The Pastel Baby Shower

I found out my brother and sister-in-law were expecting their first baby towards the end of last winter. I got so excited to plan the shower I couldn't help but to brainstorm ideas from that moment on. My sister-in-law is a very classy British girl so I had to do it right! I really wanted to make it special, being as she is far from family and home. She chose pastel colors as her theme even before she knew what she was having, which was super helpful for me so I could start eyeing things ASAP! I know it seems a bit extreme to be on the hunt for baby shower supplies at her 12 week mark, but I couldn't help myself! Easter was right around the corner ( the best time to round up pastel colored supplies) and I had my heart set on putting together a candy buffet. I started buying the glass candy jars one or two at a time for the first couple of months. All of them were bought at Marshall's and they ranged between $6.99-$14.99 which isn't bad compared to some of the ones at hobby lobby ( even with a coupon). I made sure to get all of the candy after Easter for the pastel colors and had to make sure I had Cadbury mini eggs per request of the mama-to-be! I jumped the gun a bit on buying the candy. Had I waited, Target still had a large selection a week later for great deals! Either that or I should have gone to the 24 hour Walmart at midnight instead of sending the husband ( you don't even want to know what random things he came back with, haha).  I handmade the labels for the candy buffet with scrapbook paper and pink gel pen.

I then covered some foam blocks found in the floral section with tissue paper and scrapbook paper stickers that came with the scrapbook pad. I bought 2 pads of Colorbok pastel print paper. The scrapbook paper became; the banner, the table centerpieces, and candy buffet table decor. Moving on to the banner...

When I did this shower I didn't have anything but stencils, scissors and some paint. I folded each piece of the printed scrapbook paper into four even squares, then cut. I used pastel colored cardstock and did the same , then ruffled the edges with ruffled scissors. I then stenciled letters on with some white paint. I used mini wooden clothes pins ( found in almost any craft section) and fastened each letter onto curling ribbon. I then curled the edged of the ribbon and was able to have flexibility positioning the banner onto the tablecloth of the candy buffet. Speaking of the candy buffet...

We kept it pretty simple. We had the pastel colored candy; Malted milk eggs, Sweet tart jellybeans, Hershey kisses, Cadbury mini eggs, Gum balls, and Butterfly suckers. I tried to balance chocolate with fruit flavors so there wasn't too much of either kind. we then had mini cupcakes and doughnut holes (glazed doughnuts were mama-to-be's main craving) and a simple cake displayed in the middle. The bags we found at Hobby Lobby...

They originally had brown ribbon, why, I don't know. After tying them all with the brown I realized I HAD to change it to the pink curling ribbon I had on hand! As for the table centerpieces, and this is one of the main reasons I had to do this entry, it is one of the most repinned items on my Pinterest page....

I had had some glass centerpieces left over from my engagement party nearly 8 years ago in storage. I guess I always figured a friend may need them someday or that I'd reuse them for something. A large crate of the these cute little ducks kept catching my eye every time I went grocery shopping. I finally put two and two together, though I wasn't sure if the ducks would fit. It was a squeeze but after filling the glass with just enough water for the duck to float and adding curling ribbon around the top of the vase I realized it'd look super cute over some ruffled cardstock and scrapbook paper! It really just fell into place. I knew I wanted the ducks, and the vases, but I literally came up with these the night before and was even ruffling cardstock at the venue! I wasn't too worried about the water from the glass getting on the paper, just make sure you fill them and dry them really well before placing them on the paper. 

Last, but not least, my favorite part of all the decorations...the tissue pompoms! 

A lot of my girlfriends had asked how they could help with the shower. I ended up inviting them all over a few days before to have them help make and fluff tissue pompoms! These were a great deal and a lot of fun to make! I got six 30-packs of pastel colored tissue paper from The Dollar tree and used 10 sheets for each. I also got pastel colored pipe cleaners to twist around the center. The smaller pompoms are just larger sheets cut exactly in half. Youtube has some great tutorials. I just watched a few and had a go at it. I staggered 3 different colored tissue pompoms hung on curling ribbon with a thumb tack over each table. It really helped fill up the room and set the mood for the party!