Real Baby Shower: Hooray for Babies!

Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! A big cheer goes out to this DARLING "Hooray for Babies" shower from the VERY talented Becca of CAKE. {Inspiring Details for Happy Occasions}. I'm SMITTEN with the colors, a wonderful mix of yellow and aqua, which is also a nice alternative from the usual yellow and gray. Thankfully, Becca has added this printable invitation to her oh-so-lovely etsy shop. Now you too can host this adorable baby shower for your next friend, family member, neighbor, co-worker, etc.

From Becca... Last month I put together a baby shower to celebrate three dear friends who all happen to be pregnant at the same time. The 'Hooray for Babies!' theme started oddly enough as the subject line of an e-mail I sent wishing them congratulations. The more I thought on it, the more it felt like the perfect concept for a shower. Because two of the moms-to-be opted not to find out what they're having, I choose a gender neutral palette of yellow and mint green. I've always loved these colors for spring, and they worked especially well for an outdoor brunch. I wanted to keep things simple and budget friendly so I put together a simple menu and a few DiY projects to make the morning special. 

The little floral arrangements were created from baby food jars that I partially dipped in mint green paint. I wasn't sure how it would work out, but the effect was charming and allowed me the opportunity to send one home with each guest.

My favorite project to make was actually the tassel poms, a new take on the popular tassel garlands. I created the tassels from this tutorial, and fixed them to wooden dowels with a bit of hot glue. They looked great as a centerpiece on the brunch table and held up well when waved around as pom-poms. (Okay sure, the shower was for grown ups, but these would be a great activity to make with your kids).  I even used the extra tissue to make my own bits of confetti and tossed it along the table. Hooray indeed.

For dessert, Michele of Cakewalk Baking served as my partner in crime once again and baked up the most moist & delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting... and as an special treat she brought over some incredible homemade macarons. Just for fun, I designed a set of hooray bunting flags and strung them across the cake between paper straws. I also ordered custom megaphone cookies from Auntie Bea's Bakery with a script hooray to coordinate with the invitation- they were a huge hit!

The favors were ribbon trimmed burp cloths that I made with Michele's help (because I can't sew to save my life), to which I attached custom 'hooray for mamas!' pennant flags. The sticks are actually just wooden rock candy sticks, ordered from Confetti Sunshine.

I have Sherry Heck to thank for all the beautiful photos of the shower details. As special treat for the moms though, I offered up a little maternity photo shoot for each of them after brunch. I never had maternity photos taken while I was pregnant with my daughter and I regret not having made it a priority... so I thought it would make a nice keepsake whether or not they were professionally done.

Brunch Menu (see below for recipes with *): Zucchini Tart w/ Smoked Gouda and Tomato*, Chicken Apple Sausage, Mixed Berries with Greek Yogurt and Pecan Granola, 'Baby' Lemon Muffins with Cream Cheese*. To Drink: Lemonade, Grapefruit Spritzers (2/3 grapefruit juice and 1/3 sparkling water with lime).

Graphic Design & Party Styling: CAKE. / Cake & Macarons: Cakewalk Baking / Cookies: Auntie Bea's Bakery / Rock Candy Sticks, Paper Straws, Cupcake Liners: Confetti Sunshine / Party Photography: Sherry Heck