Peanut and Elephant Baby Shower

Description

In June of last year, I had the honor of planning a peanut and elephant themed baby shower for my good friend Meaghan and her husband who were expecting their first child, a boy, in September. I was thrilled to find out I was going to be a new auntie! I truly had so much fun planning and designing this shower as I wanted it to be special and memorable for Meaghan, her husband, and Tristan who actually blessed our lives early in July as a preemie.

Design Inspiration

The peanut and elephant theme was a clear-cut choice as "Peanut" was Meaghan and her husband's term of endearment for Tristan since he looked like a little peanut in the ultrasound picture.

Decorating Style

No particular style, but once I come up with the theme and color palette, I run with it wholeheartedly. Google is my best friend with Photoshop coming in at a close second.

Project Details

After we had a theme and color palette of blue, brown, white, and yellow in mind, I came up with the invitation in Photoshop for the event first (see attached image). Invitations were printed at FedEx Office. I found the cutest image of a peanut and elephant and made that the pattern of the onesie. Each invitation was cut out by hand by me and the parents-to-be as a bonding effort. White eyelets were purchased from Michael's and were attached one by one with an eyelet applicator also purchased from Michael's. White ribbon was purchased for a great price at Walmart.

After the invitation was made, I designed all of the baby shower games (see attached image) in Photoshop based on the images of the peanut and elephant and the color palette. I found great game ideas at this site. Some of my favorites were Guess How Many Peanuts in the Bottle and Guess the Baby Item in which a box of baby items are placed in front of the blindfolded parents-to-be to guess each item they have in their hands. The white, blue, and brown baby box (see attached image) was from Michael's; various baby items came from Walmart, Christmas Tree Shops, and Family Dollar. The personalized Baby Bingo cards (see attached image) had Tristan's name in the center as the free square. The baby bottle accents on the tables had dual use as decorations and as bingo daubers.

The mommy-to-be and I also came up with the centerpieces. The glass fishbowl jars were a great deal from Dollar Tree. Baby blue, white, and yellow ribbon were from Walmart, and the silver baby boy accent pieces on the ribbon were from Michael's.

Matching tablecloths, streamers, and baby item centerpiece accents were all purchased from random dollar stores and ITZAPARTY!. Meaghan and her husband folded the streamers in an alternating method to create the lovely garlands you see on the wall. The peanut- and elephant-shaped advice for parent cards were also used as wall decorations.

My best friend, Jhoana, created the diaper cake as a gift for the parents-to-be. It was very creative and a great addition to the shower! If you want an awesome diaper cake, I highly recommend Jhoana.

Cupcakes were made by my friend, Rachel, of Sweet Mack Bakery. Not only are her cupcake designs amazing, but they're delicious! The three different flavors she provided were chocolate, gold, and peanut butter.

Cake was made by Meaghan's friend, Linda, of Kizel's Cakes. Such an adorable design with the wrapped baby peanut in the mommy elephant's arms!

Favor idea of circus peanuts came from Google, but favor cards were designed by me in Photoshop. The cards say "Thanks for showering our sweet little peanut!" So cute! Plastic favor bags came from Walmart for a great price.

Favorite Items

My favorite part of the shower would be the invitation as it set the tone for the rest of the prints used in the event's success! It was also my first time using eyelets, which is a technique I will continue to use in future designs. If you would like a custom invitation for your next event, please contact me at Invytations. The games that matched the invitation were also a party favorite as they kept guests engaged and entertained. I also loved all the peanut items that brought the theme together including the cupcakes, cake, centerpieces, and favors.

Advice

My advice for planning any event is to start early so that you are not stressed out the day before. Custom designs and event decorations take time. Getting items at a great deal also takes time when you're on the hunt from store to store. My favorite stores to start event planning include Michael's, Christmas Tree Shops, A.C. Moore, Walmart, ITZAPARTY!, and Dollar Tree. Also, I find that solidifying a theme and/or color palette first helps the progression of the event and helps your overall vision to be a success!