Ready to Pop!

My last church shower to help host theme was She's Ready to Pop! Several things had a "pop" theme to it, starting with this tag invite with a Tootsie "pop" on the front.

As you walked in to the sign in table, there were some flowers in a vase with "pop"corn.

Message board with balloons that can be "pop"ped.

to eat: cake "pops"

yummy gooey "pop"corn

rice krispie treats (think; snap, crackle, "pop"

plates and napkins with pretty "pops" of color

 and not pictured was a punch made with sherbet and 7-Up (aka: soda "pop")

This was a very bittersweet shower for me as it was my last church shower as shower coordinator/hostess/helper/etc. I put in many hours of love and designing for each shower and hope and pray that each of the new mommies and/or brides-to-be felt special and loved with each and every shower.

Note: This blog may be quiet (even more so than it's been lately) for awhile as I figure out "my place in this world" and what to do next with my life. 3 weeks before this shower I was in a car accident and totaled the car. I'm okay (just had a concussion, bruises and messed up ribs), but it really messed with my mind. The accident as well as circumstances that led to my stepping down as shower coordinator (I do have peace about that decision though), have left me "wandering", trying to figure out what to do next, be involved in, etc.

Tribal Camping Theme Baby Shower

I don't know how I can have so many favorites, but it seems each shower is my new "favorite". Yesterday's baby shower was for a sweet young lady that I have enjoyed getting to know when she first started dating a guy who is good friends with my boys. He hosts an overnight camping trip in JANUARY (yes, I typed that right LOL) that my boys go to and that was my inspiration for this shower.

I created a back drop using burlap and then decorated with a baby boy banner with my Silhouette. I designed the arrow thingies at the top,. The arrows on the banner are from the Silhouette Design Store.

Here you see my window show up again. I created a new pom pom swag with yarn matching my color scheme.

For the beverage, we served orange juice (in aluminum canister), strawberry/kiwi water (this was so good! I will definitely be making it this summer) and lemon/lime water.

the food was make your own trail mix, grapes and cheese skewers, and s'more bars.

sign in table

for the centerpieces, I used tin cans I wrapped in burlap and then "squished" to give an oval top and different look, filled with "weeds" from the ditches, cedar branches, and apple blossom branches from our trees. The cans are sitting on tea dyed paper doilies and the feathers are from another cut file from Silhouette design store.

Here is the invite I designed: 

  and probably my favorite part was this gift I crocheted for the baby. His daddy has a beard and when I saw this on Pinterest couple of months ago, I knew I had to make one for baby boy Jones!  

feather cutting file 
arrow cutting file\
banner flag template
hat and beard

S'more Bar Recipe:
I have no idea where this recipe came from. It is one I found when we were first married, way before we had internet, It has been a favorite and I have made it several times.

1/2 c. margarine
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 c. flour
1 pkg (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips (you could use milk chocolate)
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add combined flour and graham cracker crumbs; mix well. Press into bottom of greased 9" square pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and marshmallows. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool; cut into bars.

cowgirl Western Themed Bridal Shower

A western theme in red and gray was what Saturday's shower was inspired by. This theme including colors is what the bride to be has chosen for her wedding. The invitation was this cowgirl boot created using a cutting file by Lori Whitlock (link will be below).

A big thank you to the ladies who helped me decorate and made food!

Recipes and Project/Inspiration Links:
Romantiques Font
Boot Cutting File
Bandana digital paper

Industrial Farmhouse Bridal Shower

I ♥ the theme of this next shower. The bride to be has chosen Industrial Farmhouse for the theme for her wedding and I know it will be amazing! She is a wonderful party planner and I always love seeing all the parties she hosts and will have to say I was a little intimidated giving this shower. I mean...giving a party to the party planner??!! But it turned out to be a nice shower even with the bride to be not feeling well.

It all started with this invite. I used Cutting Cafe's Mason Jar Shaped Card Template cutting file and altered the file by "squishing" the jar down to a squatty one.

The bride to be's wedding colors are metal and mints/aquas so I used those colors along with metals, woods, and glass for the industrial part of the theme.

The backdrop is an old vintage tablecloth to cover up the ugly white board.

All of this below was taken from my home. I have a little vignette I put together every year and this was for my St. Pat vignette and the colors worked perfectly. Obviously, I don't have "from miss to mrs" in my home. LOL I spray painted the primary colored magnet letters a cream color and then spell out phrases. I framed a piece of sheet metal I found in our shed that I cut to size.

The dried hydrangeas I have used at several showers and they were really starting to fall apart. I spray painted them with mint and aqua glass paint. ♥ how that turned out on the brown petals! The glass "vase" is a starbucks coffee bottle that I spray painted with mint glass paint. For added fun, I used blue glass insulators and stuck them in a rusty bed spring and added a battery operated candle which fit perfectly.

 It was fun to do a different layout using long tables instead of round ones.

 keeping with the metal theme, we had gold paper plates and silver plastic cups. for added whimsy, turquoise and white polka dot napkins, turquoise forks, and aqua striped straws.

for food we had donuts (bride to be's favorite), key lime bars, chocolate covered pretzels, 

and fruit cups.

sign in table

 here is the gift I made her with DH's help as I was running out of time and had to be gone a lot that week. He glued the wood together for me and I did the hardware. Now I want one!

inspiration for the industrial tray
key lime pie bar recipe
mason jar clip art

Chocolate Dipped Key Lime Pie Bars

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

Author: Kathleen Siegle

Serves: 16

Ingredients

Biscoff Crust

• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• ⅔ cup ground pecans
• 1 cup Biscoff Cookie crumbs
• ¼ cup sugar

Key Lime Pie Filling

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1½ teaspoons finely grated lime zest
• ⅔ cup fresh Key lime juice (you can also use regular limes)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
• Melted dark chocolate

Instructions

Biscoff Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a 8 x 8 inch baking dish with parchment or foil.
2. With a food processor, blend the pecans, biscoff cookies and sugar. Blend in butter until it resembles wet sand.
3. Press into the bottom of the baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Set crust aside to cool.

Key Lime Pie Filling

1. In a large bowl and using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and lime zest until it thickens (5 minutes).
2. Add condensed milk and beat on high for about 3 minutes.
3. On low, mix in the lime juice until just combined.
4. Pour on top of cookie crust and bake for 10 minutes until the middle is just set.
5. Put aside to cool and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
6. Once they have chilled for the preferred time, slice into 3-4 inch squares and dip the corners into dark chocolate. Sprinkle with sea salt and lime zest. Place them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and chill until the chocolate sets.