DIY Baby Shower: Part I

As I mentioned in my post The Second Trimester, I had a baby shower at about 27 weeks back home in Alabama. I made most everything myself! I designed the invite, made all of the decorations and made one of the games as well! My DIY approach saved SO much money! I choose to throw my on shower since I was planning it from about three hours away and didn't really have anyone back home to do it for me (not that had the time to, atleast). So saving money was essential.
I also chose to have my first shower so early in my pregnancy for a couple of reasons; one being that it was the only time my husband could take leave that was close to the holidays. This way we could go home and visit as if it were the holidays and throw in a shower there at the end, two birds with one stone! I also chose to plan so early because i'm a planner and wanted to ensure that I would be ready for baby's arrival by 36 weeks just in case baby had a plan of his own.
My shower was on January 31st and I chose the theme 'Baby It's Cold Outside.' Lets start with the invitations! I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and Google trying to find just the right one. Apparently that only kind of exists. So, I smashed together some things I found that I loved in Photoshop and...tada!

I went to Walmart, printed a few, cut the edges suddenly have a cute invite! I only printed a few for memorabilia, though. I sent one to my mother-in-law and kept two for myself. I used Facebook Events and texts to invite my guests and spread the info. Now I know that's far from traditional, but this girl does things how she wants! 

Next thing to do was figure out what I wanted for decorations. I have a HUGE garland obsession, so I knew that was a must. Since the theme was centered around winter, there had to be snowflakes too! I already had plenty of string, yarn and white paper so all I needed to purchase was some crape paper. Walmart had just the colors I needed for less than a dollar a roll. After a little trial and error (and a lot of Pinterest research), I had man strings of beautiful blue tassel garland!

How did I do it? 

-Cut pieces of crape paper about a foot long each. Cut a whole bunch! 

-Take three of those pieces, stack them and fold in half

-Cut it into thirds length wise

-Stack all the little pieces on top of each other

-Fold the stack in half over your pre-cut string

-Pinch together right under the sting and tie with a smaller piece of string 

 The snowflakes were quite the task. I really remembered them being much easier to make when I was a child haha Yet again, after tons of help from Pinterest, I finally figured out how to make them and suddenly my living room was COVERED in snowflakes of all sizes! Follow the link to see the shapes I used and how I folded my plain printer paper----> (Snowflakes)

I also took my idea for my guestbook from Pinterest as well! I used the same old, blue suitcase from our wedding to hang a cute sign and hold some fish cut outs. The idea was for all the guests to write a wish for baby on the fish and they would be hung in the nursery. 

 

Unfortunately I didn't get a photo from my first shower, but one from the second will have to do.
You can find the Chalkboard Alphabet Bunting HERE.

My favors were also Pinterest inspired! I used baby food jars to fill with hot chocolate and marshmallows! I spry painted the lids and added a little 'Thank You' tag to the front. 

The last big DIY was the Who Did It? game. HERE is the description of the game I went off of. I used ten funny things (5 about me, 5 about my husband) we did as kids. I had pens and paper out and asked guests to write who they thought did what and whoever got the most correct when we went over them later, got a prize. Other games we played included the Dirty Diaper game and Size Up the Belly.

Although I do not have a photo of my prizes, I can pretty easily describe them. I bought a pack of the miniature bottles of wine, put baby bottle nipples over top of the lids and delicately placed them in cellophane bags with tissue paper! 

***Be sure to Follow Me on Pinterest! I promise I pin tons of great crafts and food!***