First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes <fill in the blank> with a baby carriage!  Somewhere in between marriage and carriage comes a wonderful baby shower.  Somewhere in the baby shower planning comes a cake (and favors, always favors).

I had so much fun pulling these together for you.  I hope you find inspiration here.  I know they’ll make you hungry for cake!

Favors at a baby shower are a nice way to say thank you, but did you know that favors also make great prizes for baby shower games?

Such cuteness factor!  I hope you enjoyed!

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Jenny Nimmo’s having a baby girl!  (Any day now!)

Michelle (our Skip’s twin sister) is Jenny’s 3-year-best-bud out in Abilene, Texas.  They built their first houses next to each other, both their husbands fly C-130’s for the US Air Force, they shop together and do all the fun things great next door neighbors do together.  So when Michelle got the Special Delivery news, she started planning the baby shower.

Even better, she agreed to share her plans with you (Michelle’s a super-great party planner, when she’s not busy teaching).

Jenny’s wee one, Melody Grace, will come home from the hospital to her nursery decorated in a theme centered around the exquisite books of Eric Carle (author of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” among others).  Michelle picked right up on the theme for the baby shower, with generous assistance from her co-hostess, Dana.  Here are her super-fantabulous ideas!

The Invitations

Custom printed on what else?  So resourceful!

The Decorations

Oh that Michelle is a clever decorator!  Eric Carle books scattered around, colorful Carle critters hanging from the chandelier, even little Miss Maddie  got all gussied up for the shower!

The Menu

Fresh guacamole and chips, beautiful crisp veggies with yummy dips, plus fresh fruit for made a deliciously light and healthy meal.

The Games!

• The Tummy Guessing Game – pass around a roll of toilet paper and ask each guess to roll out about the amount of paper that they think would just fit around the Mommy-to-be’s baby belly.  Closest guess wins a prize.
• The Ice Cube Game – Freeze little plastic babies in an ice cube tray (enough for one per guest).  Serve drinks with the “baby ice” and announce that the first one who “frees” her baby from the ice cube wins a prize.
• Baby Clothes Pin Game – As each guest arrives, give them one clothespin to wear (you can find cute ones on the internet), and explain the rules.  If you hear someone say “Baby” during the party, you get their clothes pin.  If some hears you say it, they get yours.  The person with the most clothes pins at the end of the party wins a prize.
• For prizes, Michelle used these (smart girl that she is!):

“About to Hatch” wisk, “World’s Greatest Mom” cheese grater, “Baby on Board” pen

Next came the absolutely adorable caterpillar cake, while Jenny opened her presents.

After a quick group photo to record the occasion, everyone left with a pink favor box full of sweet treats.  These were the perfect choice because we all know what eventually happens to a very hungry caterpillar …..

Congratulations Jenny!  And thank you Michelle for sharing!

Andrea in Human Relations hosted a baby shower with two other friends this weekend for their mutual friend, Alyshia, and, according to rave reviews, it was simply FABULOUS!

A little background before I get into the details.  Andrea and Alyshia have been friends since they were 10.  Matter of fact, Andrea was maid of honor at Alyshia’s 2009 wedding to her husband (and father-to-be) Greg!

Now here they are a little over a year later, celebrating the upcoming Special Delivery.

Alyshia is absolutely glowing, isn’t she?  And I think it might be due to the bouncing baby boy she’s carrying.  Little Greg III is due for his grand entrance in October, the very same month his daddy and grandfather were born!  How cool is that?   I’m also thinking he’s going to be an Auburn fan, because  Little Greg will wake up to an Aubie the Tiger mural over his crib every morning!

So on to the details!  Leah, our senior graphics designer, provided the custom design for the precious invitations in Alyshia’s green and blue theme colors.  You can see her cute-cute work at the top of this post.  The guests enjoyed little pimento cheese and chicken salad finger sandwiches, cut into the shape of baby onesies and baby carriages. So clever!

There were little blue candies and cookies and chocolate-covered pretzels and veggie trays with Alyshia’s  favorite – Buffalo Chicken Dip.  Lots of goodies!  Libations included Sangria and a blue punch (sans alcohol), which Andrea swears should remain in the dark.  She says it was not her best attempt, but it was blue! (don’t worry Andrea – we’ve all made the same punch at one time or the other – tee-hee).

And of course, there was an Auburn cake…

Games?  One game that was a big hit, according to Andrea, was the string game, where everyone cuts a piece of string about the size piece they think will fit around Alyshia’s belly.  The winner?  Another pregnant attendee (who Andrea says might have cheated a bit by measuring her own baby-belly-LOL!).

Alyshia received tons of great gifts for Little Greg III.   And of course you know the guests went home with something special – our favor containers with a personalized baby label,  filled with green and blue M & M’s!  Perfect touch!  Here’s Alyshia showing them off…

Congratulations Alyshia and Greg!  Exciting times ahead for you!

And thanks, Andrea, for sharing.  You know how much I love to see our favors doing their job!

The Hostesses with the Honoree