Bedtime Stories Baby Shower

Bedtime Stories Baby Shower

Real Party by Crystal Alves-Tusim of Wakawoo Events & Printables
http://www.etsy.com/shop/WakawooEvents

Date: Sunday, June 3, 2012

My bestfriend, Akiko, was having her first baby boy. This month he joined this world as Kai Hyodo Seale...Ohhhhhh sooooo cute! Of course we were so happy to hear the news of little Kai baking in the oven but I continued to jump for joy when I knew I got to throw her a Baby Shower....Eee!!

Just coming off of maternity leave, my bank account wasn't looking too chipper, so this was definitely a baby shower on a budget.

Akiko & Corey knew right off the bat they wanted to have a Hungry Caterpillar nursery theme. So I went with that and decided to go with a Bedtime Stories theme knowing I would be able to incorporate the nursery into the party...remember, slim budget =) And a sheep as the main character.

Akiko is very bright, energetic and cheerful and knew the colour scheme had to match, so bright colours it was.

Searching for ideas, I was truly inspired when I came across this party on HWTM http://blog.hwtm.com/2010/03/real-parties-bedtime-stories-birthday/ Perfection!

Arrival & Gift Station: Invites went out and guests came in their pj's ready to relax, chat and have fun. Akiko's sister found a large Hungry Caterpillar book for guests to sign. I made cozy mommy-to-be slippers for Akiko when she arrived. I brought over her crib, rocking chair, table and lamp from the nursery. She had a comfy chair for her to open all her gifts that were placed in the crib, whilst sitting beneath 3 garlands of pages I tore out from second hand childrens books, strung on some yarn and hung overtop. Super easy, effective and cheap!

Decor & Food: I decorated tables with my daughters books, toys and Akiko's baskets. I used her bottles to hold utensils and decorate. Took all the clothes and shoes she already had and decorated with them around the room. Made 3D stars to hang on the backdrop of the Sweet Dreams table from bristol board. My mom made baby themed chocolates. I made the remainder of the desserts. Glued pom pom ribbon, I got from the dollar bin, on my votive holders and served vanilla pudding. The sandwiches were cut out in fish & bear shapes to go with their books. Holes were cut out of strawberries and watermelon to match Hungry Caterpillar story. When it came to the cake...Yikes..I don't make cakes, but I wanted something themed and just didn't have the bucks for it. So Betty Crocker I tried to be. Vanilla cake, buttercream icing, A TON of skittles and some cute star pacifiers. That's about as creative as I get with cakes...it was delicious though!

Design: When doing the design work, I knew I wanted to incorporate bright colours, sheep, clouds, stars and stories. We played Bedtime Bingo as Akiko opened gifts. I included all bedtime items on the bingo cards to match the theme, even a little caterpillar =)

Favours: Being on a budget with a guest list of 75...whoa, I knew I had to think about the favours! I ended up making bookmarks that read "Once upon a time, there was a child, whose bedtime stories made him smile."

We had such a great party....all the food was devoured....all the desserts were GONE!! Gifts were won, laughs were had and all such fun in our jammies!

• Desserts

  Vanilla cake, chocolate cupcakes, vanilla pudding, tangerines, chocolate chip cookies, teddy graham cookies, chocolate marshmallow pops, cream cheese filled strawberries (devoured in 2.5 seconds), homemade white chocolate bears, rattles and safety pins and skittles.

• Party Favors

  Homemade Bookmarks

• Activities / Games

  Gift opening Bedtime Stories BINGO, Guess Their Story.

• Budget

  $400

• What People Ate

  Tuna Sandwiches, Egg Salad Sandwiches, Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Peppers, Meatballs, Medley of Veggies and Cheese Pastries

• What People Drank

  Water, Variety of Sodas, Iced Tea, Coffee and Tea

• Best Moment

  All the guests jumping out of their seats, screaming and laughing during BINGO...the best!