Since this was a second baby shower, I wanted it to be more like a kid-friendly tea party than a traditional guess-how-big-Mama’s-belly-is/gift bingo/grown up shower. I also wanted it to be girly but not princessy, cute but not over the top, and to involve lots and lots AND LOTS of food. I actually stumbled into a nursery rhyme theme after reading Little Evan his favorite Mother Goose book for the bazillionth time (he specifically requests the “this little piggy” and “one, two, buckle my shoe” pages because they involve being tickled at the end). “Boy,” I thought to myself, “there sure are a lot of baked goods in these nursery rhymes!”

And thus a theme was born.

I thought it would be super easy to just pick up some Mother Goose craft paper & fabric, grab a couple books from my shelf and be done with it but it turns out nursery rhymes are soooo 1900’s and not very popular anymore so I had to improvise. But it all ended up coming together really well and only involved three trips to the craft store and two to Target with a day of online shopping thrown in for fun.

(click on collages to see them bigger – I know a lot of stuff is kind of too small to read but trust me, it’s better than posting them all individually)

Decorations:

Adorable book-themed invites from Tiny Prints (free tip: ask around Twitter for discount codes – sometimes people give them to you and the invitations you thought were too expensive end up being just right.)

Baby Girl diaper cake done by the VERY talented Joanna of Raising Madison. She was a doll to work with and even made the cake fit my theme with the Farmer in the Dell animals.

Collection of geese (aka ducks I just called geese) on the mantle from Goodwill.

I found the adorable customizable pennants and gift tags in hedgehogstudio’s shop on Etsy for only $5. I used the pennants (printed in 2 different sizes) to make “Welcome!” banners and one over the mantle that says “Rock-a-bye Baby”. I used the gift tags as book marks for the nursery rhyme books I passed out as favors – an INCREDIBLY lucky find in the $1 bin at Target.

My original plan to just scan in pictures of each nursery rhyme from vintage books was cut short when I realized that probably broke about a zillion copyright laws and after a few minutes of trying to find public domain images I was ready to give up. Luckily, Etsy saved the day again with 20 2×2 vintage nursery rhyme illustrations for only $2.50. I cut them out & glued them to ribbon to hang behind the food table and attached the ones that matched the food to the food labels.

The tablecloths are all fabric ordered from Fabric.com.

The sparkly butterflies were in the 80% off Halloween clearance at Michael’s.

Yarn wreath made by me: it’s yarn scraps wrapped around a styrofoam form. Easiest thing ever – but REALLY time consuming to wrap all that yarn.

The blessing tree was an idea I saw mentioned on Ohdeedoh a few weeks ago and stuck with me – I used the same small book of craft paper (called Nana’s Nursery, bought at Joann’s) for the hanging tags on the tree as for the food labels and the backing on the nursery rhymes I scattered around as decorations.

The books on the mantel are a combination of my own from when I was a kid, my mom’s from when SHE was a kid, a few I found at Goodwill and one special moving-picture book I bought especially for Baby Sandy.

The children loved the coloring book pages I found online and printed out, along with my box of 200 crayons. Many of them took their beautiful creations home as souvenirs.

And I just can’t go without pointing out the tea and the plates/napkins are in (a tisket a tasket) green and yellow baskets. MY THEME WAS SO COHESIVE.

Food:

Menu:

Little Jack Horner Thumb Print Cookies (declared the most delicious thumb print cookies ever by all my guests & made by E so obviously not super hard – I think the secret was we used boysenberry jam because I couldn’t find plum – recipe here)

Little Boy Blueberry Muffins (recipe from Tasty Kitchen – also made by E & his dad and also DELICIOUS)

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater Pumpkin Cookies (recipe from Amy @ A Good Life)

That’s What Little Girls Are Made of Sugar Cookies (bought the nursery rhyme cookie cutters on Ebay)

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef Sandwiches

This Little Piggy Had None Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Humpty Dumpty Deviled Eggs

Mary Mary Quite Contrary Garden Veggies

Jack and Jill Went Up The Hill To Fetch a Pail of Watermelon & Fruit

Peter Piper Pickled Peppers

Three Blind Mice Cheese and Crackers

Jack-a-dandy Sugar Candy (aka Smarties & Starlight mints)

Polly Put The Kettle On Tea

Punch and Judy Party Punch

And, because I am AWESOMELY AWESOME, I found a nursery rhyme that included wine: one of the middle verses of Old Mother Hubbard.

Erin (Wedding Erin for those who know what I mean) made this entire cake from scratch – the cake, the frosting, the fondant and the decorations. One layer was strawberry and the other was vanilla that she made with a no-crap actual vanilla bean. It was DELICIOUS. I’ve stuffed myself with cake every day since the shower and we STILL have some left over. I’m totally blaming Erin when my doctor announces I’ve gained 15 pounds at my next appointment.

Friends (really the very best friends anyone could ask for):

More than half the photos (and all the good ones) taken by Erin of Open Shutter Photography. She’s not only my BFF, she’s INCREDIBLY talented with both her camera and Photoshop and can make even a 35 week pregnant Sasquatch look pretty adorable. (You can like her on Facebook here)

Exhibit A:

Headband from TwentyFiveDesign, sweater is at Target RIGHT NOW (not even maternity)

Thank you again bunches and bunches and bunches to The Erins, my in-laws, and my friends who came. I hope you all had as much fun as I did. Oh and if you ever want to pay me gobs of money (or let me SPEND gobs of your money) to plan a party, just let me know. I’m available.

If you’ve read all the way to the end of this, you deserve a piece of cake. Come over and I will TOTALLY give you one right now.

Bet you didn’t know a bebehblog week had EIGHT days in it. But I absolutely positively could not hold any kind of handmade giveaway without bringing you something from the lovely and talented Becca from Hugs & Kisses Designs. I have absolutely no idea how I wandered over to her corner of the internet but I stalk read her blog every day and love seeing her pretty face pop up in my Twitter. She has an adorable son named Cayden who is almost the same age as Little Evan so I think of them as growing up together…even thought they’ve never actually met. And neither have Becca and I. And there’s no plans for that to happen any time soon. Ahem.

But how can you not feel like BFF’s with someone who sends you this?

I literally made a "squeeee!!!" sound when I opened it

I once commented on Becca’s blog that this fabric she uses is my absolute favorite, because it matches my hummingbird tattoo. Obviously she READS her comments and has a fabulous memory, since when she said she was going to make me something special she went straight for this stuff!

She even used the fabric for the inside pockets, so I get to look at it every time I have to grab a diaper.

Because that’s what this is: a beautiful handmade diaper bag. At first I thought it was going to be a little small but after jamming a whole day’s worth of snacks, two sippies, my day planner, my keys, my wallet, three diapers, a wipes case, a toddler-size change of clothes AND my DSLR in there, I can assure you it is LARGE.

Adjustable strap? LOVE. It goes over the handle on my stroller or over my shoulder, or across my body when I'm hauling the baby around too.

But besides the brand new diaper bags available NOW from Hugs & Kisses, Becca also makes a ton of other beautiful fabric items from paci clips to clutches to wet bags. Personally though, these are my favorite:

Custom silhouettes of your kids?!?! AWESOME. (She also does pets!!)

Custom prints of your wedding date or your children’s birthdays?!!?!?! So cute as a gift or for yourself! And for the record, I take 100% of the credit for those wedding date prints. I asked her to make one for me for my friend Erin’s bridal shower and now they’re in the shop!

And because she rocks, Becca is offering one lucky reader a $25 credit to Hugs & Kisses Designs!

To enter, just visit Hugs & Kisses (either here on Etsy or here on Big Cartel – Becca is switching over to BC so she’s got stuff in both shops) and leave a comment telling me what item you like best!

Giveaway open until November 8th, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email so make sure you use a real one when you comment.

You should also check her out on her blog and The Twitter, because she’s wonderful, her kid is cute and she’s adding new stuff to her shop all the time.

Disclaimer bit: Becca sent me the diaper bag free of charge to photograph and review, but also because she likes me. For the record though, I’ve purchased from her shop before and plan to again as soon as I can get Little Evan to sit still long enough to take a good profile shot. I NEED one of those silhouettes!!

THAT’S IT! ALL MY GIVEAWAYS ARE UP! You can enter as many of them as you want!

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Allora Handmade (Closing this one tonight!!)
Day 2 is open until November 2nd! Uff Da Designs
Day 3 is open until November 3rd! Taradara
Day 4 is open until November 4th! Peggy Ann Design
Day 5 is open until November 5th! aPearantly Sew
Day 6 is open until November 6th! Gussy
Day 7 is open until November 7th! A knit Phoebe Mouse…by ME!

There are no super-nice things to say about the person who made the item for today’s giveaway, since that person is me. I CAN, however, say a ton of nice things about my friend Megan. Megan taught me to knit, encouraged me to stick with it when I was frustrated and was unbelievably patient when it came to helping me undo my mistakes.

Megan taught me to knit almost exactly 1 year ago and this scarf is the first thing I ever finished. I thought it was the greatest knitting project ever. (Also, Little Evan totally wore those jammies last night. Time to go jammie shopping.)

And in March of this past year, one of Megan’s dreams came true and she opened a yarn store here in Connecticut.

Megan’s Shop: Mothers of Purl Yarns

As a gift for Baby Girl, Megan gave me what might just be the most adorable knitting pattern ever: Phoebe’s Sweater. Not only is it a knitting pattern for a little girl’s sweater, a stuffed mouse, a dress for the mouse and a mouse-sized sweater, it also has a very sweet, beautifully illustrated story about how Phoebe Mouse’s mom knits her a new sweater while she waits for her new baby to come, so even if you DON’T knit it’s a lovely children’s book. To go with the book Megan gave me enough yarn to knit 2 Phoebe Mouses (Mice? Meeses?) with instructions to give one away to you lovely people. And so I did.

Hi, I'm Phoebe

And then because I love knitting, I also made each Phoebe a mouse-sized jacket out of beautiful red tweed.

Your Phoebe will have gold buttons. It's embarrassing how long I stood in the button aisle picking out exactly the right ones for a MOUSE DOLL SWEATER.

But Phoebe really is cuter if you have the book (plus, if you do happen to knit you can make MORE dresses, in different colors! Or the little girl sized sweater!). So I bought a second one from Megan to give away.

You may win everything you see here! Besides the throw pillow. I bought that at Walmart. But you do get the jacket.

The book is even signed by the author and the illustrator. I can't be the ONLY person obsessed with signed books, right?

And in case you think this kind of thing is cute, your Phoebe Mouse will have been hugged by Baby Girl's Phoebe Mouse.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. THAT’S IT.

Tell me who you would give the mouse to (you can say you would keep her)! Tell me what you had for dinner last night. Tell me that even though I’m 32 weeks pregnant today I don’t need to freak out yet about having ANOTHER baby.

Giveaway open until November 7th, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email so make sure you use a real one when you comment. I’m willing to send Phoebe and her book anywhere, so giveaway is open to EVERYONE.

Disclaimer bit: Megan gave me three balls of yarn and 1 copy of Phoebe’s Sweater so I could make a mouse for my baby and a mouse for you. Little Evan ruined the first book with…I don’t even know what. Something sticky. Plus I still need  a copy of the pattern to make Baby Girl a child-size sweater. So I bought the book I’m giving away. Plus I put in many many hours of knitting time when I should have been playing with my kid, so the giveaway is literally priceless. How’s that for the most unclear disclosure statement ever?

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Allora Handmade
Day 2 is open until November 2nd! Uff Da Designs
Day 3 is open until November 3rd! Taradara
Day 4 is open until November 4th! Peggy Ann Design
Day 5 is open until November 5th! aPearantly Sew
Day 6 is open until November 6th! Gussy