Beatrix Potter & a Baby Shower

Has anybody ever seen the movie "Miss Potter?" That film is elegantly shot, and beautifully British, and poignant and touching and... did I mention that it made me cry? Yup. Cried like a baby at the end of the movie. I watched the movie once or twice several years ago, and wow, I'm still talking about it. Moving on....

Hey! I hosted a baby shower! Or kinda-sorta hosted it. I believe the technical term was "coordinated." My sis is about to have a new baby girl. There are already three blonde little girlies running around her house and they are super-duper excited about "yittle baby in mommy's belly."' "yittle sisterr come after Ea'ter." "she yis big (little arms about six inches apart) and she growin'!"


Beatrix Potter, bunnies and pink. I ran with the themes. I like themes. They make my life interesting (and semi matchy-matchy, which delights my matchy-matchy little heart). It was so perfect that the date of the baby shower fell just a week before Easter, because how else would I find such perfect little pink bunny peeps for making the cupcakes themed, too?!



This nice chalk board? It was the only part of the shower that I allowed my sister to do. Hehe. We chose to have the shower at her house for the location and space available, so I was working overtime to make sure it wasn't too much of a burden. And besides, she has much better writing skills than I do.

It may not be kosher to talk about money, but for the benefit of other thrifty people, I will say that this shower was made possible by the thrift store (chalk board and picture frame), the dollar store (peeps, bunny decorations, and Easter grass), my house (all serving dishes & punch bowl, candles), my sister's house (books) and the internet (Beatrix Potter fabric for table runners which will be repurposed into something by my sewing sister). I think this is the party version of "shopping your closet." :D


I love Beatrix Potter. She made the sweetest little stories and illustrations ever. They make me love bunnies to the nth degree. In the beginning stages of planning the shower, I had the hare-brained (pun!) idea to bring little live baby bunnies and just leave them at my sister's house. The nieces thought that was the FUNNIEST THING EVER. I had a difficult time tearing myself away from that idea... because I loooove bunnies.

This was my consolation: Wind-up Bunny Toys!

I did the smart thing and took the day off from work before the shower. Spent the day baking and prepping, talking to little nieces, eating chocolate (LOTS), taking pictures of all the pets of their 'micro-farm' (you can see that in my instagram feed), and eventually falling over in exhaustion and watching a horse movie with the little girlies. Those girlies like horses.

The only time I was the teeensiest bit stressed was those darn cupcakes. I was piping frosting on the top and my hand was cramping up from the unaccustomed activity, and I'm all like, "Nooooooo! Look pretty! You're supposed to be pretty! And I have to put bunny peeps on you! STAY! DON'T FALL OFF! AAAAAAAH." 

In the end, everything was wonderful. Even the bunny-jumping cupcakes.
Delectable food: like layered crab cheese dip (don't tell, but it was supposed to be a cheese ball. The cheese wouldn't ball, so we improvised!), pink lemonage punch, fresh veggies, pink chex mix, pickled pink deviled eggs, white chocolate & cream stuffed strawberries and mini ham-salad sandwiches (not pictured). FYI - the food was a collaborative effort! :)


Old friends and new friends together. Smiling, laughing, eating food, chatting (as only women can chat), playing a silly game or two... laughing ALOT.. talking some more, about babies and homeschooling and snow in the springtime and silly jokes and crafting and Pinterest and food failures and blogging and everything else. Baby showers are fun, but babies are more fun. :P

My sis and I after the baby shower. Please ignore my tired face and crazy I-just-took-my-hair-down-and-it's-got-a-bump hair. We never remember to take pictures together right after the hair and makeup is done. :P

My favorite part of the shower? The truffles we made for the favors.
Decadent, delicious, fudgy, wonderful, easy-to-make chocolate truffles. Yumyumyum. Truly a perfect sweet ending to a happy "welcome-to-the-world, little baby girl!" party! :)