Halloween Baby Shower Cupcakes

My friend Leslie had a baby shower this weekend, thrown by several of her mom's friends.  

I had to bump my original post planned for today to show you the adorable cupcakes that were served at the shower.  

The hostesses decided to go with Halloween-themed cupcakes since the shower was held a couple days before Halloween.  The toppers were made by the talented Lynlee's Petite Cakes. 

And they were adorable!!  There were cute pumpkin toppers, and the mom-to-be's last name spelled with pumpkins. 

I love the ghost-onsie. 

And the pregnant witch is my absolute favorite!
You can see the full collection she made for the party here.

Mom-to-be and the pregnant witch! Too cute! Congrats Leslie!

These cupcakes would go very nicely with several of the little pumpkin baby shower ideas that I posted recently...check those out here. 

Check back tomorrow to see Leslie's other shower. 

Pumpkin Carving Party!

Are you having one this weekend? 

It's not too late! 

Visit my Tablespoon blog for ideas on how to throw the perfect carving party!

Thanks for visiting, as always. :)

DIY Idea: Thank You Gifts

My coworkers threw me an amazing surprise baby shower last week.  And I was completely surprised, which was so much fun.

I wanted to do something nice to thank everyone who contributed and bought our baby girl gifts, and I wanted to do something more than just standard thank you notes.  But there were a lot of people I needed to thank.  

So, I decided to whip up simple little treats and package them to hand out.  They went over SO well that I thought I'd better share them! 

I made Pretzel Turtles, which are quick & easy...and people loved them. 

I essentially followed this recipe.  These were perfect little treats because its easy to make a huge batch all at once. 

Paired with some printables from a blog I love: InkSpot Workshop, they looked pretty darn cute! 

Pretzel Turtles would be a great addition to any holiday baking you may have planned!

Inspiration: Tying the Knot Bridal Shower

My friend Megan recently asked me for some ideas for putting together a "Tying the Knot" bridal shower. 

I decided I'd share what I came up with for this cute theme with everyone! 

Decorations for this shower all involve yarn!  

I love the yarn balls strung from the ceiling, forming a kind of knotted chandelier (as spotted on Hostess with the Mostess).  I found some great DIY instructions for making these here.

I made these yarn wrapped vases for a baby shower a few months ago.  DIY instructions are here. 

The possibilities are endless for this yarn-wrapped word.  The couple's names or initals or the wedding date are fun options.  Or Love like the one featured here is perfect for a bridal shower.  Great DIY instructions are here, by Family Chic. 

Lastly, a bowl full of yarn balls is the perfect centerpiece.  Hostess with the Mostess has DIY instructions here.  (I've made these before and used a straight pin rather than a glue dot, and it worked great as well.)

A few other ideas: 

Purchase a length of rope from a home improvement store.  

Tie knots in the rope. 

Run it down the center of a table, or a long a fireplace mantle.  

Or

Hang pictures of the couple from a thin knotted rope.

Licorice comes in almost any color you can think of.  Licorice knots would make perfect cupcake toppers for this bridal shower! Thank you Fete Fanatic for this inspiration.

Martha Stewart shares the recipe for these "Wedding Knot" cookies here.

Napkins should be tied into knots, of course.

Pretzels are the perfect knotted food.  Pretzel snack mix served in cute cones is a great appetizer.  Chocolate covered pretzels would make great cupcake toppers.  They also make great favors.  These are packaged from a set of "tying the knot" printables by Nellie Design,  available here. 

Sandwiches make a great main course for this shower, as they can be wrapped in parchment paper and tied with a knot.  (These are from a shower I threw). 

I love this theme! Am I missing anything? 

Real Party: Cowgirl Baby Shower

Several of my girlfriends threw me a Cowgirl themed baby shower a few weeks ago.  It was incredible!

They used this invite from Etsy, but had the colors adjusted to fit their vision for the party.  I was so excited to see what they had up their sleeves after receiving this in the mail!

The shower was held in my friend Lindsay's backyard. 

Two long tables were set-up for a sit-down brunch.  I loved the burlap runners, mason jars holding babies breath, and pink party poms in the trees. 

 

Each seat at the table had a cute little cowgirl boot place card, a pink napkin tied with a gingham swatch, and a card of wishes for guests to fill out. What a wonderful keepsake for me to have!

The food, and presentation of the food, was amazing.  My friends are very good cooks, and everything was homemade and delicious! 

The appetizers consisted of mini croissants, scones, coffee cake, donut holes, and yogurt parfait.  Everything was to die for!

Mason jars served as drinking glasses.  Lemonade, water, and tea were available. 

Lindsay converted an old window into a pin board and used it to display sheriff badges for all the guests.  This served as the backdrop for the appetizer display. 

And a sweet bunting banner hung over the display.  

After guests lingered for awhile, the actual brunch was served.  (After all those apps? I know!)  My girlfriends made a chili cheese egg puff, happy potatoes, turkey sausage, and spinach salad.  Again: YUM!

The recipe for happy potatoes can be found here.  Trust me, this is one you should include in your next brunch. 

The party favors were, of course, Bakerella's famous Cowgirl Cookies.  Too cute!

Thank you so much to all the girls who made this incredible shower happen! 

Lindsay, Janelle, Jeani, Drea, Katie, Leslie, and Deb!

Between this shower, and the nesting shower I shared a few weeks ago, this baby girl is LOVED!

Maybe a new record? For us I think it is: 

8 pregnant guests at the shower! 

I'm waiting for the first one to pop - any day now! :)

Fall Party

I am recovering from a baby shower yesterday.  I can't wait to share all the details of the shower we threw for our friend Leslie. I think you'll love it! 

Here's something to hold you over until I am back on my feet (note to self: throwing showers while in one's 3rd trimester is tiring)...

A fun idea for a fall party!  Here's your hint:

Click here for all the how-to details. 

There's been lots of fun stuff happening over at Tablespoon lately...party ideas, must-try recipes...head on over!