The Last Inning Baseball Baby Shower

My friend Danielle is one of the sweetest people I know. I just love her! Anyway, she's having a little boy next month (and totally teasing me by not telling anyone what his name will be). This past Saturday was her shower that another friend, Liz, and I threw. It was really fun! I didn't get many pictures as I was taking care of shower stuff during the shower and the ones I got aren't great, by any stretch of the imagination. But, here's some of the details. We ended up getting glass beer steins (at the Dollar Store) and silly straws as favors and they doubled as the container for the root beer floats. We tied ribbons on the handles. If I had more time, I would've made a cute thank you tag and added cotton candy (that I bought and forgot in the cabinet) in a bag inside.

For decorations, we made toppers for the cupcake using the Stampin Up scallop punch, the 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" circle punches with different colored papers and labels printed with the Danielle's Last Inning logo a friend made for me. I used the left over paper from cutting out the banner. I made a diaper cake for the centerpiece of the gift table. It turned out really good but I didn't get any pictures of it - sorry! I used the same fabrics I used for Danielle's flower baseball corsage and wrapped it in red tulle. The bow at the top had a covered button with the baseball centered in the middle. Here are the baseball fabrics I used.  (I used a navy/orange/teal stripe, a navy solid and an orange mottled solid.)

For food, we made a nacho bar with different nacho toppings and different cheeses. We also had fruit kabobs and popcorn in fun popcorn boxes. I was planning to make corn dogs, but it was so hot I really didn't want to turn on the oven! If I'd had more time, I would've made a few more food options like potato salad, etc. But, the food went over really well and the fruit kabobs were a great looking way to add some interest to the food table, as well as separate out foods that people might not like. For example, Danielle doesn't like strawberries (a texture thing) so I made sure to make kabobs without strawberries. I don't like pineapple so I made some without pineapple, etc. I stuck the kabobs into flower forms at the bottom of this footed dish and put limes around the edge of the floral foam. It looked really good! Everyone loved them :)

We played two games: the purse scavenger hunt and the right-left game. Both were a bit different than what we were used to and it was a fun time. It was especially funny to see that some people carry around 5-7 chapsticks/lip gloss! No wonder we women have back problems and headaches so often ;)


My mind is always going a mile a minute when it comes to planning parties, so I don't think I'll ever throw one where I won't be thinking of doing something different (or in addition to) the next time. But, I really enjoy planning them, especially for good friends. It's always fun to me to find ideas and put them together into your own signature event.



Anyway, I had a good time planning and a good time at the shower and I think Danielle did too. To me, those are the most important parts of a successful event.

PS-Danielle's husband Craig e-mailed me after the event thanking me for throwing the shower and saying that Danielle came home with a smile on her face. What a sweetie! I can't wait to see both of them as parents. That little boy (whatever his name is) will be very loved ;)

A Girly Diaper Cake and a Baseball Banner for a Baby Shower

I had a baby shower for my cousin Lindsay this past Saturday.  Through a series of unfortunate events, I missed the shower.  But, here's the diaper cake I made as a gift.  I don't think Lindsay reads my blog, so I doubt she'll see this.  If she does, I hope this makes her a bit more excited about diapers ;)  (If you're Danielle, don't read any further!)

In other baby shower news, the he baseball baby shower is in less than 2 weeks, so that's about the only thing I can focus on now.  The invitations are out and the RSVP's are coming in.  I'm tweaking all of my printables for different things and finalizing centerpiece ideas and gift ideas.  My friend Brigett cut out a bunch of shapes and letters for me with her Cricut and I made this banner.

I really like how it turned out!  I might end up making another banner for the kitchen island that says "Concessions!"  Anyway, so far we're going to have a nacho bar, hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, lemonade, iced tea, root beer floats, and cupcakes.  Anything that's totally baseball that I'm forgetting?  I think I'm going to make personal apple pies for the favors...I mean, what's more American than baseball and apple pie, right? ;)

PS-So far the baseball ticket invitations have been a hit!

Baby Shower Mania!

Last week I was able to visit family in the Northern Detroit area. My niece turned 1 and my sister made these adorable ladybug suckers and had them set out as favors. I think they turned out really cute!

When I got home I was pleased to see I had some custom orders for baby shower corsages and here are a few I made this week. I love making these, and had a customer suggest I make a smaller wrist corsage and add a ribbon to tie it on. (I love that idea!)

I thought I would ask our readers if you have seen any cute baby shower themes lately?

My attempt at a zipper flower and Has anyone seen any cute OWL or Woodland Fairy Themed Fabric?

This is a really random post but I have a few things I've been working on that were really fun. I babysat a very cool 8 year old girl yesterday (she loves watching "What Not to Wear"). I showed her the zipper flowers on Craftaholics Anonymous and she decided she wanted to make one. I think I probably looked desperate so she said okay! The picture above is what we ended up making.

I also had a customer ask for an owl theme baby boy fabric corsage. I looked all through JoAnn's, Michael's, and Country Stitches and had no luck finding boy owl fabric. I searched and found one Moda owl fabric online but I would have to order that and she needed it quickly.

Has anyone seen any cute owl or woodland themed whimsical fabric lately? I ended up making a felt owl but the fabric would be nice to have.

Well that's enough random rambling! I hope your weekend is going well.

Ruffle Your Stuff Contest at Ruffles and Stuff

Disney over at Ruffles and Stuff is having a contest through April 2, 2010. Create something using ruffles....paper, fabric, ribbon, anything will do (oooooo what about metal?)and you could win some great prizes! Yes, I did say SOME! Click on the above button for more information!

Since many of the prizes came from Amy Butler herself, I thought I'd use some of her fabrics to make a personalized flower. My ruffle is added around the edge.

I even made the back pretty. :) Check out the contest..the prizes are awesome!

Okay..one last entry..had to use something from the "Love" collection.

A Blingy Cupcake Ribbon Tassel

I've been seeing a lot of tassels around so I thought I would try to make one myself. It was easier than I thought..and a lot less expensive than buying one.

The materials you need for this project are: ribbon, glue ( I used tacky glue), acrylic craft paint, glitter (optional), and the wood base piece. The wood pieces are sold at Michael's in their unfinished wood aisle. I bought a package of 6 for about $3 without coupon or sale. I made a matching monogram star ornament to go with the gift.

I painted and glittered the wood piece to my liking, let it dry, and then started gluing the ribbon pieces around the inside. I layered the ribbons and just continued adding ribbons until it looked full enough. I threaded a piece of thin ribbon through the top pre-drilled hole and then took a fabric scrap and glued it inside the wood piece in the center of all the ribbons. (hard to explain!)

This is my little "faux" tree so far..I am making a few ornaments a day so it should be full by Thanksgiving!

Kanzashi - A Repost of Sorts

This was originally posted at www.crafteegyrl.wordpress.com but I thought you might enjoy it too!

So Sister Diane has inspired me in all things kanzashi...I swear I've been seeing them in my sleep. My good friend Erin Debri makes covered buttons with monograms and I thought they would look great in the center of some kanzashi blooms. I had a baby shower coming up for my cousin who is having a baby girl and they're naming her Daphne...I'll show you the finished project later this weekend, but here's the beginning. I think I'm going to add a little fringe to the "D." My mind's eye sees the flowers on some sort of "stem" woven into the back of a basket...which will hold the rest of the gift. Much as I love paper, I don't like using gift wrap...throwing paper away makes me sad :( Anyway, I'd better get back to my kanzashi dreams...I've got an early morning ahead of me. Do you think she'll like the flowers?

-Heather

P.S. Get Diane's book Kanzashi in Bloom...it's awesome!