My baby sister is having a baby!
Naturally, I had to outdo myself, and make everything for the shower.
Ok, not literally everything...but close.
First up: the invites. Why buy them when you can make them, amiright?? Especially when you don't know the gender of the baby - much easier to make non-gendered things than try and buy them.
I went to my local Paper Source, and picked up some mint green flat cards and envelopes, plus fine papers to line the envelopes. (If you haven't tried lining envelopes, you totally should) I also used a cutie stork stamp I got from there to put a simple flourish on the bottom.
How cool is that Color Box stamp pad!! It matches almost perfectly to the paper I chose. Awesome.
That liner paper!! GAH. I can't get enough.
The invites were super simple and easy to make - since I was using Paper Source paper, I went online and found their templates for printing inviations at home (You could use their templates with other paper, you'd just have to scale it to what size paper you're using, if the dimensions aren't exactly the same.). You can buy blank invitations from them and print at home, so they have Word templates to account for paper size and margins, depending on what design you got. I used this one, since it was closest to how I would be stamping the image on the bottom of the invite. I typed in all the info, hit print, and viola. Then, I stamped the image on the bottom, and embossed it with clear embossing powder to give it a little something extra.
I stamped each one on the back with my Kelly Purkey stamp, and signed and dated them all.
Perfect.
Next up: the favors.
In my mind, favors must be useful. Or, they should be food. Chocolate is usually a winner, but in this case, since it's fall and I have serious problems when it comes to great ideas and underestimating how long things take to make...I decided making apple butter and apple cranberry jam was the way to go.
I know, right. Delicious.
So, I got 4 oz Ball canning jars, made the recipes, then hot bath canned them. That way, people don't have to feel pressured to eat them right away. Using scraps from cutting the white paper for the invites, I made little "thank you" tags for each jar.
Super simple little tags stamped with this expression stamp, hole punched, an eyelet smashed on, tied it with some twine, and boom. Favors.
Delicious favors.
They all went into baskets at the shower for guests to grab on their way out the door when the festivities were over.
Each basket had a tag, so you knew which one you were grabbing.
Um. So. Do you see that sideways "L"??? Yeah. That's what happens when you pick up the letter stamp, and swear it's going the right direction, but it's not. Then, your almost uncontrollable OCD freaks the f out, and you begin a panicked search for more blank tags. Unable to find any, you decide if anyone even notices, you'll say you did it on purpose - it is a baby shower, after all, and it's cute to make stuff look baby/kid-ish. If that makes sense. You know, like when I used to write my "J's" sideways when first learning how to write my name. Now I just stamp letters sideways for effect. And to drive myself insane. Literally.
So, there was a sideways "L" on the tag at the shower. And now you know the story behind it. Just in case anyone asks.
Ahem.
Lastly: the dessert table.
Hello, sugar coma.
Cookies. Pumpkin cake. Pumpkin bread. Luscious cake balls that my lovely friend, Angela, volunteered to bake. Scones. Maple cakelettes.
Homemade baked goodies overload. I think I'm done baking for the entire year. My mom and I baked everything on that table, with the exception of Angela's cake balls.
I made the cards to label the goodies, too. Glitter pumpkins are all the rage.
Glue stamp pads make using glitter SO much easier for stuff like this. You use the stamp on the glue pad like you would a regular ink pad, stamp the image, then pour glitter over it, and tap off the excess. Let dry. Glitter pumpkins abound.
That's it for the shower goodies I made. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for when the baby arrives, but until then, the projects are super-secret-on-the-down-low.
Have any of you done any handmade things for showers or parties? What did you make??
