Woodland Critter Baby Shower

 Last year we hosted a co-ed baby shower for a couple of dear friends.  We were knee-deep in house projects from March through the summer, so this party served as a goal for us to be guest-ready by late August.

I didn't want the theme to be overly cutesy and girly, even though my friends were having a daughter.  Because it was a co-ed shower and the parents-to-be really love the outdoors and have a more rustic sense of style, I went with a Little Woodlands Critters theme.  The inspiration was black buffalo check plaid with touches of red (think toadstools), green (think moss), and natural textures (twigs, pinecones, etc.).  It was borderline difficult to keep the color scheme going without getting Christmassy, but I think we pulled it off!


I designed the invitations with some cute woodland critter graphics I found online and used black and white scrapbook paper behind the party details.  I was so bummed that buffalo check plaid wasn't available in the scrapbook paper sections of ANY of my local craft stores!  They had pink, blue, or yellow, but no black!  I also used kraft envelopes and printed a rustic line graphic on the back to tie in to the invitation. Registry details were located on the back of the invite along with more graphics.  I was so pleased with how the invitations turned out!


Everything came together at the 11th hour, so my mom was the only one who took photos - gotta learn to make time to photograph details, as I was really proud of all the little touches!

Decor and gifts

We served lemonade along with juices to customize it and gin to spike it.  I also stuck with all-white flowers along with greenery and twigs for accents.

Buffalo plaid was hard to find, so I used it where I could and filled in with stripes and polka dots.  I bought the buffalo check tablecloth (affiliate link) on Amazon and am glad I splurged for a keepable fabric instead of cheapy plastic or paper - it's a good neutral I can use for so many holidays and occasions!  And not to toot my own horn, but a month or two after the shower, this pattern was EVERYWHERE.  I'm a trendsetter, trust me - it has little to do with cooler temps and the timeless pattern.  ;)

My mom made the cutest acorn cookie snacks - Hershey Kisses attached to mini Nilla wafers with a peanut butter morsel on top.  I also bought some Chocorooms from World Market - cute little tiny mushroom-shaped treats with cookie stems and chocolate caps....adorable!
Decor, mushroom cupcakes, s'mores cookie cups

I painted this weeping willow on a canvas with background colors from the parents' nursery and asked people to sign each branch with white paint pens so that the signatures would look like flowers/willows.  I hate that I didn't take a picture of the final product!!

We played "guess the baby food" - a different caliber of gross than the "guess the melted candy bar in the diaper" game! I put out popsicle sticks for people to get a little taste of each numbered baby food jar (along with a discard jar) and laid out numbered scrapbook paper for people to use as ballots.
Food and decor
Beer chugging out of a bottle contest.  A seasoned dad cheated by chewing a hole in the nipple.
Chugging beer out of baby bottles...that's my kind of baby shower!  
I really enjoyed hosting a shower that was a little different than your typically-themed event.  I do wish I had done a little more in the way of decor (and documented it better), but I think for all we had going on to get the house itself ready, everything turned out beautifully!

Share:

0 comments