8.10.2011

toweling off

...because that's what you do after a shower, right? oh, yikes.

well i think the baby shower was a smashing success. this could because i got a hearty to-go plate trough of food and stuffed me face with pigs in a blanket and pumpkin bread all weekend long. it's also partly because everyone seemed to have had a great time and natalie got some great gifts.

will this shower be in a magazine? probably not. we were on a budget bigtime and focusing on things that would last momma and baby for a long time and not just be cute and then thrown away. but i think we managed some cute for our dollar.

did it go off without a hitch? why, no. i got locked out of the venue with natalie's mom for 30 minutes with melting goodies and faces (mine) when we first got there, my co hostess abby got lost on the way and i may have blasted her with some of my locked-out stress anger on the phone, i forgot my sammie rollups at home and had to drive like a roid-rager to retrieve them 30 minutes before start time, and one of our good friends who was bringing 1/4 of the food was 2 hours late thanks to FREAK atlanta traffic followed by a speeding ticket. oh, i hurt for her.

but the good WAY outweighed the stressy.

so let's hit up a pictoral rundown, eh? all the good pics are by abby. and we didnt get many good group shots because we hostesses were the only ones with cameras and we were lots of busy.

why we did it: for this gorgeous mom and that little nugget in there.

that little boy in there is the second son of robert and nat, who have been on the mission field in england for 4 years. they had their first, benjamin, while over there, and now that they are moving home have had to leave ALL of their accumulated baby gear/necessities behind. stop and imagine having to start over getting everything you would need for a newborn when you already have a 2 year old and are changing jobs, homes and continents. hello, challenge! but we're here to help.

cohostess abby and i had a crafting day the week prior to the shower and churned out some cutesy from our little factory. i bought that paper puncher with a joann big coupon. if i ever host a shower for you: expect scalloped circle-shaped decor because i must make the investment go the distance. colors are negotiable.

natalie's mom had access to a sweet venue that is the meeting room and library of a local orthodontist she knows. most random thing ever? yes. super nice and free? YES! the building was so nice and very ski-lodge in style, which made it hard to totally baby-fy, but whatevs since we hadnt the money to do that anyway.

home made pom poms hanging from the central light fixture, flag bunting i sewed, pics of natalie as a baby and with bejamin on the hearth, and a MOM throne (with added comfort booster cushion). not mine: canoe painting and the after-braces glamour shots of some of the orthodontist's satisfied customers.

i am in love with these. natalie gets to keep them forever for any festivity!

thank you, martha, for your know-how

the food room. i used MADE's streamer sewing tutorial to pimpify regular crepe (not "crate" OUCH, i hate a homophone error and i committed this bad one. thanks, carrie!) paper. so easy in theory yet my sewing machine hated me and i peppered the streamers with an F bomb every few stitches due to constantly breaking threads.

with her first little man in the center of the table. she is awesome earthy hippie mother!


drink table. (their last name is braden, BTW)

yikes. the bargain drink dispenser i snagged from ross to serve ice water sprung an immediate and torrential leak. punch for everyone!

activity/keepsake/guestbook

baby will be born in october, so the completed autumn tree will be perfect. you cant tell, but there is a heart with "r+n" "carved" into the tree. after baby is born i will add his name and birthday and frame it for the family


i love an iteration. decided last minute to make these "easy" favors thanks to a pinterest spotting.

they are easy. to make. as in AFTER you've unwrap 250 individual hershey's kisses. i forfeited my portion because i decided to try one while the chocolate was still soft and warm and ended up eating about 20 and washing it down with some of judahs whole milk right out of the jug. oops.

how i packaged the favors. computer paper rubber cemented in a tube and then sewed down on the ends. i filled the top spool and the bobbin with different thread colors and flipped over after one line of zig zags to get the mutlicolored line the easy way.

abby's cupcakes were the best i have ever eaten. period. adorable little toppers never hurt.

the food placard holders were just some of judah's blocks hot glued to painted clothespins.

yuuuuuuuumz

holy cow. i have never been a believer or understander of the cucumber sammie phenomenon. well, nat's sister joj, converted me. i ate approx. 7,649 of these.

gifts! adorable hand drawn card.

because you never know when you're gonna need black tie attire!

i might be "obnoxious overly-helpful, needs-to-back-away, shower friend." dammit.

extolling the virtues of the 5 little monkeys treasury. what hijinks these primates will get into after their head injuries!

hahaha. 3 pretty ladies looking kind of pissed. dont be fooled. they talked and laughed the whole time and were very disruptive.

yes! emily and lena. probably judging me off camera.

big brother benj lost his pants during a game of chase. always a sign of a good party. he also got 3 or 4 big brother gifts...all of which he spurned for christine's iphone. typical!

hahaha i swear everyone wasnt mad the whole time. this was before we turned on the music and things got cuh-razy!

abby might have tried to steal this precious lil guest.

me and the godmothers of my kids! the wardrobe was unplanned. we are like an equation. they have been warned that they may not have babies for at least 3 years because i need time off before my next party-planning caper.

all 4 bradens. and yes, guys, you will love his little brother this much too. yes, natalie is married to justin timberlake.


seriously, we would do it all over again a hundred times for this chick

9 comments:

  1. the shower looks like it was totally adorable AND you look fantastic.

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  2. the pretzel/kiss/m&m treats are a staple for me at christmas time. i make them ALL THE TIME!!! also good with 'hugs' and green/red M&Ms for the holidays. i could eat the whole batch! everything looked awesome, as i knew it would!

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  3. Keight...you look AMAZING girl! The running 600 miles a month is paying off sister!

    All your shower ideas were super adorable too.

    GET IT GIRL!

    -Erica

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  4. Thumbprint guest art is really adorable.

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  5. What an adorably fun baby shower! I love the fingerprint tree idea, and your favours look delicious. There is no doubt in my mind baby Braden will be gorgeous like the rest of his family. I'm pretty sure it's crepe paper, not crate paper. Your writing is hilarious as always.

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  6. thanks carrie! i died a little inside. i HATE when people mess up homophones (even though this isnt a true one)and i just butchered that one. 50% of me literally didnt know it was called crepe and 50% knew it was but the closest my brain offered as alternative was "crete" and i knew that was wrong. ouch. judge.

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  7. is it ok if this makes me teary? and I feel/felt the same way about those cuke sandwiches! loved spending moments with you.

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  8. SOMEBODY looks FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTASTIC! :) And that's you, darling :)

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  9. Someone looks like one hot momma! Think I need to go running! If 90 miles makes me look that thin... =)
    The shower looked AMAZING! So glad it came together nicely!

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