Hooray- my little sister's baby shower was a huge success and I lived to tell about it... and so did my house. I was a little worried when I kept seeing more and more guests come through the front door, but somehow- everyone managed to squeeze in somewhere. I think when all was said and done we had 26 women and 8 children, making the grand total 34 (35 if you count my best friend's husband who spent half the shower at the mall and the other half in the back yard).
The house got really rave reviews thanks to a last minute frenzy cleaning and some additional decorating. Here's a breakdown of how I made each room baby shower ready (note- each room had its own children's book theme):
The front porch- I made hanging lanterns for three of my shepherds hooks (alternating between our bushes in front of the porch) out of glass mason jars and red ribbon. Also, I made a sweet welcome banner out of scrapbooking paper and the same red ribbon. I hung the banner between the front door and our big, front window. Lastly, Hubs gave the front door a fresh coat of red paint (Caliente by Benjamin Moore) and I made sure the glass storm door was shining.
The entry- I know that first impressions are huge, so I went all out in the entry. First, I brought in mini, lighted, evergreen trees from work and set them up in front of the closet door- straight ahead of the entry. The trees were of varying heights and I am hoping they gave off the illusion of being in a forest. I placed a tin bird in the branches of the tallest tree and wrapped a green cloth around the base of the trees with an added bunny for good measure. In addition to the evergreen trees, I cut out a ton of paper leaves and stuck them all over the wood trim and stair railing to add to the foresty feel. Behind the trees, I hung a long cascading mane of swirly golden paper tied up in a pink bow to resemble Rapunzel's hair, along with a word bubble saying, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair). On the wall immediately on your left upon entering the house, I had my small entry table sitting next to a black lantern. On the table was my picnic basket filled with the guest's take home treats (sugar and spice homemade facial scrubs for the adults and bags of animal cookies for the kids). Each treat also came with a thank you note written by my little sister and her husband. Hanging on the wall above the basket was my chalkboard, which read, "Thanks for coming. Please take one. ~ Red". Hanging on my hook next to the chalkboard was a red cape I made out of one of my queen sized flat sheets. Last minute, I hung a list in the entry window that "belonged" to Little Red Riding Hood- showing her list of things to take to Grandma's house and a map.
At the top of the stairs, I put a sign on the wall pointing to the bathroom. Next to that was another sign that said, "Beware of wolves"- playing off the Little Red Riding Hood idea. Then, hanging shelf over my staircase was filled with various children's books from my collection.
The living room: The theme of this room was Where the Wild Things Are. To accomplish this feat, I turned my coffee table into little Max's bed complete with a blue and white striped blanket, pillow, teddy bear and some ingenuity. I used construction paper to form his horns and his tail. Then, I used towels to shape his body under the blankets. At the foot of his bed, I placed glass bowls of popcorn and pretzels. In addition to the bed, I made two huge trees out of construction paper (one red and purple and one green and blue) and hung them on the walls in one corner. I also framed three pictures from the book and placed them on my hanging shelves, which I had covered with paper leaves. Above the large front window, I hung a homemade banner sporting Max's crown and tail; I put a quote from the book on it. On the opposite wall above the entrance to the dining room, I had a banner that read, "Once upon a time".
The dining room: This room was probably my favorite room; it was Dr. Seuss themed. First, I cut out polka dots from colored construction paper and hung them on the walls. Then, I created a homemade mobile to hang from my dining room chandelier. The mobile included the infamous red and white top hat, green eggs and ham, and the fish from The Cat in the Hat. I put all of my Dr. Seuss books on the hutch and one on top of the bookshelf, which featured more miscellaneous children's titles from my collection. I also hung black, shiny curling ribbon from my picture frames. When it was complete, I had 12 chairs around the perimeter of the room, with the dining room table in the middle serving as a buffet for the food. I had a really hard time decorating the table because I couldn't find a Dr. Seuss tablecloth anywhere. In the end, I used red and white striped wrapping paper on the tabletop and a clear table skirt wrapped around the table, with a few polka dots added for good measure. To really take the table over the top with whimsy, I added zebra striped duct tape where the wrapping paper met the skirt and a bunch of curling ribbon poms at the corners. My favorite addition to this room however, were the red and white tissue paper poms that Hubs helped me hang from the ceiling.
The kitchen: The theme of this room was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. My mom actually decorated this room and she did a good job with it. She colored a ton of butterflies, cut them out, and then we hung them from the ceiling. She also colored a bunch of fruit, each piece sporting the essential caterpillar hole- we taped these to my cabinet fronts along with some Eric Carle-esque leaves. We also served the drinks in the kitchen with the help of my cutting block island. Somehow, we managed to fit some chairs in the kitchen as well, making it a somewhat quieter, calmer, cooler place to catch up with family.
The back porch: I actually never intended to use the back porch for the shower because it was in such bad shape, but once I started processing the logistics of the shower, I realized I couldn't get around it. When this sunk in, I pretty much freaked out... and then I grabbed a paintbrush. I found two different cans of paint from our old apartment (an ice blue and a creamy yellow) in the basement. I decided the two colors were just what the porch needed, so I just painted them one day- without even prepping the walls. I painted the one solid wall blue and the other three yellow. It is amazing what a difference the color made; I really love it. The colors also inspired the Goodnight Moon theme I gave the room for the shower. To accomplish the theme, I hung a huge paper moon on the wall (that read "Goodnight Moon"- go figure) and a bunch of yellow and orange stars. I also moved the wicker bar onto the back porch to make more room in the dining room. I brought along one of the larger potted plants and several springtime bunnies, which fit in nicely with the book- Goodnight Moon. I then used green and floral tablecloths to cover the top of the bar, our coffee table and the deep freezer- creating one long continuous space for the baby gifts. It was a very random room because I couldn't conceal our pantry shelves, but it worked out well.
Pictures to come in the next post- to keep this one from being too long.
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