some seriously creative people in this bunch!

 Some other games included cross word puzzles and word scrambles...as well as a of questions that were answered for baby Ali that will be treasured forever.

 Don't forget to make sure your mama to be has a baby book! This book also serves as her place to record gifts received. How cute is baby Ali already!?

  

 

Don't...try and host on your own. You might be an over achiever like me and try to do it all alone, but you will be thankful that you enlisted help! Co-hosting is the way to go! Thank you Shannon!

Don't hurry....let the party flow...you can help keeps things on track...but this is much like a wedding day. Mama has waited a long time for this day. Let her savor these moments, don't rush. You also have guests who have travelled a long ways for this day. In this case, some were from out of state. Let them have space to sit and enjoy each other for as long as they need. Oh...and have tissues ready. 

 Nothing sweeter than fresh baby. I can't wait to hold little Ali and tell her how amazing her parents are!