Ballerina Baby Shower (Lots of DIY goodies)

While it’s been almost a month since my BFF threw me a small, intimate baby shower I am still at a loss for words with the effort that went into it and the generosity of my closest family/friends. Like I said, it was intimate and only a handful of people which was nice to be able to sit and talk with almost everyone for some quality catch up.

The theme was a blend between ‘High Tea’ and ‘Ballerina’. We hosted it at my house which was nice because I had returned home from vacation a couple of days before and I couldn’t imagine driving back and forth to my moms house for prep (yes, I helped plan it only because of the creativity/crafting part. I LOVE crafting and this was a perfect opportunity). Apologies in advance for the photo heavy post, but I am just so in love with how it all turned out.

First up was a table near the front door when guests arrived: 1) “Words of Wisdom” cards; I knew the design I wanted (the border and font etc). I printed about 4 per page, cut them out carefully and then mounted them to the decorative paper background you see below. 2) “Predictions” cards; made similarly to the above (in lieu of the decorative background, I applied a tiny rhinestone to each). It was so much fun to read everyones thoughts on when the baby would arrive, colour of hair etc. 3) Guess the weight of the Popcorn; Ashley had pink popcorn ordered from Kernels which was delicious, so whoever guessed the closest weight of the jar won it. To give the instructions card some flare/dimension, I bought some foam glue spots which gave it that little space. (while on the topic of games, huge thanks to my sister in law, Nata for the super fun games that she planned). 4) Since the table was near the entry, we also put the ‘Thank You’ gifts on it for guests to take as they were leaving. Each box had Davids Tea (my fave) with ‘Red Berry Tonic’ tea in each. I made/printed tiny labels for each as well and glued them to the outside. 5) To add some decorations to the table and around the house we put our own baby pictures in some frames that I had purchased for the babies room. We were polar opposites as babies so it will be interesting to see who baby will look like. 6) Lastly on this section, whenever throwing a party (or anything) I always say “the devil is in the details”, so while I had just got the cheapest bag of 20 pens for a dollar, I glammed them up by putting a little rhinestone on each. I got a huge package of pearl and diamond stickers from the dollar store as well. Instead of just leaving the glass that held them bare, I rimmed it with the pearl stickers too. Voila, the front entry table:

Next up was the main sweet table. Unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to take more pictures after guests arrived so there were lots of delicious cookies/cakes that were added afterwards and not pictured :(. Nonetheless, here is what we had. 1) “Sweet Baby” (pun intended) bunting banner which took forever to meticulously cut out the fencing on each letters background layer (yes, that was done by hand). I adhered each letter using the foam adhesives again to give it some dimension, then strung it all together with a white ribbon. 2) Ashley made this incredible diaper cake as a surprise. I LOVED it, especially the ballerina theme. For someone who “dislikes crafting” she did an amazing job to the point that I thought she had ordered this from one of those sites that create them. 3) Since the theme was “High Tea”, I borrowed my moms silverware as decoration only (God bless Chad for polishing it outside in the cold the night before for almost 2 hours – that’s true love). 3) My classic carrot cake. I usually use silver balls on top for decoration, but this time I thought it would be daintier to rim it with the candy flowers. 4) Speaking of cakes, this next one is the cake to end all cakes. The morning of, I was squirrelled away curling my hair when the doorbell rang. A slight panic thinking guests were starting to arrive 1.5 hours early, but when I was asked to come to the door, I figured it wasn’t that. To my surprise it had been someone that Chad and I both know who had reached out and wanted to make this for my shower. Both Ashley and Chad conspired on ideas for the concept and worked with her behind the scenes. It was truly the most beautiful cake I have ever ever ever seen! The detail in each petal and the ballet slippers were incredible. 5) Next up were some delicious teapot shortbread cookies…melt in your mouth! 6) I don’t know how she did it, but the chocolate covered Oreo cookies are still something people ask me about. They were to die for! The colour concept on them matched the theme perfectly. Perfection… 7) Keeping with the theme of DELICIOUS and ADORABLE, she made these cake pops which were inhaled by my husband that night. 8) Lastly were these yummy cupcakes. Don’t you love the holders? What a fluke to find them in our colour theme. They were also SO cool in that they didn’t need a muffin tin to bake and the best part was that they didn’t bleed through when you added the batter. 

Moving onwards to the kitchen, unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to capture the mounds of food my mom made and brought over, but here’s what we did have in that room. 1) My love for bunting banners continues with a “Baby Moldenhauer” hung below the island. This one was a lot easier to cut out than the one above. 2) Dips with flatbread for appetizers 3) Delicious Pink Punch (1 can of frozen pink lemonade mix; 1 litre white cranberry; 2 litres Tonic Water [I doubled it because my punch bowl was huge]; fill with lots of ice. You can also add some frozen cranberries which will float and add some cuteness to it. We left ours without the cranberries. 4) Drinks table & notice the tutu water bottles. Those took a while to make but were SO worth it. They just made me giddy every time I looked over. 5) Fruit Platter 6) Wraps (thanks to my other bestie Amanda for those, they went like hot cakes…mental note to get recipe!) 7) Veggies. I always forget how much cuter veggies look when you cut them with a different blade to give a ripple effect (see cucumbers). 8) Some more baby pics on a kitchen table 9) Just because I love it so much, we decided to leave the high chair out. It also came in handy for some babies we had. 

Lastly are just a few details we had around. 1) The flowers that we went with were Baby’s Breath. While these are usually only used as a filler in more extravagant bouquets, I fell in love with how they look on their own. It was also cute that it was a baby shower with baby’s breath flowers haha. I also have a ton of ballerina statues from over the years that I’ve collected (mainly gifts from my mom) and they just looked so pretty! 2) In the corners of sitting room, I had made these ombre tissue pom-pom’s. I think you can buy them at Michaels craft store from the Martha Stewart line, but honestly DIY can be done for just pennies and it’s fun. You also get the luxury of making them whatever colour you want and not restricted to plain white. 3) Throughout the house we had balloons. Huge hit with the baby guests (side note: thanks to the incredible Jenn and Olivia who travelled over 5 hours from Ottawa to celebrate! It would NOT be easy to drive for that long with a baby, but she is super mom and an incredible friend).

I won’t go on much longer because this post is already HUGE, but Chad and I do owe an enormous shout out to Ashley for pulling it all together, endless errands and generally just being an amazing person. This was one of the most memorable days of my life. So intimate and special –  thanks to momma L as well!

xxxo
Maja