Baby Shower

May 06, 2012

I gave a baby shower tea yesterday to a favorite young woman friend of mine.  We had so much fun, she has the nicest friends and family that I have come to know over the years.  The weather was gorgeous, a solid 75 with sunny skies and a teensy breeze to float the flower scents through the air.

I was so happy with the way everything turned out, so before the party I took lots of pictures to share with you!

The baby nursery is decorated in red and indigo blue, perfect colors for my house.  I made a bunting, directions at the end, from wool felt and coordinating fabric scraps.  Little William will swag this bunting over the window in his nursery that faces the Golden Gate Bridge!

I unearthed some stored-away Madame Alexander Storybook dolls and set them around.  It was so fun to see these little fellas again!  For the serving platters, I used a combination of my vintage blue and white and Arte Italica.


I thought it was appropriate that Bubbles the Clown should preside
over the champagne table.


The drinks table was on the patio off our family room.
I served white wine and champagne, water and iced tea.

The tablecloth was a quilt I made years ago.  I just love the colors.
Roses are from the garden.  Please note the Pound Puppy napkins
that I found the on ebay.  Once upon a time, 
the little mother and my son played Pound Puppies for hours on end.


After about 45 minutes of chatting and champagne, 
I invited the ladies to the tea table.

Now here is the thing, it was a gluten-free tea.
I need to brag and tell you I pulled off a delicious gluten-free tea!
(the guest of honor and her mother, my good friend, are both gluten free)
It was no easy feat, but thank goodness for the internet, I found great recipes and ideas.

I love this white wood three tiered piece for a centerpiece.

I made wool felt booties from this free pattern from Purl.
Absolutely adorable.

On the patio outside the living room and dining room I had 4 tables.


We were almost shaded but still I brought in some large market umbrellas.

I rented the navy tablecloths but I do have 4 dozen white linen napkins,
all from my mother's and grandma's collection.
I starched them up and placed one in each stemmed glass.
Each place setting had a stemmed glass, tea cup and saucer with spoon and a fork.

At each table there was a bottle of water, one of wine
and a pitcher of iced tea.
I had two ladies help serve hot tea.



The flowers were mostly from my garden, 
I supplemented with a few grocery store flowers.

There were lilies all over the house.
A friend went to Europe for a month and invited me
to pick the lilies from her garden, like 3 or 4 dozen!


Love lilies!

I had fun choosing just the perfect serving pieces.
The baby plate was my mothers.

The garden looked gorgeous.
My husband and I spend a lot of time back here these past few weeks.
The hard work showed, it was very pretty.

As everyone left I gave them a little party favor.
A Hershey bar covered in some quilt gift wrap.
This was a last minute idea and think it came out cute.


Here is the simple bunting pattern.
Take a piece of 8.5" x 11" paper.
At top of paper, pencil mark 1/2" in on each side,
at bottom, pencil mark the center.  Connect the dots.

 For the ones I made from cotton fabric, I added a 1/4" seam allowance,
cut two, sewed along seam line, turned inside out and ironed.
The wool felt was just cut on the seam line. 

Next step was to glue gun flags onto ribbon with a few added embellishments.


Voila!  Gorgeous bunting, fast and easy.


See you soon!

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15 Comments

  1. ...I wish you lived closer so I could know you in person; I'm sure we'd be friends. and I'd get invited to your lovely parties...to see all this in person. looks divine, as always. that mother-to-be is a lucky lady (but I'm sure she knows that already!)

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  2. You sure do know how to throw a party! You are an inspiration.

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  3. What a joyous and beautiful occasion! I wish I was there in your enchanted surrounding!
    Thank you for sharing the beauty of your home with us!

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  4. You have such a sense of making a home welcoming! Great taste! Great combination of colors! Everything looks from out of a magazine! ;-)

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  5. What a wonderful baby shower! It looks amazing! Did you rent the tables and chairs as well? Wow... The red and blue work so well together!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sue

      Yes, I rented two market umbrellas, the chairs and tables, tablecloths and the plain wine glasses on the drinks table. I always go to Stuart Rental on Middlefield Rd. when I have to rent something, which is not often. They are really professional and I've never had a problem.

      Thank you for the compliments!

      Delete
  6. What can I say after I say WOW! What a fantabulous shower! Beautiful in each and every detail.

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  7. I love your party and so creative. I think it turned out fabulous! Everything looks so gorgeous here. Thanks for sharing.
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

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  8. What a special shower you so lovingly prepared!! Thanks for sharing.

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  9. What a great event! As someone who's loved dolls all my life, seeing how you used them in the decor was my favorite part of your post. I try, but I am never that talented on making the dolls look like they seamlessly blend into the look I'm going for. You achieved that with your decorating skills, Kristen. Thank you very much for joining Your Cozy Home Party this week!

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  10. Looks amazing :) Adore the bunting :)
    Greetings from Australia♥
    ~Pernilla

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  11. Love the roses and the baby booties are adorable! What a lucky Mom to be!

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  12. What a beautiful baby shower. Well done! Everything looks amazing. I love the colors and the roses. Have a wonderful week.
    Lisa

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  13. It was a beautiful Shower and Maggie and Beth were just thrilled at very impressed. It's fun to attned a Baby shower and see all of the new items they now have for a baby. What nice friends that came and lovely, interesting gifts. I remember when you started collecting those dolls and I found the Shoe with the three girls and you keep all of thsee things which is so nice. I will just say WOW, what a day.......

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  14. The shower turned out beautifully. I love your attention to detail.
    How special for the Mother to be. The bunting is great. Giving parties is so much fun.

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