Nursery Rhyme Party - Nursery Pictionary

Most baby showers consists of cake, punch and presents.  Not this baby shower! I loved the idea of a nursery rhyme theme baby shower and it so happened that the baby girls name was going to be Marin.  I decided to run with Mary, Mary, quite contrary but instead called it Marin, Marin, Baby Marin How does you garden grow!  After I decided on the theme I began the invitation.

 First I found some wonderful Barbie invitations that had vantage Barbie in a garden party outfit.  Than had them engraved with the name Marin, Marin on the front of the invitation. Inside was pretty traditional but I placed a return envelope with stamp and note card inscribed with if can not make it please write a fun story about parenthood in note card and send back.   The greeting sign, in front of the house, hosted several other vantage Barbie from a calendar I purchased at TJ Max home.   

 After the invitation was complete the decoration was in order.  I Love Martha!!  I found Martha Stewart hanging Tissue and Crepe-Paper Crafts(Michele's) and decided not only to use them to hang but place them like topiaries.  So, I bought two ½ off pink planting pots and two dowels (Home Depot).  I placed planting foam for fake and real flowers in the bottom of the pots, spray painted the dowels green, cut two left over air conditioning filters for the leaves and spray painted those the same green.  Than tied one paper flower in the middle of the dowel and than the other on the top with flower wire.  They turned out whimsical.  That was only for the food table. For the entry way I did hang the flowers, from fish wire, and also made a custom made sign to remind guest to sign the baby book and to also put their name on a return envelop. Two hot pink plastic balloons place in flower pots, like topiaries, flanked the sign.

After that came the diaper cake.  I had found a paper flower kit and strung these paper flowers cascading down the side of the diaper cake.  In the center of each flower were beads and bottoms to attach them together.  On the top of the cake was placed a pink letter M and to top that off I placed clip butterflies all around the cake in orange and blue.  To host the utensils I got two small watering cans in hot green and hot yellow. 

Food came next.  Garden sandwiches, finger foods, fruit platter and veggie platter, cheese and crackers.  Pretty common but I had a friend, that is a chef, make dessert.  We decided since we had a diaper cake that cookies would play in to the whimsy.  She made the cookies shaped like flowers with a M&M in the middle, about palm size, than placed lolly pops in them.  We stood them up in small buckets, with foam in the bottom, which made them look like a little garden. 

After the food was finished came the entertainment.  We played Nursery Pictionary.  I made two categories the first Nursery Rhymes than Baby Songs.  For the favors I really wanted to do something never done.  I went to thirty to forty locally and personally own businesses and asked  them to give out coupons or discounts. I compiled at least 25 vender coupons and received several gifts to advertise their own produces.  Some wrote on the back of their business cards, others did their own advertising coupon.  I placed them in a sleeve envelop and put that in donated pink bags from a pharmacy.  At the end of the shower I asked each lady to action for a donated little dress.

 A lady, who owns her own dress making business, gave that to us so that my Pregnant friend would have some formula spending cash.  It went for $50.  The Thank You card went out to the ladies but I also sent out Thank You cards to each business and vender that participated in the shower which, each business was recognized in the Thank You letter. All in all it was a huge suggests! Everything that was purchased was either on sale or I already had it.  And I donated most of the decoration to another party and gave the rest to the mom to be. Most I spent was minimal but the out come was sublime!!!