Two Woodland Themed Baby Showers

 I just wanted to share photos of my daughter's two baby showers she has had. One hosted by myself, and the other hosted by my long-time friend Regina. Hopefully these will inspire you to put your own twist on for an event!

This shower was hosted at The Gathering Place, which is an old school/church that has been converted into a venue. And it happens to be a part of my childhood! I love it's rich woods and old stones. It was perfect for the theme.

The second shower was held at a local community center. As you can see, I borrowed some of Regina's decorations. I only decorated these two areas... where they would sit and open gifts and the cake table. Our large family usually has "pot-luck" type showers since we are so large. This shower was a "finger-food potluck" and we had SO much yummy food!!!

Balloons and backdrop from Amazon.

(See how I made the cake topper and decorated the cake on a previous post.)

In the second photo, you will see on the right a can of birch bark pretzel sticks and in the basket are tiny goodie bags. 

The pretzel sticks were super easy!

Supplies: 

1 package candy coating (almond bark) vanilla

1 bag of pretzel sticks (I found mine at the Dollar Tree)

1 Hershey Bar

Melt half a package of candy squares in a microwave-safe tall mug according to package directions.

Dip pretzel sticks in mug and/or spoon coating up over the pretzel stick. Lay out on wax paper to dry

When finished, Melt Hershey bar in a small glass bowl. BE CAREFUL, it will scorch!

Use a butter knife and splatter melted chocolate over pretzel sticks. Flip and do the other side. 

This does get messy!!! I had chocolate splatter all over my bar! But it cleans easy. 

Then find a cute container to put them in and ENJOY!

The goodie bags were a project that I have been saving for YEARS to do. The bags are actually Playtex bottle bags from when my children were babies. I have been saving these this whole time for this purpose. Since the theme was woodland animals, I filled each bag with both regular and chocolate animal cookies. I made small tags using the Canva website and the images I purchased from Etsy, then punched them out using a circle punch from Hobby Lobby.  I just tied them with baker's twine and put them in a bushel basket I've had for awhile. 

We had several games to play:

Take a Wild Guess

A Diaper Raffle

Baby Boy Name Race

Baby Word Scramble

The Price is Right

Baby BINGO

When guests first came in, they had a chance to go ahead and get in on the games. We had a table set up (yes, that is a very short kid's lunch table) with the Take a Wild Guess game and the Diaper Raffle. I created posters on the Canva website using the clip art I had purchased on Etsy. I found these photo frames at the Dollar Tree. On that day, they did not have any regular photo frames. I decided to get these because I can use them at craft fairs for my WhimZ B business... get it.... BEE.... hexagon... beehive..... anyway....   I just had a small notebook with a pen beside a container of teddy grahams. Each person had to guess how many bears were in the container and write their guess on the paper beside their name. The winner (who gets the closest without going over) won the container! This container came from the Dollar Tree. The lid does not fit well, so I had to tape it on. I finished it off with jute twine and pip berry garland  also from the Dollar Tree.

I also had a Diaper Raffle going for anyone who brought diapers as gifts. I had cut pieces of paper into business card size and had a cute tin from the Dollar Tree ready to put their names in. The gift basket is behind. My daughter found the basket itself at a thrift store and I filled it with items from the Dollar Tree and the Dollar General and a candle from Walmart along with a Sonic gift card. I got my prizes for the other games from The Dollar Tree in the Dollar Plus aisle as well as candles from Ross. They are in the background.

Baby Boy Name Race

I made this just using each letter of the alphabet. Guests race to see who can fill in all the blanks... a boy name starting with each letter of the alphabet. First one finished (with legitimate names of course) wins!

Baby Word Scramble

I created this by combining different games I found on the internet. Guests have 2 minutes (or the first one finished) to unscramble these words that have to do with a baby. Either the first one finished or the one with the most correct wins.

The Price is Right

This was a fun game, and was one of my gifts. I bought each of these things at Walmart, then wrote down the price of each. I put each of these things in a basket. During the game, each of these were brought out and showed to the guests one at a time. The guests then had to guess how much each item cost. When finished, each guest must add their numbers to get a total. The one who is closest to your total without going over wins.

Baby Bingo

This is a family favorite. We usually play this while eating. Before the gifts are opened, each guest fills in their bingo card with things they think will be given. Items such as diapers, wipes, onesies, bibs, bottles, etc... During the gift opening, guests mark off anything that is opened. We always have a Bingo prize table set up that we all contribute to. It can be anything... clearance items, slightly used items, thrifted items, books, gifts that we could "re-gift", etc... We have something for everyone, men, women, and kids. Any time someone bingos, they just shout "BINGO!" and get up and get one thing off the table. We usually have enough prizes that we can go multiple times. Here is our prize table:

You can download my copy of this game to print here.

I hope this post has inspired your baby shower in some way! Later, I will share more amazing recipes that I used for this event. 

 

Woodland Animal Baby Shower Cake

 I so enjoyed putting together this baby shower for my soon-coming grandson!! As I shared in my previous post, I was having trouble deciding on the cake topper! My long-time friend, Regina, had also hosted a baby shower for my daughter, and we decided to share our resources. I had decided on a Woodland Animals theme from the very beginning since my daughter was planning on doing the baby's room with this theme. 

The first thing I bought was this backdrop banner from Amazon.  

I found the matching clip-art set on Etsy. Regina used the clip art to make her cake toppers. She just printed them on cardstock and attached them to bamboo skewers or dowels to stick in the cake. So cute!! (And by the way, she made that cake and it tasted AMAZING) 

I had wanted to do something similar, but couldn't think of anything that would look cute on a sheet cake. The shower I was planning was for my husband's side of our family and it is LARGE. Therefore, I had to opt for a sheet cake. 

I wanted to continue the birch tree look. I was also inspired by Regina's decorations. She used a lot of wood pieces, including wood slice rounds.

My first thought was a wood slice with printed animals and some eucalyptus greenery on it. 

But then..... I had a better idea!!

I would woodburn his name onto a wood slice, paint on some trees in the background and add a wooden animal onto it! 

That way, it could be used as the cake topper then it could be hung in his baby room.

I went over how I made the cake topper in this post.

Today, I will share how I pulled off the cake itself.

It was EASY. Thanks to Walmart bakery!!

I ordered a half sheet cake. Just a white cake with whipped frosting in white. 

I ordered it with chocolate piping around the bottom only. 

It was so funny when the Walmart employee brought it out to me and "let me look at it" to make sure my order was correct. She was very confused that there was NOTHING on it!! I assured her it was just as I ordered it. And, by the way, I ordered it online and it was so simple and very user friendly.

Here is how it looked when I got it home:

Plain and simple! Now for the magic...

I ordered this Wilton brown icing gel from Walmart and picked up a cheap package of paint brushes from the Dollar Tree.

My original thought was to paint the lines onto the cake, but that idea was soon replaced.

I dug out my Pampered Chef stone scraper and used it instead of the paint brushes. I poured out a little gel onto a flat dish (that would wash well without staining the dish) and dipped the edge of my scraper into the gel. 

I just staggered different size lines using the scraper. I started in the middle where the topper would cover to test it out first. It was SO EASY. 

Then I decided to try to create some "knots" in the wood using the paintbrush. I wish I hadn't. I didn't care for it, but oh well....

Here is the finished cake. 

Walmart did mess up a bit on the cake. It was a little wonky in places. But it still worked. I didn't have to bake it or frost it! And it tasted amazing!!

To add the topper, I took 5 popsicle sticks and cut them with a utility knife to where they would stick out of the cake about a 1/2 an inch.  I traced the wood slice onto a piece of cardboard (a pizza box) and cut it out to use between the popsicle sticks and the topper. 

I did not assemble this until we got the cake to the shower. I stuck the popsicle sticks into the cake (rounded side down) in the center where the topper would go. I made a square and put one in the middle. Then I place the cardboard cut-out, then the plaque.

TA-DA!!

I love the way it turned out!! Later I will share more of the shower decorations with you :)

Woodburning Project for the coming Grandbaby!

 Have you ever tried woodburning? I can't even remember when I first started it. But I do know it is SO easy. All you need is a woodburning tool, the ability to trace, and patience!

When my daughter and I started planning a baby shower, I decided to go with a woodland theme. She had already started planning the baby nursery with bears and foxes, mountains and arrows, etc... so I wanted to continue that. 

When it came to the cake, I was having trouble finding a cake topper for a sheet cake. I found a lot of cute toppers for a round stacked cake, but not really anything that would look good on a large sheet cake. I knew I wanted the cake to have a birch tree look, but was lost on the topper.

I finally came up with an idea! I would buy a wood round with the bark still on the edge, and woodburn his name onto it. Then I would paint some trees in the background and add a little wooden animal to it. I like to use multi-media when creating things. Then, after the shower, it can be used as a decoration in his room.

Here is the final result!

This project was so easy. I began by creating my design in Canva. I use this free website all the time. I chose a poster template for the right size. I did his name first, then found the perfect tree. I saved it, printed it, then used carbon copy paper to trace it onto my wood.

I purchased the wood round from Walmart.

I bought a couple of little wooden animals from Hobby Lobby; an unfinished fox and a painted bear.

        

I absolutely loved the bear... but then again, I had a plan for the fox. I wanted to woodburn part of it, and paint part of it with a burnt orange color. The second photo is after I traced the design onto the wood and burnt it in. I did not burn the leaves. I could paint them on later and use my design as my guide. 

Next I painted the tree just using a matte white acrylic paint. I was careful to not paint over my burnt lines... just up to them. Next I burnt my fox and painted it. After the tree dried good, I decided to stain the wood. It was just too light for the look I wanted. 

I used this stain from Hobby Lobby and a small brush. I made sure to get my brush wet each time. I would paint on a little area of stain, then use a paper towel and rub off the excess. I did get some on my tree in a few places, but I just painted over it later. Next time, I will stain before painting!

After the stain dried, I burnt around the edge to give it the shading I wanted.

I then painted on the leaves using a matte acrylic paint in a sage green color. And then took the white I used for the treen and highlighted the leaves a bit.

Next I sealed the wood bark edge. I used what I had on hand which was Waverly Chalk Paint matte Varnish. I didn't want pieces of bark in the cake!

The bear wound up looking too dark next to the stained wood, so I decided to use the fox. So the last thing I did was glue him onto the plaque. I love how this turned out!! I will do a blog post later on how I did his cake and how I put the topper on.