Bringing a new baby into the world is a beautiful, beautiful thing, and therefore I believe it needs to be celebrated. (Even if it’s a celebration that is small, simple, and just your closest friends and/or family, it can still be the perfect baby shower… #thankscovid).

Recently, a few of us put our heads together and dreamt up a way to safely celebrate our friend, Claire, who is having a babe soon. (You’ve heard about her before, remember this guest post: Tips for Navigating Bedtime Routines as a Solo Mama?)

Creating the Perfect Baby Shower

We started by creating a small invite list (with our guest of honor’s help, of course) and making the decision to keep it outdoors.

Then our imaginations (and a little bit of Pinterest), took it from there…

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Decor

When we began planning we envisioned a simple, dreamy setup under the trees.

To make these perfect baby shower dreams come true, we decided on painting wood pallets, placing them on a rug, and then cozy-ing up the area with blankets and pillows.

Pallets

My partner in crime, Emily Adams, (an incredible mama you should be following on Instagram: @teetertottermom) found ours for FREE on Facebook Marketplace! At first, I washed them with a sponge and water. Then, I went to the paint store and told them I needed their cheapest white paint, and they gave me a gallon they were about to discard for only $6!

But I quickly learned that painting a pallet is not for the faint of heart. Tip: Pull off some of the underside boards – you don’t really need all of them and then you will have less to paint.

Thankfully two full pallets were enough for our crew of 6 to sit comfortably around, so I was able to reduce the painting that way as well.

We used another two for the food and drinks – one I painted, and one we covered with a blanket.

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Lanterns

Then we hung THESE lanterns to complete the scene. I placed them at varying heights and sizes on the branch above our setup.

You can click the small photos to shop!:

Blankets

We used a variety of blankets, working with different textures, styles, and even different colors (e.g. whites, off-white, and gray)! Here’s are some favorites of mine available on Amazon:

Rug

The rug in my babe’s nursery was so PERFECT for this occasion!

Place settings

Our color scheme of neutrals and soft pink for the place settings was beautiful. Because the pallets provided a somewhat uneven surface, we thought it would be important to have a placemat for each guest. Our napkins, napkin rings, and placements were all from Amazon.

The plates, jars, and coasters were all brought in by my gal, Emily. Her husband cut the coasters himself (!!!) Our plates are Crate & Barrel, and the jars are simple mason jars that also worked perfectly with the theme. All are linked here:

We wanted to add THESE glasses but they didn’t make it quite in time!

Tablerunner

I actually ended up buying a scarf that caught my eye in a grocery store! But it was similar to THIS affordable option on Amazon:

Greenery

I picked up the most realistic fern and eucalyptus stems I could find at JoAnn fabrics. Then I grabbed some light pink tiny floral/berry stems for accent. Finally, I used wire cutters and cut them to size for the table (with the help of my buddies!). I’m linking some similar options available on Amazon:

Food & Drink

We of course wanted to provide food and beverages that were baby-mama-friendly. Our guest of honor is also a food blogger, so we were a little nervous to do much of the food prep ourselves.

Together with everyone on our lil team, we decided on our light menu for the celebration (which took place at 3:00pm):

Beverages

For the drinks, Emily gathered up lemon water in her beautiful pitcher, as well as two flavors of ginger beer (original and blood orange) from a well-known ginger beer spot in Seattle, Rachel’s Ginger Beer.

We used the blood orange ginger beer to make ginger beer Paloma mocktails using THIS recipe! They were then served in the mason jars.

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Appetizers

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I put together a charcuterie board for snacking, which included a variety of crackers, three cheeses (jalapeño habanero, smoke gouda, and cheddar), grapes, blueberries, almonds, prosciutto, and salami.

There were chips and a hummus-based dip (RECIPE HERE), as well as stuffed mini tomatoes. We had another dedicated fruit tray as well!

Dessert

Obviously, we ate dessert right along with the other food!

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Maggie from Maggie’s Cookies in Enumclaw, WA created these gorg cookies specifically for us and this occasion! These cookies were of course one of my FAVORITE details of the event. They were beautifully crafted, matched our theme and colors, and were so. much. yum. Perfection all around. I know she’d love to make you some, too, so check her out!!!

We also had an incredible array of macarons thanks to an exceptionally talented family member, as well as lovely and delish cupcakes from Gracene’s Cupcake Boutique in Black Diamond, WA.

Flower Crowns

As one of the activities, we put together flower crowns. Emily picked up a ton of fresh flowers from the farmer’s market and neighbors and used jute to make a circle around our heads. After that, we added fresh ivy by wrapping it around the jute, to the level of thickness desired (and tearing off extra ivy leaves that didn’t look right or weren’t in the desired location).

Then we weaved in flower stems, securing with floral tape when necessary! They turned out quite beautiful and were so fun to create and see each other’s personalities come out!

We also played the traditional baby game with clothespins, which you get to steal from others if you catch them saying the “off-limits” word (we couldn’t say “baby”)! Me = not a winner.

Memory Notebook

During the party, we took pictures on a polaroid camera to help Claire remember the day and to give her personalized notes and encouragement.

We got a notebook similar to these below (it was a lined album without photo “slots”), and then attached the pictures inside using THIS adorable Washi tape I found on Amazon. Each of us had our own page with a picture of us with Claire, and between our pages, we taped random polaroids of decor as well as other candid shots from the day.

Photo Backdrop

It really was the dream team working on this love project, and one of our gals, Katie, is a photographer! Actually, she’s our family’s photographer, too, so you’ve seen plenty of her amazing work already, I’m sure! Find her at Katie Kolbrick Photography. She agreed to be on the other end of the camera for this shot! (Katie also took nearly every photo in this post. She is so talented!)

She even put together this beautiful photo backdrop using balloons, ribbon from the craft store, and plastic PVC piping (a DIY project)! The balloons were secured with this balloon bouquet tape like THIS. It was so cute.

I am still mesmerized by the way it all came together.

There were memories made, love shared, a baby celebrated.

Most importantly, the celebration will keep going for Claire and her sweet new little one.

I hope you can get a little inspo for a perfect baby shower and safe gathering of your own. Let me know what you loved most!

Be sure to stick around for the many ideas to come! In the meantime, find me on Instagram or Facebook (my best ideas don’t always make it all the way to the blog 😉).

See you oh so soon, friends!

For some of my other Pinterest-worthy projects, check out the following posts:

• Creating a Cozy Bathtub Scene: my Best in Bathroom Decor Ideas!
• A Basement Makeover You Won’t Want to Miss!
• Favorite Places: Nursery Edition!

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