Blue Happy Living

What a beautiful day to celebrate my daughter and her little family.  On Saturday we had a baby shower for her and it turned out so nice.  All her friends and family came to sprinkle her with much-needed things for the new baby.  When we started putting together the shower I was in charge of the decorations. I went to party city to shop and I piled the basket high with things that would be great to decorate a baby shower with.  As I finished I stopped to go through my basket and make sure I had all I needed.  Then it happened I added up the total of what I had and it was well over $100! Shocking and most of it we would just toss out in the trash when the day was over.  There had to be a better way to do this.  Why waste so much money on these things when they need so much for the baby.  So Miss Cheap Butt went for the door. Off I went to find a better way to decorate and not spend so much money.I started at the Dollar Tree to see what they had to offer in decorations for a baby girls shower.  I was surprised they had a few things that would work.  I purchased small sacks with pink flowers all over  for the treat that would be a thank you gift for coming.  I also found a center piece that said “It’s a Girl”.  Perfect total spent $7 and that is it they rest of the decorations are things that will belong to the baby. What? Yep I used the new babies bathtub, stroller, crib and blankets to finish off the decorations.

The stroller was sat at the front door with a sign that said “Thank you for coming today please take a treat”.  In the stroller I had popcorn in the Dollar Tree sacks and rolled it up.  That way when the guest left the shower they would see it and take a few treats home with them.

On the table underneath the food I needed a table-cloth.  I didn’t want a plastic pink table-cloth I wanted to use something my daughter could reuse.  I bought her a package of receiving blankets and over lapped them on the table.  It didn’t cover the table completely but putting them on an angle and over lapping made it look like we purposely did it that way.

So now for the food and how to display it all.  I needed something to hold all the fruit and veggies that we were serving.  I could have piled it all into a big bowl and called it served but why not make it interesting.  I bought my daughter the bathtub on her gift list and used that.  Yep I used the bath tub to serve the food at her shower.  Why not it was brand new and held water so if the ice melted we were all good.  I put a bag of ice in the bottom and then lined the sides of the tub with lettuce.  I carefully placed the fruits and veggies one by one until it was stacked high with goodness.  Next to the bathtub I put 2 dips one for the fruit and one for the veggies.  I use place holders to put cards that told you what  the dips were.  My place holders are little white pigs I purchased @magnoliamarket.com they are so cute. We also served mini bundt cup cakes, Gluten Free bundt cup cakes and cheese and crackers.  All so good and so not on my diet.  Okay I did have a mini bundt cup cake and it was sooooooo good. My daughter is addicted to her beloved coffee so there had to be a coffee bar from Starbucks.  We even had pink togo coffee cups with lids, thank you Alex so much for that added touch.

Heather’s shower was an open gift shower so no gifts came wrapped.  I wanted to have something different for guest to place their gifts on and not just a table with a table-cloth.  I went to storage and got out her crib and put it together.  I dressed it with her bedding and it was beautiful.  As guest came in we had a markers and stick on tags to mark your gift with your name.  That way everyone got to see all the gifts and what the new baby would be wearing, using and things just for mommy.

We didn’t have those silly games you play we just had activities for the guest.  One of those activities was to write a message to mommy on a diaper.  A message she can read really early in the morning to make her smile and maybe even giggle.  The other activity was take a small card made from scrapbook paper and write the baby a note, prayer, quote or verse.  Heather will be putting those in a book just for her to read later in her life.  She will know she was loved even before she got here.

Heather seemed so happy with the shower.  She was smiling all day and I know that was hard because this girl is ready to pop.  The due date is coming up very fast and I know she is ready.  When the new house is finished in October I’ll be decorating the new babies room all in pink and gold.  I can’t wait!  For now Heather and her little family have moved in with us because their lease came to an end.  I’ll love having them here and enjoy this time with my grand kiddo’s. This sweet sweet baby will be named Scarlett Claire. Life is good and very Blue Happy!