You might be thinking “why are you and your family waving goodbye at the beginning of a baby shower?” or “why are you not dressed for a baby shower?’. Well, we planned a wonderful shower for my big sister, and she had to go and have a baby. The nerve! I didn’t actually get to attend the shower I helped orchestrate, but I thought I’d still share some pictures of the little details we did to make this shower a winner…even if the guest of honor wasn’t present. D’oh!
Any ounce of creativity I have in my bones comes from mi madre. She constantly says she’s not, but really, she’s the brains behind most creative schemes that we cook up together. She created this oh-so-cute backdrop for the food table that was perfectly bird themed. From the custom runner she made from birdie fabric to the little white ceramic birds and bird nests, the table just ooozed baby bird awesomeness. My mom also made this great centerpiece with two glass vases – one smaller than the other. The smallest vase housed some springy flowers, and then simply slipped inside the larger vase, which was filled with some rafia-type material and little robin’s eggs (an abstract bird’s nest, if you will). Easy peasy, right? Go Mom!
The birdie landscape was the perfect backdrop for our summer-brunch affair. We had some simple fruit and veggie trays, a glorious cupcake stand with the best darn cupcakes this side of the Mississippi, breakfast casserole, and some very festive cups and plates that hit the whole brightly colored theme home.
I whipped up these quick little place cards (with a bird on them… of COURSE) that served as labels for the food items and a little sign to direct guests to leave a bit of advice for the future mom to be (well, current mom at that point coincidentally).
And these were the comment cards that guests could leave their words of wisdom on. I couldn’t resist throwing a little speech bubble on this to make it playful – perfect for a baby themed event.
Another little food item we had for the guests was some baby boy blue candy, complete with serving spoons and little baggies so they could take a treat home with them. This was also cooked up by my mom. I’m telling you – brains behind it all. Don’t let her tell you any different.
Just in case the guests weren’t aware of the bird theme from their invitations, we hit them in the face right as they walked in with a bird egg wreath. I believe we have to give Michael’s credit for this one, but it could easily be a DIY job with some twine, hot glue and some faux bird eggs. Brilliant!
We didn’t get any pictures of the origami birds that Scott and I slaved over (hey, we were kind of preoccupied with a baby being born!) but we hung them above the candy station with a metal mobile from Ikea. Since we rocked it out and had so many origami cranes, I decided to whip up a little door art for my sister’s hospital room with the leftovers. We gotta keep up with the Jones’ on the hospital floor, right? We were a little lacking in the ribbon department, but we found some household string and file folders, and made a quick banner of sorts with paper letters and origami birds. Welcome to the world, little Henry!
What this room was really missing was a (
The sleek, linear pattern of the tiles really ties into the modern feel of the room. Plus, by quarter turning the tiles, we get a bit of texture and dimension in the space, yet our pattern is subtle enough to keep this nursery calm and soothing for baby time.
We added some custom bike art when we tackled the 
I’ve learned something about myself – when I do something, I tend to go all out. Meaning, when I’m working on a project, it starts to consume my (personal) life. Ever since my sister’s baby shower came about, all I can think about is bird related things and how to put those cute little birdies I found on anything and everything. Hence, my blog has turned into a super boring, bird focused journal of my latest and greatest obsession. Now, just because I’ve come to this realization doesn’t mean that you’re safe from ANOTHER bird related post. Enter, origami birdies!
One of my sister’s college buddies, who is heading up the shower committee, mentioned that she had a fun mobile for the shower decorations and asked if anyone was willing to make origami birds (to keep with our cute birdie theme). I obviously volunteered, despite the fact that I’ve never attempted origami, but couldn’t resist the chance to do something crafty. Plus, it gave me the chance to check out the new 
After I stopped snuggling with my beautiful paper, I decided to find out how to make some paper birdies. I did a quick google search and found this 
24 lovely pieces of paper and 24 kickin birds later, I now have the knowledge to take the origami world by storm. Well, at least the origami crane world. They’re super easy to make and are a great little project if you’re looking for a simple touch to add to a wrapped gift or a bottle of wine for a friend. Try it yourself and let me know if you’re obsessed like I am!
Whaaaa? That’s right, I’ve hit the big time, baby. My blog has received almost 1,000 hits today (as opposed to the typical 30 a day) and I’m over the moon! Thank you so much for dropping by my blog if you’re one of the many today and I hope you come back around in the future to check out what else I have in store. And thanks to Sherry and John for allowing my little before and after to grace the pages of your kickin’ blog. You can see the post on their site 
I decided to use a corner rounder to soften up the edges a bit, making it more appropriate for a baby shower. Sharp edges + baby = bad idea. I can relate, since I cracked my head open as a kid on the corner of a coffee table. Ow! Did you catch that bird reference – cracked? Yeah, there’s more where that came from.
Since the invitations were brightly colored, I decided to have a little fun and forgo the standard white envelopes and pick up some punchy colored ones from my favorite Charlotte stationary store, Papitre. (unfortunately, no website – boo!) I had my mind set on some cool blue envelopes to mimic the blue in baby Greenlee’s 
I saw a similar mobile on 
Riveting photograph, I know. My supplies for this project were as follows: 3 squeezy bottles of craft paint, 2 foam paint brushes (I splurged for 2 to speed up my process since they weren’t more than 50 cents each), a bag of pre-cut wood shapes for $3.00 and some bead jewelry string (easier to work with than fishing wire, in my opinion). I also picked up a 9″ brass hoop and some fun orange ribbon after my attempt to create a top from a clothes hanger failed miserably.
My seminole lovin’ heart was desperately resisting painting these pieces orange and blue, but hey, it’s all in the name of design. I still know where my loyalties are. :) After the paint dried (remarkably in about 5 minutes) I took a large size nail and created a hole in the center of each wood piece. I did this by nailing the nail into each size of a wood piece on top of an old magazine. Unconventional, I know, but I didn’t want to search for a scrap piece of wood to nail into, so the magazine got the job done. I just hope that Reese Witherspoon will forgive me for jabbing a nail into her photo spread repeatedly.
The brass ring I used for my top just didn’t mesh with the modern decor of the nursery (brass screams old lady – sorry brass lovers, but trust me on this one) so I pulled out some punchy orange ribbon and a hot glue gun and went to town wrapping that brass bad boy. I had to get some assistance from my grumbly husband to hold the mobile up while I wrapped (he’s not a fan of the arts and crafts), but you could hang it from a ceiling fan and get the same effect. After I wrapped the brass away, the mobile was complete and ready to be hung in said nursery. Simple, no?
We used the existing bedding, whose circles led to a bike theme for the room, including some custom bike art and a bike mural on the wall. My sister had already purchased the crib and glider, but other than that we were working from scratch in the space. Get ready for a picture explosion.
Dad used his infamous painting skills, along with his infamous painting scrubs, to put a nice cheery blue on the walls to brighten up the space. We chose a color that worked well with the bedding but that would also coordinate with our navy and orange accents in the room. We went with a low VOC paint since my sister is pregnant and she didn’t want to end up with a “three headed baby” – her words, not mine.
Scott and Andy (the baby daddy) got to work hanging a new ceiling fan in the space that would bump up the circulation of cool air for the bebe. We also installed a new wall sconce from Ikea (you can see the heinous one that was in place beforehand in the painting picture above), as well as installing some floating Ikea shelves and curtain rods from Target. Our drill got plenty of good work this weekend – thank goodness for power tools!
After two days of blood, sweat and tears, a trip to Target, and 10 carrot cake cupcakes later, the nursery was completed. We’re still working on finding the perfect rug and another bookshelf for some much needed storage, but the majority of the room is ready to go for no-name-baby-boy.
The white bike mural makes just the right visual impact when you enter the room, along with our custom bike artwork in the oh-so-affordable Ikea frame. The white grommet top curtains (from Ikea as well) bring even more light into the room, which is exactly what the doctor ordered in this space.
We kept an existing dresser that’s been in our family for a loooong time for a changing table and installed some floating shelves above for some modern, open shelving. We made sure to install the shelves at a reachable height for my 5′-2″ sis, but not low enough that she might be knocking her head while changing the baby. We picked up a couple of orange accents from Target’s office supply department and hung another piece of DIY bike art over the changing area.
The glider from Babies R Us perfectly fills the other corner of the room, which also includes the new Ikea sconce and a custom mobile a la Audrey as a gift to my sister (tutorial on that to come). The bicycle pillow hails from CB2 and yet again brings the bike theme home, in a bright blue and green embroidered kind of way.
And one final picture of the crew, dogs included. The dogs worked super hard the whole weekend, doing behind the scenes work like electrical wiring and assembling a crib. They were pretty tuckered afterwards, to say the least. :) Share your thoughts on the bodacious boy boudoir!
That lovely trunk full of goodness is for my sister’s nursery! If you don’t see a blog about it in a week or so, that means I did a horrible job on my first ever mural and I’m hiding my shame by not posting. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. I went to Ikea yesterday and picked up 4 curtains, 2 floating shelves, 2 picture frames and one wall sconce, all for under 175 bones. You read that right. Where else can you get such a bounty of goods without breaking the bank? Did I mention I love Ikea?
Here’s a little preview of some custom bicycle artwork in a $5 Ikea frame. I may be taking the bike theme and running it into the ground, but don’t you love it? Yay for cheap art!
We stuck with most of the initial elements, but Emily found this 
We’ll also still incorporate some Ikea 
