Theme Parties and Storybook Showers!

I am super excited to have my first guest post. One of my bff's, Holly, threw the most amazing baby shower for our good friend, Jennifer. Holly and I are true soul sisters when it comes to planning and throwing a good party. Without further a do, Holly is going to tell ya'll all about it!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that party planning is my happy place.  If there is theme involved that’s even better!  When one of my bestie’s Jennifer told me she was pregnant I instantly started dreaming (and pinteresting) ideas for her shower.  I had this vision for a girl that would include hot pink, black, and gold, something very classy and elegant.  I had a vision of vintage airplanes for a boy that be the perfect mix of babyish with manly adultish in there.   And then the bomb was dropped……no gender was going to be revealed prior to birth.  What?!?  How was I supposed to plan a shower for an unknown gender child?  So back to the drawing board I went and I could not be happy with what took place last weekend.  We had a Vintage Storybook Shower for Baby Sanders and it was perfect!

I created the invitations myself and we asked everyone to bring a book to help create a library for the new little one.  I began collecting items for the shower months ago starting with Little Golden Books.  I purchased some on eBay for super cheap and my Aunt in Oregon was at a barn sale and bought the ones pictured below that she so graciously shipped to me (I am certain the shipping cost more than the books).

Next I found these adorable vintage storybook garlands on Etsy and my Storybook vision was all falling into place.  Bonus, these were buy 2 get one free!  

In my opinion my favorite and most important part of any party is the dessert table.  I always decorate elaborately when it comes to the dessert table.  I purchased tassel banner ($5) and fanned pinwheels ($1) from Party City.  The pennant banner ($4), cake toppers ($1 each) and cake stands from Target ($1.50 on clearance after Easter).  The vintage looking wooden blocks came from Dollar General ($1.50 on clearance).  I can assure you I do not over spend when it comes to purchasing these things.  You can absolutely do this on a budget.  I made the cakes, cupcakes, and cupcake toppers myself.  They were nothing special but were edible and three box mixes only cost me $3.75.  The wooden crates which add the perfect vintage flare I borrowed from Tracey.  The small Fischer Price ball popper is from a game of my 3 year old son’s and the other glass containers where things I had on hand at home. 

I think my favorite thing from this shower (other than my gift which will be another blog post) were the cupcakes and the cupcake toppers.  The cupcakes were just a simple chocolate box cake mix and the icing was Wilton® White Ready-To-Use Decorator Icing-4.5 lb. Tub that I purchased at Michael’s with my 40% coupon from the Sunday Paper.   This was enough icing to do all the cupcakes and one of the 5 layer 6 inch round cakes that I made.  I used a Wilton 1M swirl tip to make the rosette on top.  I by no means am a baker or cake decorator so if I can do this so can you!  I added some gold sprinkles from Kroger and the cupcake toppers were as simple as printing and cutting.  I found these free pintables and simply attached them to some paper straws I had at home.  Boom, done!

I strung some twine (again something I had at home) up over the gift table and simply hung some of our Little Golden books across it to make a banner.  The rag banner came to me second hand and the word “Gifts” is just a little glue and glitter on some white cardstock attached with some hand dandy clothes pins that went along with our vintage feel.

The food….ahhhh the food.  I like to theme and name my food for parties.  I feel like it just adds a little something extra.  This is super easy to do with google and Pinterest at our fingertips.  A simple search for Storybook Food and my menu was planned.  I printed a copy of each’s book cover (again just googling the book) and used my clothespins as name plates.

1. Cloud With a Chance of Meatballs (meatballs)
2. The Cucumber in Wonderland (cucumber sandwiches)
3. Goodnight Moon (check salad sandwiches on crescent “moon” rolls)
4. Dragons Love Tacos (taco salad)
5. Popeye (spinach dip)
6. The Stinky Cheese Man (cheese tray)
7. Strenga Nona (pasta salad)
8. The Giving Tree (apples)
9. The Very Hungry Caterpillar (fruit kabobs)
10. The Tales of Peter Rabbit (veggie tray)
11. The Dish Ran Away With the Spoon (utensils and plates)
12. Otter our of Water and Masie Makes Lemonade (water and lemonade)
13. If You Give a Mouse A Cookie (cookies)
14. If You Take a Mouse To the Movies (flavored popcorn)

I promise you I spent less on this party than you think I did.  The key to party planning on a budget is planning in advance so you can shop clearance racks and yard sales for any items 
that may fit perfectly into your theme.  My favorite time to shop clearance racks for party 
items is after holidays.  Just like the pink and white cake stands from Target that were $1.50 after Easter and they are in no way Easter themed.  Buy things that you will reuse for other parties you will have in the future. Make some of your own decorations.  I guarantee you can do it just as well as any store bought item there is.  Grab free pintables from the internet.  They are out there for anything you could want.  Use items that aren’t party decorating items as party décor.  What isn’t picture are several of my 3 Year Old’s toys that I used as décor.  He has several of the vintage Fischer Price toy line and a little red wagon that fit perfectly into this party and cost me no money.  It can be done and it can be done on a budget.

Happy party planning!

~Holly~


Hope ya'll enjoyed my first guest post! I have more in the works!!