Real Party: Woodland Charm

This "Woodland Charm" baby shower theme came from a combination of two inspiration pieces.  The first was the mom-to-be's charm bracelet and the second was the great birdhouse salt & pepper shakers from Pottery Barn that I highlighted on an earlier post.  After a hard winter everyone has been looking eagerly for spring and this theme carried us right into the season. 

Color scheme was green, brown, and blue which were all picked up in the accent ribbons on the napkins and buffet.  This theme might trend towards being more feminine, so the colors helped keep the focus on the baby boy that was on the way.  In addition this shower had male and female invitees so we wanted to keep things more neutral so everyone would be comfortable.

The plates are recycled leaves from Verterra (highlighted on an earlier post).  They tied in so nicely with the theme.  Each place setting received a felt fortune cookie with fun wishes about children and life.

I made all of the medallions for the napkin rings and water bottles from craft paper.  I used two sizes of round punches plus assorted woodland animals (frogs, butterflies, flowers, and dragonflies).   My xyron sticker maker helps this process go faster, especially for the little animals.

The wishing tree was a popular activity and the mom-to-be was excited to take home all of the leaf shaped wishes.   I used three colors of craft paper and cut them into leaf shapes.  Then provided colored pens and mini clothespins to attach them to the tree.

Here's a custom trick for time crunched hostesses:  I purchased the cake from Costco.  However as many know, they only offer limited designs.  So I picked out a design I liked in the chocolate brown frosting and with this background in place I added sugar woodland critters and green gum paste leaves to add our theme colors to the top.   This gives the cake a much more custom look at a fraction of the price and time it would take to make.

The snack buffet helped guests bide the time until the surprise honoree arrived.  I made paper cones for the mixed nuts and planted them in wood buckets with faux grass and skewers that ran up through the middle.  

As is usual with life, not everything went exactly according to plan.  We had 2 feet of snow and didn't know if the party was going to actually happen until 2 hours before the start time.  So there was some last minute rearranging, but fortunately a quorum arrived safely and we were able to celebrate together.