Western Baby Shower

I so wish I would have gotten more pictures of this shower, but after dropping the little one off at Grammy's and stopping at the store for fresh fruit, I had only a few minutes to snap these pics and get the food set out.
I have to give a huge thanks to my husband who cleaned the apartment while I was gone, it looked great and there's no way I would have had time to do it before guests arrived.

 I lucked out with some of the decorations because my sister is getting married in August and is doing a country theme.  She provided me with the burlap table runners I used as the backdrop behind the table.  I just used tacks to hang them side by side.  The onesie bunting I adored.  I used scrapbook paper I found at Hobby Lobby in 4 various prints, denim, red paisley, blue paisley, and blue plaid.  I attached them to twine with tape and draped them.  

The Name canvas was very popular and Audra (the guest of honor) loved it and took it home to hang in her nursery.  I explain in this post how I made the canvas.

I also had 6 mini tissue poms hanging from the ceiling in red, blue, and brown.

 I made butter cookies.  My mom and I are famous in our family for them.  I tried like everything to get the icing color to be a Christmas red and after using half the little jar of Wilton red food coloring I gave up and settled on the above orangey color, tied the favor bags with twine, and called it a night.  I love the onesie cookie cutter I found in Amish country last year and used it at the "About to Pop" shower I hosted last Spring.  After I snapped the above photo I found a cute wicker basket to put these in so they weren't just thrown all over the table.

My cousin loved the ultrasound picture and was so happy to have a 4x6 snapshot of it.  Everyone else was excited to look at it too as most of them had never seen it.

I made lemon blueberry cupcakes which turned out delish.  It's a combo I've never made in cupcakes before and everyone said they were so good except my aunt who hates blueberries, haha.  I used the recipe from here as a base.  It originally came from the book by the girls of DC Cupcakes.  I changed it up some though. Check out the bottom of this post for the recipe I used.  The cupcake pics were made using burlap printed scrapbook paper and a monogram "R" printed on white card stock.  I used my cricut to cut the circles of both and attached them with glue dots.  Then taped them to mini skewers.

I told how I made the wreath in this post.  I ended up adding a mini pennant banner I made with my cricut and leftover scrapbook paper.  The crate I used as a prop I already had in my house and I think it added just the right touch to elevate the cupcakes and house the quote I framed.

I kept the food simple, wish I had a picture of it all set up but no such luck, so I'll share the recipes and the sites I got them from or got inspiration from instead.

Menu: 

*Ham and Swiss cheese sliders

Homemade Salsa and tortilla chips

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad (boxed mix I already had in pantry)

Apples and Strawberry slices

*Deviled Eggs

*Strawberry Lemonade

Sweet Tea

Ice Water

*Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Frosted Butter Cookies 

*recipes below

Baked Ham and Cheese Sliders

24 slider buns
16oz thinly sliced deli ham
16 slices swiss cheese (you will have leftover)
4 1/2T dijon Mustard
1 1/2 medium chopped onion
1 1/2T Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 sticks butter/margarine 

The ham and cheese sliders got rave reviews, and I had to agree with my guests, they were quite tasty.  I will definitely be making them again.  They were so easy and since all my other food could be made the day before these were simple to put together and they were the only thing I had to pop in the oven before guests arrived. I found the original recipe online and for the life of me I can't find the website I got it from, oops.  This is why I should write things down.

I've noticed recently that everyone has a different way of making deviled eggs.  I've seen people add vinegar and pickles and that just grosses me out, why do you need such things in deviled eggs? For years it never occurred to make them any way other than how my mom taught me and I've found her way is the easiest of them all so I thought I'd share.  Her recipe calls for all of 3 ingredients, boiled eggs, mustard, and mayo.  I've made them so many times I don't measure anything.  I go more on consistency and taste than measurements.

Deviled Eggs

1 dozen eggs (boiled)

about 3/4c mayo

about 1/3c mustard

I boil my eggs for 5 minutes at a rolling boil, turn the heat off and let them sit in the covered pot on the stove for about an hour.  Then I put them in the fridge to cool before I peel them.  Once they are cooled, peel the shell off each egg and cut them in half lengthwise.  Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs and put in a small mixing bowl.  Once all the yolks are in the bowl mash them up with a fork until they are good and crumbly.  Add your mayo and mustard and stir until combined.  Take a small spoon and fill each egg white with some of your yolk mixture.  Remember you can add more or less mayo and mustard depending on your taste buds, again I don't measure I go off consistency and taste.  Don't be scared you can do it!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes 

2 1/2c flour sifted
2 1/2t baking powder
1/4t salt
8T unsalted butter-room temp
1 1/2c sugar (original recipe calls for 1 3/4c)
2 eggs-room temp
2 1/4t vanilla
1 1/4c milk-room temp
zest of 2 lemons
1/2-1tsp lemon extract depending on your taste buds
1 1/2c blueberries
1/2T flour (to coat blueberries and keep them from sinking during baking)

sift flour, baking powder, and salt.  Measure sugar in a bowl, add zest and rub together with fingers.  Cream butter and lemony sugar.  Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing between each addition.  Add vanilla to milk.  Add 1/3 of dry ingredients, then 1/3 of milk/vanilla mixture.  Continue until all dry ingredients and milk mixture is used.  Add lemon extract, mix.  Fold in blueberries.  Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes

Strawberry Lemonade 

1 gallon water
3 lemons-wedged and seeded
1 1/2c sugar
1/2lb strawberries fresh or frozen

combine all in a pitcher and mix until sugar is dissolved.  I try to stock up on strawberries during the summer and freeze quite a few quart size bags just for this lemonade.   When I use frozen berries I don't even thaw them I just throw them in and they double as ice.  This is seriously good and addicting lemonade.  I started making it for every shower and birthday party I do instead of buying sodas and I've never had anyone complain.  My one piece of advice, If you're shower is going to have more than 10 people I'd advise making more than 1 gallon because you will run out.  Yes it's that good!

I am so glad this shower is done.  I had a blast making everything and brainstorming ideas and of course the best part is always seeing the guest of honors face when she walks in but the last minute frantic rush always exhausts me.  Now, as always, I'm looking ahead to my next line up of projects.  What are they you may be asking yourself

1. Baby goodies- hooded towels, 1 yard receiving blankets, hospital gown, binky clips, nursing cover

2. Valentine's Day

3. Easter

4. My neice's Dora the Explorer 3rd birthday party

5. My sister's Bridal  shower- this one's gonna be a big one, the biggest party/shower I've done since my own wedding.  I'm excited but nervous all the same.  It's going to be a lot of crafting, a lot of prep, and everything will have to be transported to another location since it will be for all 4 sides of the family.  All that with a 3 year old and an infant to take care of, I'm already tired thinking about it.

Western Baby Shower Project Preview

I've wanted to do a baby shower for my cousin for years, so I was super excited when she told me she was pregnant.  For the first time I actually asked the guest of honor what theme she wanted.  She requested a western/country theme.  I showed the invites here.  I'm trying to keep things simple yet cute, not only because I think that's what she will appreciate but also because I'm getting more uncomfortably pregnant by the day and my little guy is having surgery 2 days before the shower.  So big projects or any project that takes  a lot of time was out of the question. 

I think I came up with some really cute and cost effective solutions, cuz you know I'm all about cost effectiveness.  My goal is to stick with my usual party/shower budget of $50 and so far I've lucked out with some of my decorations.  My sister is getting married in August and is having a country themed wedding so I borrowed mason jars and burlap table runners from her.

I don't have everything finished yet and my dining room table is covered in baby shower projects but I thought I'd give a little preview of all the goodies I've been working on the last couple weeks, plus this way I can explain how I made the projects and my shower post can be mainly pictures of everything put together.

As with any party or shower I scoured the internet for ideas and found some amazing western/country baby showers out there.  I got loads of inspiration and I can't wait for my cousin to see everything put together.
Actually I can't wait to see everything put together.

Centerpieces:

I purchased a bush of fake daisies from Hobby Lobby at 50% off for $4.50.  There were 12 daisies in the bush.  I used 2 quart size mason jars I already had in my cabinet, wrapped them with twine (purchased at Wal-mart for $1.47 a roll) and tied a piece of paisley print fabric around them.  I bought a yard of  the fabric at Hobby Lobby at 30% off for $6.29/yd.   I used this fabric for different touches throughout the decorations to tie everything together.


Mini Tissue Poms:
Originally I knew I was going to use poms to decorate but had planned on making large ones.  Once I got to looking at the ceiling space and how low they would have to hang I realized they would end up being in the way while people were standing or walking through the dining room.  Instead I bought 3 packages of tissue paper in red, blue, and brown for $0.99 each and cut them down the center fold to make 2 mini poms from each color.  Not only are they cute and I get the same effect I was going for when I thought of using the large poms, but I get double the amount of them for the same price, $3.


Name Canvas:

I saw a couple showers with something similar to this, here and here.  As soon as I saw it I knew I had to do something similar.  I went back and forth on whether I wanted to use a frame, a piece of wood, plain ol' fabric, or canvas.  I ended up choosing the canvas because it was the easiest and most cost effective choice.  I bought an 11x14 canvas from Hobby Lobby for $5.99 that was a package of 2.  I plan on letting Grant paint on the other one.  I used the paisley fabric I purchased and hot glued it around the back making sure to pull it tight and smooth.  Then I just took rope (bought at Wal-mart for $4.97 a roll) and started gluing it to the fabric covered canvas to spell the baby's name, Reed.  I have to say I'm really glad they chose a short name because I don't think I would have been able to fit a long one on the canvas. 


Food Signs:

I like having signs for the food at parties, especially if there's something that's not completely obvious.  I hate going to a party and guessing at what each food item is, crossing my fingers it's something I like when I'm putting it on my plate.  While most of my food was easy to tell what it was,  I wanted everyone to know what type of pasta salad and sliders I made so they wouldn't have to wonder.  I used a font a downloaded from dafont.com and printed them from a word document onto white cardstock.  I taped them to scrapbook paper I bought at Hobby Lobby ($0.29 each at 50% off).  They are nothing fancy or special but serve their purchase and add a little something to the food counter.


Wreath:

The wreath isn't finished yet but I've hat this Styrofoam wreath form in my cabinet for over a year with intentions of making a yarn wreath that I've never finished, go figure.  I thought it would be a cute addition to the decorations and covered it in burlap I had in my stash and strips of the paisley fabric I bought for the shower.  I'm planning on adding a small pennant banner on the top with the baby's name or the word cowboy.

Mason Jar glasses:

Years ago I saw a wedding online that used Mason jars to drink from and have had it in my mind every since that some day I was going to use that idea at a shower.  Of course nowadays it's nothing original and I've seen it all over the internet, but I was super excited to use them for this baby shower just the same.  I wanted to keep them simple so I just cut strips of paisley print fabric and tied them with a knot around each glass.  These will sit next to the glass drinking dispensers I'm filling with homemade strawberry lemonade, sweet tea, and water.

Wishing Tree Tags:

It took me forever to decide on doing a wishing tree.  No one in my family is big on games at showers or activities in general.  They prefer to eat and visit with one another, which is fine with me, I just want to make sure my cousin has something to take home as a memento.  I printed the tags on white cardstock, used my cricut to cut them into a shape I liked, then used red burlap printed scrapbook paper cut 1/4inch larger as the backing.  I attached them with glue dots.  I punched a hole in the top and tied twine to each one so they will hang nicely on the branches.


Framed Quotes and Photos:

I saw this quote here, and thought it was beautiful so I decided to make my own version of it using fonts I downloaded from dafont.com, and changing the colors to match my theme.  I used a frame I already had.  I made a 4x6 print of one of my cousin's ultrasound photos and used a frame I already had using a burlap print scrapbook paper as the matting.  I always love seeing ultrasound pictures at baby showers.

The baby shower is getting close now, only a few days to go, and I can't wait for it to be here.  I think anyone who's done a party knows that feeling.  Once you've planned for so long, crafted, and have in your mind how you want everything to look, you get really anxious for the party to be here so all your hard work will be paid off.

Western Baby Shower Invitations

My cousin is pregnant and due almost exactly 2 weeks before me.  This is her 3rd and her other 2 are already in school so quite an age gap between them.  I told her years ago if she ever decided to have a 3rd I wanted to be the one to do her baby shower.  Little did I know we both would wind up pregnant at exactly the same time.  I still offered to do her shower because I'm one of those crazy weird people that enjoys doing them.

She is having a boy and requested a western/country themed shower. As I usually do I scoured the internet for ideas and bounced back and forth on colors and images up until the holidays hit and then it all hit the back burner and now the shower is a week  away and I'm seriously needing to craft for this party.

The difference between this baby shower and the others I've done is 1. its right smack after Christmas which puts a kink in finances and 2. I'm having a baby too which puts a kink my energy to craft and throw such a party.  That being said I'm still excited to be doing it and have come up with some ways to make things easier and more cost effective for myself.


I chose blue and red for the colors.  I went back and forth on the this forever and it really was the most difficult part of the shower for me to nail down and make a decision.  There are so many color combinations I love but in the end I thought blue and red would be the easiest for me to find and match up in fabric, ribbon, and scrapbook paper.  I'm really trying to go for western simplicity with this shower, not only to make things a little easier for myself but also because I think a lot of times people (me included) can go overboard with decorations and such.  I tend to over think things and having the mentality of simplicity helps me keep things in check.



As always. I'm made the invites.  I figured out months ago what I wanted them to look like and used blank cards already in my stash.  I found the rocking horse image online, saved it into my images, opened it in Microsoft paint, then erased the wording and printed them in a Microsoft works word document. 

I used my cricut and the Accent Essentials cartridge to cut the images out into a circle shape, then cut another circle 1/4 inch larger circle in blue and red (because I ran out of blue paper) to go behind the rocking horse image and to add a little bit more color.  I had originally wanted 1/2 inch red gingham ribbon but I procrastinated, then a snow storm hit, then the flu hit, then Hobby Lobby was closed.  I ended up having to go to Joann's which of course they were out of the 1/2inch and I was forced to get the 1/4inch ribbon.  It still worked fine but I really wanted something a little wider.  Oh well, I guess no one else will know the difference.  I attached the ribbon, scrapbook paper circle, and rocking horse image with glue dots.

I have had this post ready for about a week now except for a photos but for whatever reason blogger isn't letting me upload my second one and I'm a little tired of trying.  So there is no photo of the inside of the invite. I printed the invitation info on white cardstock using font's from dafont.com.  I downloaded 2 different ones I thought looked western.  I used my cricut and the Don Juan cartridge to cut them out then used glue dots to stick them to the inside of the cards.

The inside read: A little cowboy is on the way
                           Let's celebrate before the big day
                           Join us for a baby shower honoring
                             (enter guest of honor name)
                             (enter party details of time, place, etc)

Other than the size of ribbon these turned out exactly as I wanted.  I was going for simplicity which I think I found and I'm so relieved they are finished and mailed. 


Now on to the other projects on my list.