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Last Saturday, I got to help create a fun shower for my good friend, Jolinda (she’s from South Africa and has the coolest accent; in case you were wondering, her name is pronounced, “You-linda”).

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There were 10 hostesses…

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…and somehow, we managed to miraculously capture all of us (minus one who had leave early) with the timer-setting on my camera, and we’re all smiling and looking pretty (even though there were toddlers running with swords in the foreground of this shot, and I was convinced it wasn’t going to turn out).

I was working with the decorating team, which, as you know, made me very sad, considering just how much I despise anything to do with home décor and decorative accents.

Ahem.

Okay, so we all know I was over the moon—especially since Jolinda and I happen to share a love of all things blue-green, and this shower’s primary color was aqua (with orange and gray accents).

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Thankfully, everybody in the décor group was a DIY type (my favorite!), so nobody minded when none our “aquas” were exactly the same color since were creating an overall look rather than focusing on the need to buy/order things so they would be perfectly color-coordinated.

In fact, minus maybe the napkins, every single other item was either made or nabbed from somebody or other’s stash, which made for a very fun, very eclectic, and very wallet-friendly end product.

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The food team really outdid themselves as well (I am determined to track down the recipe for that delicious frittata in the pic above), which made it pretty much impossible to pick just a few things.

I started out with a reasonable plate, but I think I went back and got at least one of everything before it was all said and done.

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Other than the color scheme, there wasn’t a specific theme, which was good because, even though Jolinda’s having a boy, it was a pretty darn girly-looking shower. The invitations did have a bowtie on them, though, so I made this little miniature cake with a bowtie on top.

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It took some sweet-talking (and lots of frosting) to convince the little guy to stay in one piece, but ultimately, he kept it together, and did a good job of looking cute, which was his primary purpose.

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Of course, he had some help in the cuteness department from that adorable cake stand. Seriously? It almost “accidentally” ended up in my pile to take to the van at the end of the day.

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One of my favorite touches were these monogrammed petite fours from a local bakery, which added the perfect chic touch to all our homemade creations.

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Another favorite was definitely the flowers that a super-talented friend of Jolinda’s did practically at cost for us.

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She managed to work in all our colors (orange roses, plus little gray puffy things that I don’t know the name of because I’m plant-ignorant, and white accents, all displayed in aqua mason jars)…

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…and the effect was just gorgeous.

Here are several more shots of the colorful details and accents that helped tie everything together:

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Aqua tea light holders across the mantel.

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Pretty gray and white paper straws.

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Polka dot gray and white ribbon for the drink dispensers.

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This pretty tea service was another item that almost ended up home with me regardless of its rightful owner (apparently, I have klepto tendencies when I’m around pretty stuff).

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We used this turquoise bassinet to corral all the gift bags.

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Ashlee, one of the sweet hostesses (whom you can see diligently making out the gift list above), made this fantastic diaper cake. Isn’t it the cutest??

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And we also set up a station for the guests to write notes to baby and to address Jolinda’s thank you notes envelopes.

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I had the twins with me, but since I was occupied taking pictures for a good bit of the time..

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“Hey there!” 

…the girls got to hang out with a lot of other nice ladies, which, considering the shower demographic of 100% female, weren’t too hard to come by.

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(Remember those pom-poms from the table at our 2-for-1 birthday party? I just strung them together with white ribbon, and—voila—a garland was born!).

Thanks to the hard work of some really talented ladies, the shower was a complete success and a lot of fun to boot!

Of course, everything was made instantly better by the fact that we got to have it in the uber-stylish home of this lovely lady:

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Meet Sheila!

I tried to get a better picture of her, but she was in constant movement—scrubbing dishes, gathering up the giftwrap, refilling drinks.

She was a hostessing whirlwind, I tell you!

And?

You will get to see more of her lovely (DIY-friendly!) home on Monday when I share the rest of the pics that I sneaked in among the shower shots.

Until then, enjoy your weekend, and try to remember, amidst the bustle and the stress of gift-buying, final exams, and holiday parties, that Jesus is the real reason for the season!

4 Comments

  1. I used to have to go to Sam’s Club to buy big bulk diapers but now I can have them sent right to my home for free! Also the price is great because I get more for my money. At Sam’s I could only buy a 144 pack of diapers for the same price and now I can get 180 diapers online. Trust me you can’t go wrong with honest diapers!

  2. I love showers where there are a multitude of hostesses! It makes throwing them much easier (& economical!)! Beautiful shower!!

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