ex(PR)essed

After months of wonderfully fun planning and creating, Jamie’s baby shower was a smashing success! Our nesting theme, rich with browns and greens, proved to be a welcome change from the usual baby shower colors, and Karen and I heard nothing but kind compliments about our hard work and evident love for the beautiful mother-to-be.

I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I had hoped, but I have a few good ones to give a sense of what the shower looked like. Sadlly, at this point, I’m missing photos of the guest of honor, so you’ll just have to trust me that she looked absolutely adorable in her brown party dress.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to Hostess with the Mostess for originally posting a the “modern nesting” baby shower theme. It certainly got our wheels turning!

This is what my car looked like when I left for Jamie’s on Friday afternoon.

For several months, I have been searching for a variety of used books for Jamie’s baby. As someone who loves to read, I find that I always want to buy books for kids in hopes that they, too, will love to read.

Much to Jamie’s surprise, her yellow lab Sydney got in on the baby shower action and purchased an adorable “I love my puppy” bib for the baby. I helped with the wrapping.

A nesting theme was perfect — Jamie is so creative in the kitchen and her craft room, and it has been fun to watch her nesting instincts fully in place with the promised arrival of her little one. I wanted to get Jamie something that was just for her and would help her remember the fun of her shower. I found these earrings on Etsy — perfect little copper nests with tiny little bead eggs. She loved them.

Because of the distance, my mom couldn’t make the shower, so she sent her gift through the mail. This adorable mobile was on Brad and Jamie’s registry, but it was even cuter in person. Here the proud parents display a new addition to their already cozy and cute nursery.

Once the nesting theme was determined, I began to paint and decorate birdhouses for the table centerpieces. I really enjoyed this project, and I couldn’t have been happier with how they looked on the tables. You’ll notice baby food jar votices around the birdhouses. Thanks to the on-campus Early Learning Center and several other friends, Karen and I had plenty of recycled votives to decorate the whole room with.

This is what the place settings looked like. A little box of Cadbury eggs served as the favors.

Because we were expecting a large crowd for this shower, we opted for a light luncheon that included this fabulous dessert table! Jamie’s mom made many of these sweet treats, and the ladies enjoyed sampling many of the delicious goodies!

Instead of a cake, we had cupcakes made that reflected the nesting theme. This particular cupcake was Jamie’s — a mama bird with her baby. Too cute!

The food table was covered with delicious finger sandwiches and salads. Each table had a plate of apples, cheese, and crackers, and I think all the guests just enjoyed snacking and sampling everything throughout the shower.

It’s hard to believe that the big event is over! I must admit that I feel a bit out of sorts today. But, it was such an honor to contribute to such a joyous ocassion in celebration of someone I care about very much.

The best compliment I received the whole weekend was from someone who noted that the shower was a “beautiful expression of my friendship with and love for Jamie.” Yes, that’s it exactly.