Danielle’s baby shower

My friend Danielle, who threw me such a beautiful baby shower when I was pregnant with Violet, is expecting a baby boy.  I was honored to be able to host her shower to welcome her little guy.

With the help of crafty friends who are also good cooks and inspired by lots of ideas from Pinterest, we threw a “Buttons and Bowties” themed shower.

We learned through some sneaky reconnaissance work that the baby's nursery was going to be decorated with blue gingham, so we used that as our primary color scheme.



The shower was held mid-afternoon, so we kept the food to light hors d’oeuvres and desserts.  Pinterest was a great help in deciding the menu, because I looked at the guest of honor’s Pinterest boards to see what foods she likes.
 

Danielle is a wonderful baker, and over the years – including my past two birthdays - she has made me some amazing cakes.  I was excited to try to return the favor with my very first made-from-scratch cake.  This was a lemon cake with homemade Swiss meringue butter cream frosting.  This was also the first time I had ever frosted a cake using a pastry bag and cake tips.  All my friends were very complimentary about the results, and I will choose to believe that they (mostly) meant it.  :)



In lieu of shower games, we opted to have guests decorate fabric squares that the generous and crafty Van will sew together as a keepsake quilt for Danielle and her baby.  I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

As for my own gift, in keeping with the blue gingham theme, I crocheted a granny square afghan in different shades of blue and white.  This was my first granny square blanket, and I just love the colors.  I hope it will keep the sweet baby boy warm and snuggly for many, many years.



Congratulations, Danielle!  We can’t wait to meet the newest member of your family.  We love him already!