It all started with an Anthropologie Christmas ornament to come up with the theme of Caitlin's baby shower. While I was sitting on the couch in December, wondering if Caitlin and Cyrous were having a boy or a girl, I looked at the pretty swan ornament on the Christmas tree and thought, if the baby were a girl, I would love to do a swan theme. Everywhere I looked, after I decided this, I would see swan items or pictures everywhere! Surely it was a sign that it was a girl I thought to myself. Perhaps it was, or I just read too much into it, hahah. The minute we opened the envelope on Christmas morning, and
found out that the baby was a girl, my baby shower planing started in earnest! Shortly after Christmas I did a search on Etsy for swan decor, and up popped up the beautiful swan planters, that I had
Florali (our florist from the wedding) do two beautiful arrangements in, and I knew they had to be part of the table decor for the shower. After that I searched almost daily to find more items or ideas to incorporate the swan theme in. The next item I purchased was the beautiful banner behind the table. I ordered it from Spoonflower, and if you don't know about them, click
here and check them out! You can upload your own design or use the designs that others have designed. I just did a quick search using the word "swans," and this beautiful design came up! It's 6 feet tall and about 54 inches wide ( I used eco canvas option). I then just stitched up the sides and made a casing at the top to run a pole through. I didn't want to take it down after the shower hahah. Also on Etsy, I found the most perfect invitations that had almost the same look to the banner's swan. Here is the link to them
(Hank and Petunia)
When gathering all the goodies for the shower, I noticed that most of the really pretty party decor that had swans on them, were from Australia or the UK. I ordered the cute garland on the fireplace from a UK company called "Talking Tables." No planning would be complete without making a Pinterest board right?! If you follow me on there, you can see how I put it together and came up with what I did. I find Pinterest very useful when planning parties and weddings for that matter. I found a cute idea on there for flower letters, and made Ruby's name in silk flowers. More than one person thought they were real flowers! Really fun project using mdf letters and silk flowers from Michael's. The balloons were fun and games to fill and transport home. I found the balloons in a shop in Berkeley, but realized they were kinda fancy, so I looked into who could fill them with the confetti that was inside them. I found another shop in Berkeley that specialized in filling these 36 inch balloons. At first I thought I was going over the top and could have filled them at the near by grocery store, but I'm glad I didn't, because there really was a technique to it. They added the pretty tassels for a little extra money. I had to put down the seats in the Volvo to transport them home, they were that big! One more detail. The swan candle sticks on my mantel are from Anthropologie. I have been eyeing them since they arrived at the store. They were pricey, so I passed (even with my employee discount). Then a couple of weeks or so before the shower, they were in the sale room. I waited for them to drastically get marked down, and then waited for them to do a sale on sale. I was really hoping that they would still be there when they had that sale. Lucky me they were still there! So they graced our mantel on the day with pink candles to boot! Oops, I almost forgot the light pink boas I used were from Etsy as well. I ordered 3 of them, but only needed two, and tied them together to make a garland around the table. One day, maybe Ruby can use them in her dress up box for play time.
After I had rounded up all the decor, I embarked on making Ruby a little outfit. Then it evolved into a a casual outfit and dressy one. The fabric used, is Liberty of London that I actually bought in London a few years back. I hung onto it hoping that I would have a granddaughter someday to make a little dress out of it. Wish granted! I made bloomers to go with the dress, and then I used some organic knit to make a onesie. The little bib was fun to make and perhaps I will make more of those for the shop. My gift was the Moses basket filled with more goodies. I was happy I found the sweetest little stuffed swan to complete the whole theme of the day to add to the basket.
The first picture was another project I made using photos of both Caitlin and Cyrous when they were babies. I borrowed some pictures from Cyrous's mom and then matched some of Caitlin's baby pictures by age. I uploaded them and with a few edits and making them black and white, I turned them into a collage. Oh, I almost for got to talk about the little outfit that is on my coffee table with the stork. That was Caitlin's coming home outfit! I recently found all the pieces and was thrilled to include them on the day. I also made the little napkin rings, after I came across this cute clip art with a swan carrying a baby on its back.
Next came the food planning. I decided I wanted to do three salads that could stand alone as a meal. Two of them were from my Ina Garten cookbooks. They were: Chinese Chicken Salad, and a cous cous Moroccan salad. The third salad was a French potato salad that I love to make in the summer months, but thought it would be a great addition to the other two. While flipping though my Instagram, I came across an account from Australia dedicated to "grazing tables." I got obsessed with looking at them! It was super fun gathering up all the food for it I must say. I used: several artisanal cheeses, meats, olives berries, crackers, dips and jams that went with the cheese. I poured the most beautiful honey all over the brie. I sprinkled edible organic flowers between all the goodies to make it pop to finish the table. I highly recommend making one of these for your next party.
I have to give a huge shout out to my step mom, who with my dad, came all the way from Pennsylvania to be here for Caitlin's shower. Had it not been for my step mom helping me put the salads together, I would have been working into the wee hours of the night before the shower. I really couldn't have done it without her!
The dessert table included macarons, little wrapped biscotti from Italy, cookies and mini tarts from Whole Foods, candies from Dean and Delucca, and lolly pops from See's. The candies and sweets were to be taken home as a favor.
The cake was from the same baker as Caitlin and Cyrous' wedding cake, click on her name to see her beautiful cakes! (
Katrina Rozelle) The flavor was a white cake, that was more like a classic yellow cake, with Bavarian vanilla cream in the center and fresh strawberries. Her butter cream frosting is hands down the best I've ever had. I usually scrape all the frosting off cakes, but I find it very hard to do it with Katrina's cakes. All the roses were handmade by her and tinted in a peachy blush tone to match the flowers in the banner. To top off the beautiful cake was the ornament that inspired the whole baby shower, the ornament from Anthropologie!
Hope you enjoyed my lengthy post on Caitlin's shower. I'm detailing it for future eyes that might want to see how much she was loved before she was ever here.
