Bird's Nest Baby Shower

Hey Y'all :)  How was your weekend?  Mine was okay... I did nothing... and I mean absolutely nothing.  It was nice, but at the same time, I feel ready to do something this week!  I have a few small projects to finish up and I need to finish up on the caulking of my fireplace.  Oh the fireplace.  It has come to that stalled out point where it looks okay if you catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of your eye, so in natural Anna fashion, I've ignored this project for the anticipation of other ones.  Once I finish caulking it, I will add another couple coats of white paint...then I have to add molding to frame out the window next to it, so that wall will quit looking unbalanced, and then I have a phase II of this project that needs to be completed....I'm going to call it operation cover up the eye-sore TV.  I have a pretty nifty idea for doing this that I'm sure you will all be interested in hearing about.....so I guess I need to get on finishing that, huh. Well, I'm talking a bit about my fireplace today because I'm going to show you some photos from a few weeks ago when I hosted a baby shower.  My fireplace, although not even close to done, was featured in the decorating and pictures from this shower....just know, this isn't a finished product.  Consider this a sneak peek!


The shower was for my friend Julie who was expecting a new baby boy.  He is her 5th child, but she had nothing for a boy...so she really needed a shower.  I thought it turned out very classic.  I was trying to channel Julie's style which is earthy, clean lines and lots of neutral.  Her home looks like a pottery barn catalog.  I wonder if she'd ever let me take some pictures to share on here....because it's pretty amazing.  She has a couple of nests under glass cloches in her home and the thought of those stuck with me as I was envisioning what kind of decor to do for this shower.....then it just hit me, nest, eggs, birds.....new life....baby!  It was perfect!   Here's our table spread.  We used the colors green and blue with earthy touches and all white dishes. We had sandwiches, salad, two types of hummus, veggies, gummy cinnamon candy and red vines (Julie's favorite candies), and a whole spread of awesome dippers for the chocolate fountain....and a cake of course.

chocolate caramel covered pretzel sticks were for party favors. 

See my ugly chandelier? Well, I had the idea to add a nest to sit on top of it! 

I twisted and turned this big grapevine wreath (from hobby lobby) until I got it to sit evenly around my chandelier.  (man, I can't wait to get some new lighting for the kitchen).  Then I added little birds all around.  They all represent a member of her family....I love it :) 

This is what was set out on the entryway table.  This little table (which I'm going to paint a different color soon) is opposite from my little mudroom area in my teensy entryway.  I used a combination of pete moss, grapevine wreaths and baskets for most of the nests I made.  We stuck little birds all over the place too.  (see that red bird....it chirps.  It's motion activated.    I still hear chirping when I go in my closet, because my husband hid them in there thinking it would make it shut up....and now I can't find it.  I don't know why he didn't just throw it away...ha!)

My sofa table.  I made that runner for this shower (and I liked it so much, it stayed).  You can see my method for making a table runner here.   I also whipped up a simple little burlap canvas with his name on it, added a nest with a couple little eggs and the bird is actually a Christmas ornament I pulled out.  We had a onesie signing station, where people could sign the onesie or write a cute message with the fabric pens.  

I put this plant in the corner on a stool, with a sherpa blanket wrapped around the base of it to add texture.  Then I had these two snowy owl ornaments.  They didn't photograph well, but they were super cute in person.  I also added a little nest to the tree too.

This wreath I made for the shower.  I showed you guys how to make that here.  That hung on my big mirror that is just floating in the middle of the wall.  It used to be over the couch before we moved the couch to the center of the room.  I have plans on moving that mirror somewhere else, but it has to wait on other things to happen first.  

 I made this cute chevron banner out of drop cloth fabric, painter's tape and green paint.  Then we made (my friend with a silhouette helped me) the onesies for her to take home, and then hung them up on the banner.  I can do a post soon on how to make those.  They are super easy :).  Funny thing about this, I painted it at night and I purposely painted it very lightly, so you could see the "rustic" texture of the fabric through the paint....well, when I hung it up on the morning of the shower, I realized, too late, that the light from the window would be shining through the blotchy paint from behind.  It wasn't a good look.  It made it look very "home made".  If you were to repeat something like this....especially something that will hang in front of a window, I would make sure to really saturate your fabric with paint and make sure it's evenly painted.  

And here's a shot of my unfinished fireplace.  I painted the back of the surround with chalkboard paint.  it says "let's help Julie feather her nest" if you can't tell.  I tried my hand at chalkboard art, but am not the best at it....I still think it turned out super cute though.  The banner is made out of brown, cream and tan burlap, blue ribbon, green fabric for the letters...we ironed them on to the burlap with heat and bond.  

On the mantle (ignore the ugly TV)....we have a H.  My friend actually made the H.  It was super cute.  I don't have a shot of the other side of it, but it was reversible.  There was a different fabric on the other side.  The chevron is the same fabric I used on the table runner.  Then we have some random birds and nests, glass bottles and a couple of these glass wire holder things I have (they came from my husband's father) I also have a big white candlestick with a nest and a few eggs on it....and then my biggest nest.

I used a grapevine wreath, propped it up on an upside down bowl, and then filled it in with green and brown pete moss.  Next, I popped in real eggs (they were still cold from the fridge...ha!)  I grabbed a sharpie and personalized them.  Funny thing.  those eggs didn't end up sitting out for a super long time, so I ended up putting them back in the fridge and we ate them later.  I really loved how this nest turned out....with that one sweet little bird.  It was just perfect for Julie, seriously.  

Here's a super unfinished shot of the side of the fireplace.  This part has been completely covered over since.....but hey! You can't let the simple fact that your house is unfinished deter you from enjoying life and having friends over and doing a service to a great friend.  Nobody cared....least of all me :) 

In the kitchen with my co-host....it's an awful mess, but I've never shown you guys my kitchen, so I thought you might like a glimpse.  

The mama to be and I

She really likes those red vines :) 

  

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