Little Girl Baby Shower

Pink and purple. 
Ballerinas.
Teacups. 

What do these things have in common?  A very girly shower for a sweet mommy and baby girl!

Last spring, I gave a shower for my sister when she was expecting her first child and my first niece.  After many hours perusing Pinterest boards, I compiled many lovely ideas into one little party.  Here are a few photos:

The buffet table with a lace tablecloth.
The Menu:
Bite-size tortilla chips and homemade cheese dip
Pink wafer cookies
Cinnamon-sugar chips
Crackers and cheese
Bakery cake from local grocery store  

We found these paper lanterns and fluffies at Party City and hung them from the chandelier above the buffet table. 

This was a free printable I found online.  It says "She leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes."  I placed it in a white frame from Walmart, and gave it to my sister to use in the nursery after the shower.  We paired this with a vase of pink roses for the table centerpiece.

We made this banner to hang in the living room where everyone sat and my sister opened her gifts.

To make the banner:

1) Decide how big you want your letters to be.

2) Create a new document in Microsoft Word, click the Insert tab, and insert Word Art.

3) Type the words you want to use, separating each letter with a space or two.

4) When you've got your words typed, right-click on the Word Art box and select Format Shape.

5) Select 3-D Rotation, and put 180 in the box labeled X.  This should flip your words around so they are mirror-image.

5) Change the font color to a light gray.

6) Print your letters, then use scissors to cut out each one. 

7) Cut circles out of sheets of various colored or patterned scrapbook paper.

8) Use a hole-punch to make a hole at "10 and 2" on each circle for threading your ribbon.

9) Flip your letters over so they are white and facing the correct direction, and attach them to the circles using glue or scrapbooking stickers (warning - glue tends to wrinkle up your paper).

10) Measure how much ribbon you need to thread through the banner and hang.

11) Cut ribbon and thread your banner pieces on.

We also made little paper ballerinas, using paper snowflake patterns and a ballerina template we found online.

My sister and her husband had not yet decided on a name for their daughter, so I decided to include a name suggestion jar.  I cut 4" squares of pink and purple paper and hole-punched them with a flower-shaped punch that I already had.  This was an activity everyone enjoyed, and my sister got a good laugh from some of the suggestions afterward!

This was another free printable I found online, and we used it for a shower game.

For the punch table, I collected a bunch of pretty teacups.  Some of these were contributed by our moms and grandmas, and I bought several others fairly cheaply from thrift stores around town.  It was a very unique and pretty way to serve punch.

The other activity we offered at the shower was "Wishes for Baby."  I created a Word document with a pretty pink border and title, then added a list something like this:

I hope you learn ___________

I hope you love ____________

I hope you become _________

I hope you never forget ______

I hope you grow ____________

I hope you aren’t afraid ______

I hope you receive __________

I hope you know ___________

I hope you laugh ___________

I hope you always __________

Each guest filled out one of these sheets for the new baby and signed her name at the bottom, and mommy took them home as a keepsake.  Then when Baby Girl is older, she can read all the loving wishes that were written for her.

Hospitality and Guest Rooms

On our recent road-trip across the U.S., we stayed almost every night with people in their homes.  Out of three week on the road, I think we were only in a hotel 5 times.  The hosts we stayed with were a mix of people -- relatives, old college friends, people who have come to Echo Ranch on mission trips, etc.  Some of these people we knew well, others we barely knew at all, but each of them were welcoming and hospitable, inviting us to make ourselves at home in their home.  

One of the things that struck me as we sojourned with each of these people was how they willingly and generously offered to us whatever they had to give.  I wanted to share these photos below with you because I want to encourage you -- no matter what kind of housing or amenities you have, YOU CAN offer rest and shelter to someone who needs it.  From the perspective of newlywed traveling missionaries, Brett and I can tell you that we are incredibly grateful to each of our hosts, for each bed we slept in on this journey.  

We slept in really nice guest rooms.  We slept on an air mattress on the floor.  We slept in an 8-year-old boy's tractor-themed bedroom.  We slept on futons.  We were "the least of these," a way for people to love on Jesus by loving on us and giving us a place to stay for a night or two, whatever they had to offer.  We were blessed.

 
 

So I challenge you to consider -- whether you have a big house or a nice guest room or not -- how can you offer love and hospitality to someone in need or transition?  Something to think about!