Tuesday, September 29, 2020

A Handmade Baby Shower Card For A Beautiful Fall Baby Shower

Last weekend I shared that I had the pleasure of attending two good, old friend's life milestone events:  a wedding and a baby shower.  In last week's post I covered the Beautiful Fall Wedding, this week I am sharing the baby shower.

Before I give you all the details of this lovely shower, I will first show the handmade card I made for the lovely couple and their little bundle of joy.  To make this card I used an old retired Stampin' Up set called "Buggies and Booties".  Elizabeth, the mommy-to-be, loves anything vintage so I thought this would be a great set to use.



To make the card, I stamped the buggy image directly on the card base and colored it in with pencils.  I then took a pink gelato crayon and colored a background, then stamped the sentiment over the gelato.  To finish the card, I used sequins to emphasize the sentiment.

Before I begin to show all the details of this beautiful fall baby shower I want to give a little history of my friendship with Sandy, the mother-in-law who threw the shower  Like my friend Julia, who you met last week, I met Sandy at church.  Church is a great place to meet people and foster life long friendships, because you have one big thing in common:  faith.  I met Sandy when my kids were two and five years old, and Sandy didn't have children yet.  Fast forward 25 years and here we are with two of our children married, two grand babies, and Sandy's first grand baby on the way.  It is an absolute privilege to have life long friends and watch our children grow up together and celebrate life's milestones like weddings and baby showers!

Now on to the details of this beautiful baby shower!  The shower was held outdoors on a lovely fall day.  When the guests first arrived, they were greeted by this chalkboard sign on the front porch directing them to the location of the shower.


The shower was held on Sandy's back patio.  Small white tables and chairs were draped with white linens  and pretty pink floral napkins.  Each table had a lovely fall chrysanthemum wrapped in pink tulle and a pink bow.

"My Little Pumpkin" was the theme of the baby shower so pumpkins were used in all the decor;   but they were all white to keep the shower feminine since the mom-to-be is having a little girl.  A small white pumpkin graced every table and little pale pink paper pumpkins were at every place setting.  These were used for the guests to write "words of wisdom" for the parents-to-be.  And as a side note,   the lovely pink rose linen napkins were from my own daughter's wedding and baby shower.  It's wonderful to be able to share precious items like these with friends and see them get a lot of use.  It makes the special events even more special.

The chrysanthemum centerpieces doubled as party favors as each guest was allowed to take a chrysanthemum plant home at the end of the party.

A comfortable and pretty living room chair was brought outside for the mom-to-be to sit in while she opened her gifts.  In keeping with the pumpkin theme, a pillow with a white pumpkin decoration on it, was placed on the chair.  Above the chair hung a lovely wreath with the first letter of the baby's name.


The baby's name is Jane Elizabeth.  The mom-to-be is a huge fan of the novel "Pride and Prejudice" so the name represents both the author and the main character in the novel.  "Elizabeth" is also the name of the mom-to-be and the name of the father's grandmother, so there is some nice history there as well.

The baby's name was beautifully displayed on a white pumpkin filled with pink and white flowers.  It was placed on the gift table along with a pretty vintage baby carriage and Jane's ultrasound.


And here is the beautiful mom-to-be Elizabeth proudly showing Baby Jane's ultrasound picture.  The detail these ultrasounds can capture today is amazing.  One can see so many features of this precious human being;  a true gift from God.


Sandy incorporated many of her regular flower urns that grace her patio all summer into the baby shower decor.  She just added some fall mums and more white pumpkins to tie into the shower's theme.  If you notice little baby socks in some of the pictures, those were "hidden" all over the grounds for guests to find.  At the end of the shower, the guest who found the most socks won a large chrysanthemum to take home.




This was the large chrysanthemum that a guest won for collecting the most socks.


The food was kept inside the house to protect it from insects and the weather, but the drinks were outside. Inside the dining room a baby welcome sign made out of little white pumpkins hung in the window.  It read "Welcome Mum-to-be and Sweet Little Pumpkin".  More pink tulle with pink bows was hung from the rod on both sides of the banner.



Underneath the banner a pretty white urn held pink and white decorative balls and flowers on a metal stand.  On the stand also lay more white little pumpkins and baby socks for guests to find.


The food table was absolutely stunning.  The centerpiece featured a tiered stand with beautiful pink vintage baby dresses.  The food was attractively laid out on either side of the centerpiece.



At the top of the stand was pretty pink and white peonies.  The food was absolutely amazing!  I took one of everything, and thought all of it was exquisite! 


A vintage white lace doily covered the base of the centerpiece.  A large pink bow with more baby socks for guests to find graced the ends of the centerpiece, with the baby dresses on the wider side.



Pretty pumpkin printables were placed on the food table with descriptions of the food items.

Dessert was pink and yellow cupcakes.  They were  placed on  trays of different heights on a table covered with white lace linens.  A white vintage frame on an easel with a fall mum wrapped in pink tulle completed the decor.


As stated earlier, the drinks were outside so guests did not have to go inside the house every time they were thirsty.  There was a coffee bar set up on a table filled with lovely fall flowers and cold drinks were in a white metal basin nearby.



Metal window plant hangers are on the windows to the house year round, but for the party, they hung mason jars and filled them with fall vibernum flowers.


I'm not sure what this vintage metal basin is, if I had to guess, I would say it's an old fashioned way to wash clothes, but it worked perfectly to hold ice and cold drinks for the shower.  Sandy draped it with pink fabric and tulle.


Sandy covered the bottled drinks with more pumpkin printables and hand wrote on the side of the bottle what the drink was.


And finally, here are some pictures of the beautiful mom-to-be opening some of her presents.  





And this is my dear friend Sandy with her daughter-in-law holding the ultrasound photo of her first grand baby.  I am so excited for my friend to enter the wonderful world of being a grand parent.  I think she will be such a wonderful grandmother.  I'm also excited that her first grand child is a girl, as Sandy has two boys of her own.  It will be fun for her to spoil her little grand daughter with everything pink and frilly.





Have A Great Day!  Amy

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Tuesday, September 22, 2020

A Handmade Wedding Card For A Beautiful Wedding

Today I have a post to share that celebrates the goodness of life amidst all the sadness with the world's response to Covid.  I had a very busy, but blessed weekend celebrating two life moments in two dear friends lives:  one was a wedding and the other was a baby shower.  I've known both of these dear friends for many years.  We have watched together our kids grow up, and now we celebrate the marital unions of our children and the birth of our first grand babies.  There is something special about friendships that stand the test of time and that celebrate life's milestones together.  This week I will cover my dear friend's Julia's daughter's wedding and next week I will cover the baby shower of my other dear friend Sandy's daughter-in-law.

First, I want to show the card I made for the bride and groom:  Savannah and Trevor.  I kept the card on the simpler side because I think that is more to Savannah's taste, plus I was really pressed for time this week.  


I used a retired Stampin' Up set called "Wedding Wishes".  I simply stamped the main image and sentiment directly on a card base and colored it in slightly with Copic Markers.  I then adhered the card base to a light grey mat to make it pop.  

Now I'd like to show you a few snap shots of the wedding venue.  The wedding was held in a renovated factory that took milk from its original form and made it into other products such as condensed or powdered milk.  They named the 1903 building "The Condensery" in honor of its history.


They did such an excellent job of keeping the beauty of the original craftsmanship of the factory and yet adding the modern conveniences like elevators.


There are three rooms on the upper levels of The Condensery.  One was a large banquet hall and overflow room, and the other room is used as a dance hall/bar.  On the lower level of the building is a restaurant.


I just loved these big wooden doors!


This is the large banquet hall with the wedding party table on the right.


The bride kept the decor simple, yet elegant and a bit rustic at the same time:  the perfect blend for the atmosphere of the establishment if you were to ask me.  Each table had a burlap runner with a blue Mason canning jar sitting on top of a round wood slice.  The floral arrangements included pink Gerbera Daisies mixed with Baby's Breath.   Small gold votives and some Lindsor Truffles completed the display.


My favorite decor of the wedding was the dessert table...but I am partial to cake so why wouldn't it be?  I just loved the rustic decor of this table!  


Savannah used old wooden crates and old metal tins to create different levels of height on the table.  Pretty pink and white cupcakes were placed in delicate, lacy pink liners once again contrasting the beauty of the old with the new.  A few of the same floral arrangements used on the tables was brought in to tie everything together.

I just loved this cute sign too!  I am one that really enjoys the art and taste of a beautiful wedding cake at a wedding, but if you're not going to have a cake, as many couples today choose not to do, this was a great alternative as it was very well done.


The bridal bouquets were a romantic mix of pink roses and pink Gerbera Daisies mixed with white roses and babies breath.  They were so lovely.  The wedding was originally scheduled for May but was delayed due to Covid lockdowns, that is why the bride went with spring colors.


Many weddings have personal touches woven throughout to commemorate lost loved ones who could not be with them in person but are there in spirit.  One of the most touching aspects of this wedding was to see beautiful butterflies in the brides and the matron of the brides hair to remember the brides beautiful nephew and the matron of honor's lovely infant son.


The bridesmaids wore exquisite, full length,  blush pink halter dresses.


The bride looked absolutely stunning in her gown by Ines Di Santo.  


And finally, I want to show you my dear friend Julia, the Mother-of-the-Bride.  Julia is such a naturally beautiful woman any day of the week, but she looked exceptionally gorgeous in her dress by Tadashi Shoji purchased from Nordstrom.  It has an off-white lining with a sequined taupe sheer overlay.  My dress you will hear more about in my next "Ageless Style" post.  I had originally purchased a blush pink floral halter dress for Savannah's wedding, but when the wedding was moved to September, and the temperatures dipped to low fifties/sixties, I thought I'd better find something else to wear.  I found this gorgeous fall dress at JCPenney.


Of course my husband/photographer never noticed the wind blew my flutter sleeve up before snapping these photos 😄 But I do love this dress.  It is a very soft knit and is so comfortable to wear and the colors are very suitable for fall.  I loved it so much I wore it again the very next day to the baby shower!


This last photo is not only to show my footwear but these gorgeous wooden floors!  My husband couldn't stop commenting on how much he loved the floors of this old building.


I hope you enjoyed seeing how life continues on in spite of Covid and all the other nonsense going on in the world right now.  It was a wonderful weekend to get away from it all, and enjoy ourselves and celebrate the things that are really important in life:  family, friends, and God!

Have a Great Day!

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