Done in our shower colors it made for great shower decor and more importantly was a lovely keepsake for Ann that will serve as a reminder of the guests who attended her shower and a wonderful memory of her mother.

–Kristen, Liz & Heather
PS colors: chocolate & fuchsia, fig & gravel, peacock & paper bag
Latest fave: Personalized Note Pads!

–Kristen, Liz & Heather
PS colors: chocolate & fuchsia, fig & gravel, peacock & paper bag
Latest fave: Personalized Note Pads!

Pink candy pieces were included in floral centerpieces and extras were sprinkled on table tops. Our paper wrapped candies and lollipops were hand cut, but this could also be done with the Silhouette Machine. Guests were invited to write sweet messages to Ann and baby on the paper candies, which will be included in a keepsake album along with photographs from this special day.

Shower gifts were dressed in coordinated Blossom and Strawberry gift wrap – taking special care in wrapping since Ann is a self-proclaimed Wrapaholic! We even tucked in an oversized lollipop so the packages would look just as delicious as the rest of the room.

–Kristen, Liz & Heather
PS colors: chocolate & fuchsia, fig & gravel, peacock & paper bag
Latest fave: Personalized Note Pads!

Only problem: What do you do for the woman who has done everything?!

Three of us (from non-creative departments) volunteered for the challenge and quickly realized we were in for a treat. After sourcing inspiration online we decided on a Sugar & Spice Baby Shower theme and a perfectly pink color palette.

Since charming treats and refreshments would serve as our main party elements, we concentrated on the buffet table itself as the focal point of the room. We filled the table with sweet (and a little salty) old-fashioned candy and snacks displayed in various glass and white ceramic containers. We dressed our tables with rolls of solid gift wrap in Blossom and Strawberry, and printed place cards matching our invitation style to mark each food item.

Treats included gumballs, salt water taffy, cotton candy, pretzels, nuts, homemade baked goods, and mini cupcakes from local Chicago favorite Sweet Mandy B’s. As a surprise, we also made a call to Ann’s favorite hometown spot – Abe’s Carmel Corn Shoppe of Lincoln, Illinois – to bring their famous caramel corn to the celebration. We rounded out our offering with old-fashioned sodas and complementary striped straws – a perfectly festive way to wash it all down.

The table really was a sight to see framed by playful tissue pom poms and a Sugar & Spice sign we created using the Silhouette Machine. To make letters like this you simply type words in the font of your choice into the Silhouette program. The machine does all the work, though in our case it required a little manual construction on the wide letters given the Silhouette’s width limitation (we’re thrilled that the new Silhouette CAMEO accommodates wider paper).

And, like always, Ann and baby were perfectly coordinated for their special day.

–Kristen, Liz & Heather
PS colors: chocolate & fuchsia, fig & gravel, peacock & paper bag
Latest fave: Personalized Note Pads!

Our dear coworker Ann recently gave birth to her first child – a very sweet baby girl! Little Maggie arrived earlier this month, which gave us a chance to revisit Ann’s very special Sugar & Spice Baby Shower thrown in late summer. We enjoyed planning this event so much that we wanted to dedicate a blog series to her special day.

Check back all week as we walk through concepting an original baby shower theme, creating accents, developing a baby shower game and folding in a bit of sentimental charm. It was an event to remember for a woman who has created many memorable events for others. Be sure to save room for a daily helping of sugar – it’s sure to be a delicious read!

–Kristen, Liz & Heather
PS colors: chocolate & fuchsia, fig & gravel, peacock & paper bag
Latest fave: Personalized Note Pads!

Because I’m a Paper Source employee and former invitation designer, my hostesses felt some stress when coming up with an invitation for the event but, after a bit of collaboration, we came up with the most darling idea using our die-cut butterfly cards. (Note: Layout was a little tricky, but we just kept testing on white printer paper until it was perfect. Then, we used removable double-stick tape to attach the butterflies to a full sheet and fed them one-by-one through the printer.) At the shower, there was a matching banner and little butterfly gift tags to tie the entire theme together.

I was also introduced to a great new baby shower game – Midnight Advice. A tiny, newborn diaper was given to each guest. They then used a permanent marker to share words of wisdom, love or humor. The diapers were collected and I read each out loud. A few of the best included…

“Make daddy change me.”
“The rule is, if the baby is crying, you can too.”
“Next time use protection.”

My favorite won a small prize…“If you are reading this, you have it on backwards. It’s okay, it will probably only last an hour or so.” And, I won a collection of caring words and funny advice to get me through the night – not to mention some much-needed diapers!

It was such a wonderful time to get together and share in the joy of all things tiny and pink!

–Ann
PS colors: gravel & plum
Latest fave: 2012 Paper Source Kraft Grid

I made game cards for each guest with two sections – first they would predict how many of Daddy’s answers Mom would guess correctly; second they read through the list of 12 questions I had asked Daddy and tried to guess his answers for themselves.

Once guests had filled out their cards, it was time for Mom to play the game. A spiral bound book made using our new Zutter machine contained all the questions and Daddy’s answers. It was much more interesting for me to flip through book than to have read the answers off a page, and my friend loved being able to keep the book once we were finished.

To determine a winner, guests kept track of how many questions they answered correctly. The guest with the most correct answers would win, and in our case of a tie we then compared the guests’ predictions of how many questions Mom would get correct to how many she actually answered right.

A special thank you to my co-worker Ann, who provided loads of baby shower inspiration and constructed this adorable spiral bound game book.

–Kristen
PS colors: peacock & chocolate
Latest fave: Satin Ribbon

With a little planning it was easy as ABC.

I love creating extra special invitations – it’s such a treat for your guests and we all love the feeling of receiving a delightful surprise in the mail. The invitation itself was simple – I added baby blocks at the bottom and printed my own ABC envelope liners (my favorite part). But what made this particularly fun for guests was that it arrived in an 8.5″ x 11″ envelope because also included was a scrapbook page for each guest to complete. Sometimes bigger is better and an oversized baby shower invite?…that’s unexpected.

Playing on the alphabet theme we mailed each guest a scrapbook page with one letter (we happened to have just the right number of guests to make this work). With an instruction card we asked them to design a page in the theme of their letter with baby related words, parenting advice or memories of Laura. We left it very open-ended and encouraged them to be creative. There is some risk when doing a project like this, as you never know if your guests will have the time or creative energy required. But, I must say, I was SO proud of everyone – the ABC pages were absolutely adorable.

B is for Babysitter – with a list of important information to prepare for sitters

N is for Neighborhood – with a map of where the baby will first live marked with the parents’ favorite spots

U is for Ultrasound – with a place for Laura to slide in an ultrasound picture

So creative, right? And visually stunning whether painted, drawn, or collaged…

We displayed a few at the shower and they will all be turned into a keepsake book for Laura and the baby. It’s a true collection of thoughtful messages from the important women in Laura’s life.

P.S. Stay tuned for another post about the baby shower game we played and how our new Zutter machine brought it all together.

–Kristen
PS colors: peacock & chocolate
Latest fave: Satin Ribbon

As you’re planning a baby shower, remember to save items for your album – a clean copy of your baby shower invitation and in this case blank paper t-shirts that everyone received in their invitations.

Save items from the shower itself that will add to your album. I saved game cards from our Baby Jeopardy game played at the shower. It was fun to see what guests wrote as their answers, and I ended up featuring the cards of the two game winners in the album. I also recreated the circle title featured on the game board in the album itself using our 1.25″ circle printable labels. Printed labels work great throughout the album for someone like me with inconsistent hand writing!

Organize your photos before you start your album. I tossed photos that were not clear, were duplicates or didn’t fit into a page theme. Then I laid my photos out, along with the other items I wanted to include, in the order I wanted to present them in the album.

Before you begin, bring out all your scrapbook supplies. My guillotine trimmer, Zots adhesive and double stick tape were used throughout. I also grabbed decorative papers, stickers and other accents to have on hand. Seeing them as I was creating the album allowed me to design as I went.

It can be intimidating to fill these blank white pages, but with the right supplies and commitment to the process you’re sure to create something very special.

–Kristen
PS colors: peacock & chocolate
Latest fave: Satin Ribbon

Since the invitations were the first thing that guests would experience, we wanted them to be perfect. It’s so true that your invitations set the tone for your event – we received lots of calls after people received these, so excited to see what was in store. I printed the invitations at home using our Quilted Frame Embossed Printable Party Invitations, then mounted them to blossom flat cards. Enclosed with each invitation was a paper t-shirt, along with a note explaining to guests that they should write a special message to Kelly and decorate their t-shirt in any way.

We asked everyone to bring their t-shirts to the shower where we clipped them to our clothes line centerpiece with miniature wooden clothes pins. It was wonderful to see what people created and it turned our gift table into a focal point. After the shower, I collected all of the t-shirts and will put them into an album for Kelly along with photos from the shower – something she, and the baby, can enjoy for years to come.

I was never a fan of shower games until I experienced Baby Jeopardy as presented by my amazingly creative co-worker (and baby shower hostess extraordinaire), Ann. I knew this game would be perfect for our shower – it brings guests together, allows people to interact, and reveals fun tidbits about the parents-to-be.

See our previous baby shower post where Ann describes how to construct the game board – a fun keepsake for your guest of honor. And because you’ve asked us in the past, here are a few ideas for questions: What was mommy/daddy-to-be’s first word? What quality of mommy-to-be does daddy-to-be hope the baby inherits (and vice versa)? What is mommy-to-be most looking forward to doing once the baby comes? Gathering this information takes a little stealthy coordination with relatives, but it’s well worth it!

To finish off our event, we wanted guests to leave with a small token – a little something sweet in hand painted duck cookies (made with love by my mother). It was the perfect way to end this very special day.

–Kristen
PS colors: peacock & chocolate
Latest fave: Satin Ribbon