a library themed baby shower

Hello and happy Sunday!

I hope your weekend has been great. I am still recovering! Last week I only worked two days. I took off the day before and after my bestie’swedding so I could help her prepare and clean up. Because she was trying to keep costs low, we did it all ourselves pretty much. One bridesmaid did the catering for about 65 people [crazy crazy girl]! I mostly helped with décor and placement of things. I was in for a surprise on how much energy it would take and how much really needed to be done. And my weather app totally mislead me.

We started Wednesday by packing up her father’s pick up and trailer. Katie has been making, thrifting, and saving stuff for over a year. We also packed up our two cars. Seriously. We hauled it up to the pretty mountain top and unloaded at a cabin the couple had reserved for a few days for the bridal party. It was such a beautiful park and the amenities were really impressive.

We laughed later at the fact that we brought up smores, board games, and alcohol thinking there’d be time for such a thing. Um, no. And on top of the immense amount of decorating, cooking, and primping to be done, she had a few snafoo’s hit her head on. Her brother/guitarist for the wedding broke his finger and wasn’t able to serenade her down the aisle. The photobooth never showed [they booked it for the wrong day]. It was pretty close to freezing outside. She didn’t bat an eyelash. Not one bridezilla moment. It was amazing. I commend her and don’t blame her for any crying/cursing that may occur later.

But everything went smoothly considering the circumstances and the ceremony was beyond beautiful. The reception? Everything she pictured. It was a great time. I even managed to face my fears and give a toast which had me shaking in my pretty little flats.

Afterwards, we cleaned up all Friday and even had dinner together. I wanted to visit the family [she married my cousin] so it turned out nicely. So Friday equals getting up early to clean and haul, showering at home, antiquing with my mom and visiting aunt, and dinner with family. 

Saturday, did I rest? No. I guess it wasn’t enough. I went back to my home town, Front Royal, for the Festival of Leaves. It’s kind of a big deal here but really, it’s your typical parade/festival. Any excuse for funnel cake, is a good excuse to me.

So today, as you can imagine, I’m beyond exhausted. And I have a rough week ahead of me [working five days instead of three and on call all weekend]. I hope by getting off early I’ll be able to keep my posts up since you got jipped this week. But it was all in the name of love ;]

Moving on! Katie’s wedding got me all excited. I love party planning, decorating, and cooking. I’ve even done some light weight catering and party throwing myself so I thought I’d share in the name of fun. My 11^th niece, Alexandria, is turning two this month. This is her awhile back but isn’t she adorable?

I have 2 sisters and a brother [technically, they’re half] that are about 15 years older than me, give or take. So in a weird way I grew up as the youngest and an only child since I never lived with any of them. But it was kind of cool since they could take me places and spoil me. When I was at the ripe age of six, I became an auntie. And then they kept on coming. So, when my one sister found out she was pregnant and I had just become a homeowner, I was ecstatic. I had never been able to treat my sisters to parties and now I was finally able to do something for them.

This little girl was baby number five. Hence, Anna [baby mama] wasn’t too controlling over the direction of the party. She had a guest list and a date. And I went to town. I thought it would be cute to do a little library/book theme.

I bought some book due date cards from etsy and used a stamp that could be changed. I liked the rough and imperfect look mixed with the pink. I had a lot of fun with the décor. I bought the pink and white poufs hanging from the ceiling. I feel kind of silly now that I know you can make them. Those were the days before Pinterest. Live and learn.

I also bought some adorable wooden blocks [that were later given to mama] and used them all around. I also bought a small and adorable bunting seen hanging in the center of the window. If you haven’t caught on, price was of no concern. I wanted to really treat her and as one of my first parties, I didn’t have any idea of how quickly it would add up in the end.

way too low curtains before!

One of my biggest expenses was the pink hydrangeas I ordered online. I actually think my mom went in on them with me. I love hydrangeas [we even used them in our wedding] because a little goes a long way. I don’t regret the expense because they really “made” the party and it was a nice test run for my future wedding [although I didn’t know it at the time].

For the food table I used old books I had collected around the house, a dollar tree magnifying glass, extra wooden blocks, flowers, and white dishes. I’m a huge fan of white, clean lined, serving dishes. The can be used for any theme and are so flexible. I made cupcakes with my nutella frosting [my sister was the one to introduce me to nutella so it only seemed right]. There was fruit salad, tuna pate, salad, deviled eggs, veggies, and a white bean/garlic dip with baked pitas. She wanted the food to be healthy so I tried to stick with that.

I found these magnets somewhere, for cheap. It’s been awhile ok? I spray painted them pink. The favors were notebooks and pencils I got on clearance with cute Michael’s erasers I got in the dollar bin. I love me some craft brown with color.

Speaking of brown, wow. This was our dining room before we painted it and changed the curtains to white. Kind of slaps you in the face, huh? I made the dining table into the buffet table and took all of the chairs into the living room for gifts and mingling. I got these adorable alphabet flashcards at Michaels and hung them up to spell out “Congrats.”

If I would do it over again I would save money by doing things myself. I had convinced myself I needed to buy a pennant banner since I couldn’t sew. But now I know, I could’ve made a cute one out of twine and doilies for the fraction of a price. But no regrets. It was fun to spoil my sister for a change and start to learn how to entertain.

great minds pick grey dresses!

Have you thrown a party recently? Do you wish you could do something differently? Anyone have any entertaining tips? My biggest tip would have to be to delegate things like friends bringing dishes- and ice so you don’t have to leave the house!