I am so excited to finally share with you a storybook baby shower I hosted back in April. I did the shower in conjunction with Kroger and their new Inspired Gatherings website.
Today I will give you an overview of the shower and then you can head over to the Inspired Gatherings website to get all the details on how I made all the fun party decor.
I hosted the shower with my friend Tina. We decided to go with a storybook theme. All of our decor and food was based on different children’s storybooks. I chose some of my favorites: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Green Eggs and Ham and Blueberries for Sal.
Instead of bringing a card we asked everyone to bring a book instead. We included this cute card enclosure with the invite.
The cute enclosure card and invitation were made by Lily Grove Designs and I purchased them through her etsy shop.
They were both darling and set the color scheme and feel for the shower. You’ll see how I incorporated the cute onsies on the clothesline as part of the party decor.
I also used books in the decor. For our food table I created a fun, easy and inexpensive backdrop using polka dots and papers. All the details on how I made the backdrop can be found here.
I added some paper rosettes I made from pages of a book and a no sew book page pennant banner. Tutorials for both of them can be found here.
I also created a fun onsie banner to use as party decor and then it made a perfect gift for the mother to be. Because the shower was book themed I used Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc. on the onsies instead of months.
The onesies will be perfect for that monthly photo of the baby to see how much they have grown. A step by step onsie tutorial can be found here.
For part of the table decor and as another gift for the mother to be I created a fun diaper cake. This was my first time making it and I was surprised at how easy it was.
I continued the storybook theme with the diaper cake and used some Dr. Seuss books to decorate the diaper cake. A step by step tutorial for the diaper cake can be found here.
I think I had the most fun with the food. Each item on the menu tied in with a children’s storybook. I used some of the books I would read to my kids when they were little. When I decided on the storybook theme the first book I knew I had to use was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I love that book and who doesn’t love cookies. We filled a jar full of yummy chocolate chip cookies.
Thanks to my friend Dawn who I borrowed a lot of the books from since mine were all packed away in the attic! She even had the cute little stuffed mouse.
My friend Tina also made these adorable mice sugar cookies. She used a heart shaped cookie cuter and then decorated them. Aren’t they darling!!
Next was Blueberries for Sal so of course we had to have blueberries. I made Blueberry and Raspberry Fruit Crisp in little mason jars and displayed the storybook next to the food.
The next book I chose was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs which meant we needed some meatballs! I made a honey balsamic meatball. They don’t photograph great but they were yummy. I made them gluten free by using quinoa in them instead of breadcrumbs.
Another favorite children’s book of my kids is The Very Hungry Caterpillar and fruit kabobs looked just liked the Caterpillar!
The last book we used was Green Eggs and Ham. Decided to omit the green eggs and we went for Hawaiian Ham and Cheese Sandwiches.
These were a huge hit – so yummy and gooey!
The guest of honor’s sister in law brought some of the most adorable cupcakes I have ever seen! Little rubber duckies in the tub! They were almost too cute to eat but we managed to eat them. The little duckies were made out of marizpan I think or maybe it was fondant but they were totally edible.
Loved how fun and colorful the table was.
What would a book themed baby shower be without some book works!
And here is the cute mommy to be! The shower was a few months ago and baby Max has arrived safe and sound.
Don’t forget, for all the how to’s, details and tutorials for the decorations head over to Inspired Gatherings.
For other fun party ideas check out these:
Crepe Bar Bridal Shower – Vintage Baby Shower – What Will It Bee Baby Shower
Enjoy!
Leigh Anne
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This is such a cute baby shower. I love your ideas. Everything looks great! I love the idea of bringing a book also.
This is such a cute baby shower!! You did a great job!
Thanks Leigh Anne, love love it, I am going to do this. You always save me.
I love the decorations and food. So cute! By the way, thank you for the Toffee chip blondie bars recipe. I’m not sure what you called them.
I didn’t have toffee bits so I had to use butterscotch chips but they were still so delicious!
That is the best Baby shower theme EVER!!!! I absolutely love it! (and those are some of my very favorite books, too).
Thanks so much Anna. It was so fun to plan and do!
Amazing Leigh Anne!! I love the theme and your creativity!!!
Thanks so much Kris! It was such a fun party to plan.
I literally am amazed at how lovely this is!! Here in the UK baby showers aren’t quite so common (I never had any and only one or two friends have), but they’re beginning to take off now, so this is TOTALLY what I’ll be doing if I’m ever called upon to organise one!! Full marks to you, if I was the mummy-to-be I’d have been in floods of tears! 🙂
Thanks so much Maria. I am a firm believer that ever new mommy deserves a party!
I love this idea. Thanks for sharing. I have pinned it so I can use it when I need it.
Cathy, Glad you liked it. It was a fun party to do.
This is one of the most awesome baby shower I’ve ever seen. The idea was really wonderful. My friend told me that she wants me to help her in planning her baby shower and because I loved her, I said yes. And now, I am thinking what theme would be perfect for that event. Since she loved books, I can suggest this to her. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Shannon. It was so fun to do. Have fun with your shower!
This is such a cute theme!! One question… what did you do for table centerpieces?
The only table I had was the serving table that you see in the photos. We just sat in chairs in my family room.
i Love your ideas! Thanks so much for sharing them.
I am in the midst of doing a Storybook themed shower for my daughter.
Right now I am building the Diaper Cake.
How did you get your ribbons to look so good. Not sure how you got them to stay in place? What’s your trick?
Debbie, I just used a straight pin to pin the ribbon together. Hope that helps! Have fun with your shower.
I am throwing a baby shower for our school librarian. I would really love that Hawaiian Ham and Cheese Sandwich recipe!
Thanks!!
Here you go: https://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/hawaiian-ham-cheese-sandwiches/
I was hoping you could tell me how you did the black signs with white letters and where you might have gotten the stands for them.
I just printed the signs on my computer and I found the little stands at the Dollar Store.
Thank you!
Hi Anne.
Your shower was put together beautifully. I am working on doing one for a baby girl so am going to copy your great ideas and just add lots of pink to it.
Question – what did you do for party favors for the guests?
Thank you so much for sharing your picture perfect party.
Laurie
Laurie, We didn’t do a party favor. I’m not a big believer in them. I believe people go to a shower to give gifts not receive them and they get to enjoy delicious food!
Hi Leigh Anne.
Thank you! I totally agree with you on party favors.
I made the banner and it is too cute and now am excited to make the cheese/ ham sandwiches. They look delicious.
Thank you again for sharing your beautiful ideas.