feather her nest. {baby shower}

One of my favorite things to do is host. I love being in my element and having others over to relax and eat. When we were house hunting at this time last year, that was high on our priority, a place to be able to have a lot of people over.

A few weekends ago, I was able to host a baby shower for a good friend. It was for her third baby, but her first boy. And I say, baby shower's aren't just for the first baby, it's to celebrate life, a life joining a family, and to make the mama feel special!

My theme was inspired by a Pinterest idea--to make quill pens with gold tips. I knew I wanted a feather theme. The hubs helped design the invitations, he's so talented and handy.

I went with gold and teal colors, which made it easy, since teal is a color I regularly decorate with.

I bought the paper straws from Target, along with the square plates.

I bought quill feathers from Michael's Craft Store, washi tape from Target, and ink refills from Staples. All I did was cut off the extra part of the ink refills, stuck it in the feather, then wrapped washi tape around it and glued the end of the tape on to make sure it stayed in place. Washi tape isn't very sticky, but it's super cute. I brushed the tips with gold paint. These became useful for the game we played and they were the favors to take home!

We played two games. One was the typical "you can't say baby" game or your pin gets taken away. But to make it a wee bit more challenging I also said you couldn't say the mama's name. I bought clothespins at the Dollar Tree for this game and used an ink pad to add teal and then a circle stamp to add gold paint. Oh, I also used these clothespins to hang "James" up, which the letters were made from pipe cleaners, but I forgot to snap a picture of it.

The other game I found on Pinterest and it was a free printout! The placemats with the feathers on it came from Target clearance right after Christmas.

Trying to be frugal, I reused aluminum cans by painting them and using them for decor. These was so easy, and cute! Not to mention, I can use these over and over for other parties or every day.

My favorite thing was probably the cake. Mainly because the icing, oh my goodness, so delish! I was inspired by a cake on Pinterest that was teal with gold edible sparkles. You read that right, I found some edible gold and teal dust from Michael's Craft Store. The icing recipe can be found here. 

And here is the lady of the hour, herself, April: 

I had close lady friends of April bring some food to help. It was all so good. A great Saturday morning, celebrating the beautiful pregnant mama! 

it's a boy.

I hosted a shower for one of my close friends today. And I was super pumped to do it because it was for a boy. And around here, we just see a lot of pink.

One of my favorite things from the shower: mustache straws. You read it right, mustaches all around.

(Here I am modeling one for you. I might just use one everyday because it's that fun.)

The mustaches are made from the cardstock-like felt. I just folded one in half and cut out mustache designs. Then used a hole-puncher for the holes. 

For the favors I made no-sew blue felt flower pins. Easy, peasy. Just cut, wrap, and glue. (To cut the flower, I just basically kept going around in a circle like a swirl.)

It was a fun day. Not to mention it was really sunny today, which always makes the day better.

baby shower.

I'm oh so lucky blessed for my lovely {girl}friends.

I mentioned in an earlier post that my friend, April, threw me a diaper shower last weekend. It was small and intimate and my close girlfriends and immediate family members came. We sipped strawberry lemonade, ate cupcakes with edible balls on top, and had great conversation. And now I have a room full of cloth and disposable diapers that I need to organize. Not to mention, some new bottles, a beautiful necklace, and a handmade memory tote.

From left to right: My older sister, Lisa, the hostess, April and her daughter, my best friend, Kacie, Karlee, Me, Katie, my sister-in-law, Allie, and Kylie. (Unfortunately, I remembered to snap a picture of everyone at the end of the shower, in which, some guests already left.)

One of my super close friends, Steph. (Who is obsessed with Audrey, and I just love it.) She had a softball game, but she still made an appearance. How sweet.

I give you permission to be jealous of the cupcakes. Because they were that good.

Drink up.

Naomi.{Fae}.  I think it is the perfect name.

It was a beautiful day. And by the way, doesn't April have the cutest house?