glue. glitter. and babies.

probably some of my favorite things ever.

actually, i secretly hate glitter. but that sounds so anti-crafter to say, and i am definitely not anti-crafter. i am pro-craft, man. i'm that 25 year old sitting at home on a friday night crocheting a blanket because i honestly just think it's fun.

so, imagine my delight when i was asked to do the decorations for a friend's baby shower. babies + little things + decorations? yes, please! i had the added pressure of living up to the beautiful job she did with my baby shower, but i had a ton of fun coming up with some projects to decorate the party. now that the shower is over [and especially since my sweet friend just had her beautiful little boy yesterday!] i figured i should hurry up and post these fun details!

thing #1 the favors.

i learned from my mom to always start party planning with the party favors. then you remember that your guests are what make the party! and you have a little something special for them that sets the tone. honestly, i felt like i came across a sheer stroke of baby-cute-party-genius when i accidentally came up with this one. not that it was rocket science or anything, but they just worked. my original idea was to place little tealight candles in little baby food jars and dot them across the table like polka dots (the theme of the decorations being polka dots and "b is for boy"). i was completely giddy when i found these tealights in the fall section of target in the perfect color scheme:
when i first tried to put them in the jars, they didn't fit all the way in, but snuggled right into the little tops. i was disappointed and thought i'd have to try bigger jars (or scrap the idea altogether) when my awesome hubby suggested i just put the jelly beans (i had planned to put jelly beans in little white buckets as the favors) in the bottoms and call it a favor! add a little ribbon in the same colors, and they were perfect!i was instantly running wild with all the other ways you could adapt these super cute little jars! all the different kinds of jars you could use, for one thing (jelly jars, mason jars) and all the different things you could put in the bottom, depending on what type of party it was for... a shell and a little scoop of sand for a beach party for example (oooh, what a good wedding shower idea!)

thing #2 cupcake letter sticks.

these are just a fun little thing to do to stick into your cupcakes, brownies, or even slices of cake for just a little extra something. they ended up sticking up from the most delicious toffee brownie bars EVER. here's the quickie tutorial all in pictures:

thing #3 B is for BOY

the party colors came from the super cute green, yellow and orange whale paper plates/cups/napkins that i found. i loved the combination so much that i think if we have a boy one day i will change kenna's pink and green nursery over to green/yellow/orange!
i took some paper mache letters and decoupaged them to make the theme for the middle of the table... B is for BOY. i couldn't find an "o" that matched size-wise, so i took a little papier mache hat box, decorated it with a cute little lion, and turned it into not only the "o" but a little baby treasure box, just the right size for the hat and bracelets, etc from the hospital! the glue on these literally dried while sitting on the dashboard of my car on the way to the party!

thing #4 the wreath

i can't remember where i got this idea, but this was my absolute favorite part! i took a vine wreath and a glue gun and went to town, with some letters and some ribbon and baby items in the color scheme! it looked totally adorable on the front door! (full tutorial coming soon).
and, last but of corse not least- a mommy tiara. a few more circles punched out in pink and stamped, and hot-glued to a pink foam crown. luckily, this particular friend is never too cool to wear a hot pink tiara, and looked absolutely adorable.

perfect.