Adventure Awaits Baby Shower

Last weekend I threw a Baby Shower "Sprinkle" for my younger sister.

She is pregnant with her 3rd baby and due in January, so we had a small, low key party to celebrate her Baby Boy that is arriving next month.

Because the shower was in December, I wanted to make sure the theme went with my Christmas decorations but I didn't want it too Christmas-y of a shower.

I seriously thought about throwing a Lumberjack shower since I had literally just done that theme for Luke's 6th birthday, but I decided against because I wanted a theme that incorporated blue. 

I decided on the them Adventure Awaits, for several reasons.

First, because my sister is having her 3rd baby and that for sure is an adventure being outnumbered.

Secondly, this theme is outdoorsy with mountains/pine trees/arrows, etc so it goes well with all the Christmas decorations that are already up in my house.

Thirdly, the name they are using means "Great" and I thought it was fun to add into the theme and make the official theme "A Great Adventure Awaits"

I had the vision for the cake and planned that first and then planned all the other details.

I saw THIS cake topper and knew I wanted to put it on a bare/naked cake and put it on the wooden platter I used for Luke's birthday which I got HERE and then I added some mini bottle brush trees for an extra touch.

 

Once I had that, then I added the rest of the shower details.

Again, I kept this really simple & low key since my house was decorated for Christmas.

The drink set up:

The food menu was BRUNCH!

I made 2 breakfast casseroles...You can see the recipes HERE.

One with Bacon, Sun Dried Tomatoes & Artichoke hearts

The other was Ham & Cheese:

Fruit Salad:

 

Mixed Green Salad with pecans, mandarin oranges & dried cranberries:

 I made my banana muffins. This recipe (but I left out chocolate chips)

 And my pumpkin muffins. This recipe (but I left out chocolate chips)

All the food:

 

 This menu worked out perfectly because I was able to make most of the food the night before.

And, who doesn't love brunch foods? :)

  Loved how simple it was.

 My plate...YUM!

  And my favorite....the dessert table! 

It's a boy sign that I printed on brown cardstock:

 I did brown cardstock to make it go with the "natural/woodsy/mountain" theme:

I kept the dessert table pretty simple also.

 

For desserts, I had my usual (and my sister's favorite!) Sugar Cookie Fruit Puffs:

 

I also made my Salted Caramel Brownies:

And, of course...the cake!

 I was SO happy with how the cake turned out!

 I didn't do that many desserts since there were under 20 ladies at the shower.

 The guest of honor ready to eat some cake!

I didn't even want to cut into the cake because it turned out so cute!

Don't worry, we enjoyed the cake...it was lemon with a cream cheese frosting. So good! 

Baby Presents under the Christmas tree:

 It was a simple shower/sprinkle and we didn't even do games, but we did have an activity :)

 I set out these diapers with this sign & had people write notes/funny sayings on the diapers. There were some funny ones!

 As you know, I ALWAYS do cookie favors at my parties/showers.

 I got the cookies from the bakery in our town.

 I kept it really simple & just had her make the cookies in the shape of a onesie.

 It was a lovely afternoon celebrating my sister and her new baby boy.

My mom & sisters:

I can't wait to meet my new nephew...Kate is hoping the baby is 3 days early and arrives on her birthday!

+++++++++++++

And, a reminder....the 12 Deals of Christmas has been extended until this Friday December 21st, so it's not too late to place your order and save big time!

Check out the post HERE with all the details & savings.

These deals are available to everyone!

Claire's Unicorn Pool Party

Last week we celebrated Claire's 10th Birthday with a Unicorn Slime & Pool Party!

Evite had the cutest Unicorn invite, so I used that because...easy & cute! Done!

Claire loves unicorns, so she decided on this theme earlier this year!

Unicorns are really popular right now, so there were tons of options for decorations, we went with gold & pastels.

 In my kitchen, I had the appetizers & dessert table set up:

 The pastel & gold theme was fun to do.

Pom Poms & Garland leftover from Kate's Painting Party:

The center island had the appetizers on it.

I had Veggies & Hummus:

And, this cute print behind it. It's from HERE.

I had Unicorn Horns...aka Bugles.

And Unicorn Food.....aka Kettle Corn.

View from the other direction:

One of my favorite parts of the party....the Dessert Table!

Behind the table I had a banner & balloons!

 Here is what we had on the dessert table.
Fruit Puffs:

Unicorn Poop (Claire's name for the cupcakes. LOL!)

I got the toppers HERE:

Puffy Clouds:

Unicorn Horns:

I got the toppers here.

Claire loves candy, so we had to add some Mike & Ikes which she wanted to name Unicorn hair :)

Close up of the plates...got them here.

And, the highlight of the Dessert Table...the cake!

My mother in law makes the cakes for my kids parties!

I loved the detials on the top:

Isn't my mother in law so talented?

She made the horn & ears out of fondant.

A very happy Claire in front of her dessert table!

I had the drink & food station set up at the outdoor bar.

Unicorn Fruit Punch & Unicorn Lemonade:

Leftover straws from another party that fit the color scheme :)

The menu was very simple....and what Claire wanted. 

Pizza:

Pepperoni & Cheese.

Watermelon:

That's it! Super easy menu!

 Because her birthday is in early September the weather is still warm, so we always have a pool party. This year Claire also wanted to make slime at her party, so we did that as well.

I had a slime station set up on the grass.

I had all the supplies lined up:

Kate & Claire set up the slime station :)

Glitter glue (here & here), food dye (here & here), plastic containers (here), glitter (here)

Glue (here) and Starch (here)

I found this cute printable HERE.

The girls loved figuring out their Unicorn Name & that's what most of them wrote on the top of their slime container. It was cute.

I am Moonlight Laughter Bell :)

One excited Unicorn!

The girls had so much fun making slime!

There were 18 girls at the party, so we had 4-5 girls make slime at a time.

The slime turned out awesome! Look how gorgeous!

The recipe we used was:
1/2 cup of glue
 1/4 cup of Sta Flo Starch
1/2 cup water
Add any mix ins you want...food coloring, glitter, etc.

The slime turned out PERFECT!!

Each girl made 1 batch of slime and it fit perfectly in the containers I got them.

Some of the girls put unicorn toppers on their slime & wanted me to take a photo of it....of course!!!

The girls also swam...it was a perfect evening for swimming...85 degrees out!

Time for cake!

A very happy Claire.

Can't believe she is TEN!!!!

My mother in law surprised us....look at the inside of the cake:

Beautiful!

For favors the girls got their container of slime that they made and cookies (of course!)

I always do cookies as favors because it's easy & who doesn't love a cute cookie?

I got these cookies HERE.

I got 2 cute printables and put them in frames on the favor table.

Thank you for making my party magical:


Believe in Unicorns {HERE}

We had such a fun time celebrating Claire's 10th birthday.
When the parents came to pick up there kids, a lot of them stayed and we had a little after party since it was a Friday night. I told the girls they could use up all the slime materials...and that kept them busy for another 1.5 hours....look at the slime table at the end of the night:

It was hysterical. They used everything...and our backyard...especially the grass area was a hot mess.

Kevin and I spent over an hour that night cleaning up our backyard and spraying down the patio & our outdoor furniture since there was slime everywhere.
It was hysterical...while we were cleaning it up, we were reminiscing about Claire's Cowgirl Party and all of the hay that was in our backyard & pool for months and months after the party. LOL.

 Slime is the worst, but they had SO much fun making it.
Claire loves slime & I rarely ever let them make it at home because it's such a mess, but I am so glad I let them make it at the party despite the mess.
You only turn double digits once :)

 I will never forget Claire's Unicorn Party...I will always think of the Slime :)

Claire's Parties throughout the years:
9th Birthday - Claire's Hawaiian Luau 

8th Birthday - Claire's Flamingo Pool Party
7th Birthday - Claire's Shabby Chic Tea Party
6th Birthday - Claire's Mermaid Swim Party
5th Birthday - Claire's Tangled Party 
4th Birthday - Claire's Candy Shoppe Party
3rd Birthday - Claire's Cowgirl Party
2nd Birthday - Claire's Ladybug Party
1st Birthday - Claire's Ice Cream Party

To see all the other kid's parties I have thrown, click HERE for my Party Tab!