Creative Baby Shower Gifts

The Peter Rabbit Baby Shower for my friend Anna was a success. She has a great group of creative friends who gave gifts that I thought deserved a post all to themselves. Sometimes it's hard to give baby gifts that are both creative and practical, but these girls did just that.

Anna's friend, Caroline, went all out in the handmade department... she knit (yes, knit!) this adorable bunny.

Oh, and whipped up a bonnet and quilt to go along with it. Did I mention she was a good friend!?
I made Emmie a knit hat to wear while she's in the hospital and a pretty little something for her nursery wall.

Each of the hostesses gave Anna our favorite, tried and true mommy gear in a basket. Move over dumb ol' wipes warmer! The Ultimate Crib Sheet, our favorite bib, and nursing pads were some of the gifts we gave. Along with monogrammed things from Alice who makes the most adorable things!

Anna's sister gave her a diaper bag that was all ready to go with the essentials. Sisters are so smart like that.

My favorite idea from the shower was to save all of the ribbon on the gifts (or even request that the guests wrap with fancy ribbon) and make hair bows. How memorable for Emmie to have hair bows made out of the ribbon from her baby shower!

What are your favorite creative baby shower gifts?

Peter Rabbit Baby Shower

It feels like it was just yesterday that we were planning the bachelorette weekend for Anna and now we're on to the baby shower! Time flies!

Come on in, I'll show you how it went.

I made a diaper wreath for the front door, but the rain-that-later-turned-to-snow wouldn't let me put it up outside. You know what happens to a diaper at the pool? Yeah, it wouldn't have been a pretty sight!

Anna chose a Peter Rabbit theme for her new daughter, Mary Ellen ("Emmie")'s nursery, so naturally we chose a Peter Rabbit theme for her shower.

Think: Vintage white table cloth and a burlap runner (from Mama B Vintage) topped with rustic details like a cake stand made from a stump, moss, and pebbles.

I love it when there are name tags at a shower, so I made some garden spades for each of us and all of the guests signed the front of a Peter Rabbit book for little Emmie.

I "borrowed" a pair of Owen's rain boots and stuck some glass vases with flowers down inside. He would have flipped if he saw his boots looking that girly, so let's keep this between us, shall we?

My dad's woodworking skills really came in handy for this party. He made us a bowl for nuts...
and a cake stand that I am in love with!

Alice and Meredith were in charge of all of the food and they did not disappoint! They made this beautiful veggie tray (the cabbage was hulled out and stuffed with spinach dip...yum!).

We also had bacon wraps, hot ham and cheese rolls and brie bites. The brie bites were really easy and my personal favorite... it's just mini phyllo tarts, a cube of brie, chopped pecans, brown sugar and honey all baked together into this sweet crunchy bit of goodness....mmmm!

I'll be back to tell you about the adorable gifts Anna got. Sometimes creative and practical don't go together when you're giving baby shower gifts, but Anna has some very thoughtful friends who went all out to make little Emmie feel special! I'll share their ideas with you.

Succulents

Succulents, where have you been all my life?

You thrive off of little water. Good.

You promise to create fresh air in my house. That's so nice of you.

You're basically indestructible. Whew!

And you're just too cute!

Not the cutest thing in my kitchen, but you're a close second!

Homemade Peppermint Patties... a.k.a. a hot mess!

Did you do anything special for V-day? My boys gave me this huge card they all signed and Trey delivered. I won't soon forget his sweet little face sticking that card out at me. He was so proud. Adorable!

My gift to them did not turn out so adorable.

I made them some homemade peppermint patties. It was pretty funny really. After turning the kitchen upside down I was almost done when Owen proclaimed that he didn't like peppermint (oh, really?) then they turned out looking like this... whaaa?!

They may look like a complete hot mess, but I'm telling you... they taste like heaven!

I'm still debating if I'd ever attempt these again. I followed this recipe from How Sweet It Is and they were pretty difficult. Maybe I added too much oil.

The next time I attempt homemade candy bars I think it will be these Three Musketeer Bars with only three ingredients, whoa!

The Latest

Just popping in to let you know what's going on over here.

Working on...

I restocked the shop with four new push pin sets. (Thanks for the outpouring of demand for those, I love making them and you love buying them, win win!)

Mommying...

The hubby was out of town this week, so saying that we're glad to have him home again is an understatement!

Thinking about...

Right now I'm thinking about how thankful I am that the Lord spared my grandfather after a quadruple bi-pass last week. Wanna hear a quick story about how awesome God is?! I thought so.

My dad went skiing out west two weeks ago and on his way home sat next to another guy who was on the trip with him. My dad's dad had just fallen and no one really knew what was going on, so the two of them were chatting about it on the flight home. When my dad got home my grandfather had worsened so he drove to the hospital about two hours away. Guess who was Daddy Mac's cardiologist? Oh, the guy my dad had sat next to on the plane of course, because God is so cool like that.

Daddy Mac needed a bi-pass, well, not one... four! My dad and the cardiologist (who also loves Jesus!) prayed together for the surgeons who would be performing the quadruple bi-pass. While in surgery the doctors found out just how badly Daddy Mac needed that bi-pass... he was very close to having a massive heart attack and when they harvested the vein in his leg to use for the surgery, they found a four inch blood clot! The doctors said that alone could have killed him! My dad joked, "Leave it to Dad to get a two-for-one deal on his heart surgery!" (I come from a long line of cheap... err, thrifty, people!)

We are praising God for his provision and the generous gift of life he has given Daddy Mac!

So what's going on with you my friends?

Pinterest Made Me Do It!

I blame Pinterest for the newest yummies that are sitting in my kitchen right now begging to be gobbled up...

You're going to need to watch closely because this recipe requires skill and precision.

Step one... Two Vanilla Wafers ('Nilla Wafers if you're from the south) with peanut butter in the middle.

Step two... chocolate bath.

Did you miss something? Go back and read step one again, slowly. It's a tuffy, I know.

Owen and I made these together.

His wife will thank me one day. I've taught him only the finest low-cal recipes. A Southern Baking Tradition... yes sir-ree!

Too bad we don't have any fun in the kitchen!

A Night for Idea Collecting

Every once in a while I like to burrow away at my nearest Barnes and Noble armed with a Tall Caramel Light Frappuccino in one hand and my journal in the other.

I have a love of magazines, but I'm cheap. Problem. So I figured out a way to get my fix at the store for free! By the way, why are Mollie Makes and Marie Claire Idees so crazy expensive? Anyone want to make a trade for some back issues? I know a girl who has a fun shop, just sayin'!

So back to my cheap plan... I ever so carefully read them, collect my favorite ideas, and put them back on the shelf so someone with pockets a little more padded than mine can enjoy them at home. This time I found out about some great new websites... Mollie Makes and The Making Spot. Not exactly new, but new to me.
Some fun ideas...
And some books I'd like to forget I ever saw...
Oh my goodness there are just so many things wrong with that.... gag!

The New Line

Hey My Friends,

It was a productive weekend after a bonkers week and I've got lots of new goodness in the shop. You like goodness, don't you?

I subscribe to the thought that our everyday tasks need unexpected pops of color or charm; a little whimsy brings so much joy.

These are tassel push pins made from vintage steel t-pins with ultrasuede tassels, something I've never seen before and hope you like.

The colors I chose are sure to add the pop of color that your dull and dreary bulletin board may need.

I also whipped up some card holders made out of recycled synthetic leather swatches from a local upholstery shop and brightly colored grommets. Just the right size for business cards or a gift card.

You've probably seen these before. The Legendary Moleskine notebook (famed notebook of Hemingway and Picasso), but with my own twist for your lists, wonderings, dreams and reminders.

I hope you enjoy the new line. Take a little whimsy home!