Baby Shower

Just before Easter, I was invited to a baby shower for a friend.  This was her third, and she already had a boy and a girl.  So, it was more of a girls' night.  And we had such a good time.  I wanted to share this experience for two reasons...

1. If you're looking for something fun to do with the girls that's stress free (no cleaning, cooking, etc.), have your event at The Flying Cupcake.  The one up in Carmel is a pretty good size.  Everyone bought a cupcake, sat around a large table for an hour and talked.  It was great!

2. It is so refreshing to get together with a group of women and be real! I loved not feeling any undertones of uncertainty or trying to out do each other.  It was just women being open and sharing and talking about real life.  I guess it was refreshing to be around people sharing about giving birth and having babies since I feel as if I've been in a cocoon for a while.  I've asked my friend if she would share her friends so we could do this again. I think the feeling was unanimous! :)

My friend the week before she had her baby girl.  

You can follow her amazing blog at messageinamasonjar.com.  

The current post on her blog shows pics of the new sweet babe and her other darlings.

The women at the "shower."

 If you haven't been to The Flying Cupcake. It's darling.  I love the shabby chic style. 

I saw their delivery van shortly after, and it cracked me up! The logo of the cupcake with wings is on top of the van.  You can't miss it! 

Organizing might be understatement

Recently, our house has been in an organizing frenzy.  

It all started with the kitchen pantry.  I was tired of seeing everything pushed around trying to make space for the baby food.  So I went to the only sensible place to go... The Container Store.

I had looked online and thought I knew what I wanted. But once there, I was overwhelmed with the selection and amazed by the vast amount of ideas you could get from the place.  I also thought I had narrowed down the options to two narrow shelf options. But once there, I knew neither would work.  That's when I went to the professionals.  The guy working with me was so helpful.  I was a basket case trying to decide which I wanted and if I wanted to pay more than what was originally in my mind.

But as soon as I got our new drawers home, they were a fit perfect.  I am now a huge believer in elfa! LOVE! And I can see myself slowly putting them in every possible space in the house! :)

(above right: pulling things out from the pantry and cabinets.
above left: new elfa system. Love.)

Once the baby food and pantry were all looking so fine, I felt that I needed to tackle the rest of the cabinets. It only took a few more trips of returning and getting more of containers that worked, and we were off and running.  And yes, I did the shopping, reorganizing and putting it all back in one day.  I like to finish what I start!

I have to remember sometimes that the mugs are by the coffee pot, but at least, there's room for the baby's items in an easy to reach place.

(Above: Organized pantry and elfa shelves. And after creating this pantry three and a half years ago, we now have pantry doors.  They're in the process of being hung.  We're so excited and will have more in a future post! Yes!!)

Once I finished this part of the process, I had a full on BITE from the Organizing Bug.  I've went on to organize every top closet in the house.  Baby Girl's room even got a little shuffling around of furniture to help it feel a little more spacious. Ha! :)

But one of the organizing places that has really made me happy is our new "Command Center."  I have been frustrated for a while with our kitchen table being the catch all.  As things come in the house, they just get dumped there.  And, I'm the biggest culprit!!

Well, I couldn't figure how to remedy the problem until I came across an inspiring article in Real Simple called "Organizing Challenge No. 3: the command center."

I wanted a place in the kitchen to pay bills, keep mail and post upcoming events.  Instead, we have places scattered between the bedroom and back office where we do some here and some there.  So, when the article suggested bookshelves, I knew I was on to something.

 You can see in the picture above that we already had shelves by our kitchen table, but there were mostly used for displaying dishes, cookbooks and pretty things.

But since reorganizing the shelves and creating the new command center, a great deal more has a new home.  I brought a few things up from the back office (i.e., stamps, envelopes, etc.) for paying bills. And we also have our own cubbies for current projects we're working on or reading...including one for those items that are always laying around to remember to give to someone else.

I added a basket to the table for when I don't have time to put everything away.  I can "dump" items in the basket until I have time to take care of it. That helps with keeping the table a little more tidy.

And we added a super cool magnetic pin board for upcoming events, invites, etc. However, it replaced the clock.  And that is one thing that I have had a hard time getting used to.

So when we recently came across this clock at Target (perfect feel for the kitchen and for my coffee-lovin' Hubs), I couldn't resist snatching it up at $20.  Now, I can have my cake and eat it too! or in Hubs case, coffee.

Twenty little fingers and twenty little toes!

My mom and I co-hosted a shower this past weekend for a friend having TWIN GIRLS!  Having gone to many showers together, this was the first time my mom and I collaborated on hosting a shower together.  Using a secret Pinterest board to share our ideas, we came up with some really creative and fun concepts.  Of course time is a factor, so we couldn't do them all.  And yet, I think it turned out really well...especially considering most of our guests seemed to linger and talk for a while.  That is always a good sign. 

 

We decided on a pink and green theme to celebrate the twin girls and Spring!

      

Even our punches celebrated the color theme! 

Lime Slush by Paula Dean and Bubbly Love Potion (Raspberry Punch).

Don't you love the glasses and green & white paper straws?

We found the glasses at Target and the straws at the Flying Cupcake!

Going with a brunch theme, most of the food was very simple and yummy.  

My mom found the idea for these silverware napkins. Aren't they darling?

She says she's not crafty, but once again, this proves her wrong.

And of course, these cupcakes came from Gigi's Cupcakes.  

After a taste test, strawberry was my favorite.

(These are the flag bunting from my last post!)

I found an easy way to make the diaper cake here.  It really is simple, makes a pretty 

center piece for the gift table, plus diapers are such a great gift.  

Our group activity.  I googled baby shower games for twins and came across this one. It even had different border colors to choose from. Perfect. 

One of the main reasons I wanted to throw this shower was to help my friend with the big items they'd be purchasing again for the second time.  So I was thrilled when we were able to buy them a crib AND a car seat.

Both items were delivered directly to the family, but I wanted those who went in on the gift to see what we gave. So I used a little left over fabric as a background and framed images of the gifts printed from online.  And we had a group card using a little fabric for the "flags" on it too.

This was a fun shower to host, especially for such a dear friend.

Fun with fabric.

I decided to make flag bunting banners for a baby shower this past week. It seemed like a good idea as I perused the many amazing pins on Pinterest. I mean I had after all made Baby Girl's curtains. So I could tackle a few triangles.

It wasn't until I sat down to the sewing machine (the one I borrowed from my mom-in-law) when I realized how much I was still a novice at the whole sewing thing. I truly began having heart palpitations and beating myself up in my mind when I realized I couldn't even thread the machine...let alone load the bobbin with thread.

After several attempts of teaching myself and not wanting to break the machine, I broke down and asked for help. My text for help came with a surprising response. My mom-in-law was coming. that night. Saturday night. to help me thread the machine. Saying that she had wanted to show me earlier and being so understanding, I was overwhelmed by her kindness. I hated to impose...especially when it was my mess.

But by the time she left that evening, I once again felt confident with using the machine and was off to the races. I made three banners (two for above the kitchen island where the food was; and one for the fireplace.). I even made a table runner to match.

I felt so good by the end that I was trying to think of what else I could sew.

Below are pictures of the creation in process followed by a couple from the actual party. I got the template for the flags by googling images online. And my mom and I picked out the fabrics at JoAnn Fabrics.