This GENDER NEUTRAL “YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE” THEMED BABY SHOWER was submitted by Valerie Gimre of Charming Touch Parties.
There are so many fun things about this sunshine baby shower! I just love all of the party ideas shown. This would be a really cute gender neutral first birthday party!
A few of my favorite elements about this celebration are:
The chevron print pennant banner strung on chevron print ribbon
The fondant polka dot and ruffle flower cake
The favor boxes adorned with burlap, chevron ribbon, and buttons
and MORE!
Styling and Design: Charming Touch Parties
Photography: Megan Kelly Photography
Cake and Cake Pops: Bake It
Catering: Moveable Feast (located in Geneva, IL)
Flowers: Floral Wonder (located in Geneva, IL)
Baby Celebrity Game: Tabitoo Designs
Baby Carriage Centerpiece: A Pregnancy Story
Sunshine Onesies: Her Romantic Mind
Sunshine art work: Prairie Sweet Boutique
Yellow chevron wooden spoons: Angie Hearts Jared
Printables: Ogp Design Studio
Invitation: Giggles and Grace Design
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Ribbon Burlap / Jute Ribbon Scallop Circle Paper Punch 2-sided White Picture Frame Tissue Pom Poms Striped Paper Straws Wooden Utensils Honeycomb Tissue Flowers Rock Candy Swizzle Sticks Lollipop / Treat Sticks White Favor Boxes
This is what Valerie said about planning the party- “I was asked to style a gender neutral baby shower for a Momma-to-be, with the shower date planned for mid-February. Knowing that this is typically just about the WORST weather month of the year in frigid Chicago, we decided to brighten up with the mood with the fun and always cheerful “You Are My Sunshine” theme. It’s gender neutral, cheerful and modern. So fun. As for colors, well…there’s just something neat about yellow and gray together. It’s such a fun, cheerful, modern combination. That was our starting point. The guests were treated to a lovely catered lunch, lemonade , champagne with fresh berries and a table full of delicious sweet treats. It was a lovely, “SUNNY” celebration!”
This is what Jen said about planning the party- “Once upon a time a beautiful mother decided it was time to add another sweet Little One to her darling family of 5. ‘What a little nose she’ll have. What little ears she’ll have. What little eyes she’ll have. But what big hearts she’ll fill.’
Inspired by the classic fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, we set out to help our friend and mother-to-be ,Vivian, celebrate and welcome her new Little One by hosting a baby shower in her honor. Vivian has been busy decorating baby Samantha’s nursery in vintage Little Red Riding Hood since the moment she found out she was expecting a girl, so we knew this shower theme would be perfect.
Anders Ruff beautifully adapted & customized their Little Red Riding Hood invitationto fit our theme, including a baby registry enclosure card. Isn’t Little Red Riding Hood just precious? I love the faux bois background & the darling woodland details. Of course guests were invited to the “Woods”to join in the celebration, but not without some special advice! “What a great sweet tooth you should bring! The better to eat all the tiny desserts with!”
Because of rainy Washington weather, we brought the ‘outside’, in, creating a small piece of the forest right in the living room. The main dessert area was flanked with large artificial trees. Tall vessels were filled with pinecones & long willowy branches. Accents of moss, wood, pinecones and berries were used throughout. Lots of natural elements like bird nests, bundled sticks, large and small apple baskets and such were used to add interest to the display.
We wanted Little Red Riding Hood to have a strong presence at the shower. Anders Ruff enlarged the sweet image of Little Red for printing (we printed it at Costco in the 16×20 size for less than $6) and spray painted a gorgeous IKEA frame in a coordinating brown ‘woodsy’ color.
Lovely whimsical images of Little Red, squirrels, mushrooms & woodland flowers (from the Anders Ruff Little Red Riding/Woodland themed printable collection) added an extra measure of cuteness to our custom bunting, cupcake toppers, favor tags & food labels.
Scrumptious mini desserts from Celebrity Cake Studio were scattered throughout our woodland style tablescape on bark edged wood rounds. Guests had a hard time deciding on their favorite. Was it the petit fours, the mini berry tarts, eclairs or mini cupcakes?
Beautiful and equally delicious gourmet chocolate covered caramel apples hand-dipped & customized to coordinate with the feel and colors of the shower were shipped in from Amanda at Pretzels Pleaze. (If you’ve ever wondered if caramel apples will still taste good when shipped, I’m here to tell you that these were to-die-for. Guests were amazed!)
Custom cookies are always a treasured take home favor as well as a fun way to tie in the decor with the desserts. Rollin’ in Dough designed these beautiful cookies to coordinate with Anders Ruff‘s printable designs. Aren’t they stunning?
Additional palate pleasers filled footed bowls and cake stands. Custom candy bar wrappers designed by Anders Ruff brightened up Hershey bars. And, mini Anders Ruff circle labels dressed up raspberry lime yogurt parfaits.
There were chocolate dipped strawberries, cranberry-orange scones & chocolate Lindt Truffle cupcakes with the most beautiful & intricately detailed fondant work by Sachiko of Mimi Cafe Union NYC.
If the cupcakes weren’t adorable enough, the detail on her cake topper was enough to have guests talking for hours. I highly recommend Mimi Cafe Union NYC! In addition to the beautiful Little Red cake topper, Andies Specialty Sweets sent the most exquisite chocolate toadstools, edible sugar ferns & lady bugs which I used to detail our chocolate cake. (We were hoping the chocolate shavings on the cake helped it look ‘woodland’ style with the sugar ferns and toadstools growing out of the wood!)
The beverage table was decorated with additional outdoor elements. Pinecones and berries helped bring in that “woodsy” feel and also provide a pop of color. Party cups were decorated with 2″ circle logos from the Anders Ruff printable party collection, and a sweet little printable paper bunting was hung.
Wooden utensils are all the rage. We loved these from Whimsical Printables‘ supply shop.
In addition to our low-cal berry limade punch, water bottles were dress up with coordinating labels from Anders Ruff & darling red striped straws from Smidge & Pinch. I love the “little one” party flag detailing on the straws.
Guests were able to leave some “Sweet Little Wishes” for the mom-to-be. Using the adorable hang tags created by Anders Ruff, each guest wrote a personal note and hung it to the tree branches using clothes pins.
Our mom-to-be was spoiled with several precious coordinating Little Red Riding Hood custom clothing and accessory items, inspired by Anders Ruff‘s printable package.
How sweet are the custom items designed by Hang to Dry Appliqueand sewn bySweet Stuff Creations & Stinky D(inspired by Anders Ruff‘s printables)? The attention to detail is incredible! Notice the cute ruffle bum on the onesie. So sweet! The darling toadstool headband and also the uniquely cute bunting headband were hand-crafted by the talented Giddy Up & Grow.
Michele of Sweet Threads Clothing Company designed two gorgeous onesies which she hand-stitched for our little momma. How cute is the little squirrel? The vintage Little Red Riding Hood fabric used is also adorable. Birdie Baby Boutique created a custom headband to coordinate with the onesies. Isn’t it perfect? Such darling fabric and cute detailing. I love how each designer approached the theme and their designs in a unique way. Vivian will have several adorable wardrobe options for her little Samantha.
A Little Red Riding Hood party would not be complete without a basket full of goodies. Each guest was given one of these darling mini baskets from Whimsical Printables‘ shop, embellished with gingham fabric, a cute little Anders Ruff “thank you” tag & filled to the brim with gummy berries & watermelons from Oh! Nuts.
Guests had a great time celebrating this beautiful mother to be. … And they all lived happily ever after.”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: White 2-sided Frame Ribbon Striped Paper Straws Apothecary Jars Cupcake Liners Wooden Forks Lollipop / Treat Sticks Cordial Cups
Here’s what Kate said about planning the party- “It’s a good thing you like the color pink Mommy, ’cause you’re making A LOT of pink things!!” (Said my sweet little Olivia yesterday as I was working on this table) And WHOA was she right!! It was a lot of pink!!! ;) But it wasn’t TUTU much because they’re HAVING A GIRL!!
And how do you celebrate your first little baby girl? You splash pink decorations all over the room, gather friends and indulge on PINK desserts.
(that’s where I come in) ;)
The expectant mama has a real passion for dance and loves Angelina Ballerina. They wanted sweet, pink, ballet themed yumminess on a table and that’s just what they got! I had SO much fun putting together this table because as my sweet Olivia pointed out, I LOVE pink! I will admit however that the tutu table skirt nearly killed me. I might think twice before working with that much tulle again. **think static electricity overload, yards and yards of tulle and one little innocent baker (ME) caught in the middle of it all** But other than that it was “tutu” much fun.
Big thank you to Amanda of Amanda’s Parties To Go for supplying her NEW adorable Ballerina collection. It added just the right touch!! Check out her shop. She is AMAZING!!!! The table would definitely not be the same without her artwork!!”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Lollipop / Treat Sticks White Paper Doilies Cupcake Wrappers Ribbon
This charming BABY ANIMAL BABY SHOWER was submitted by Avastie Medina. I love the bright, cheery green and yellow color scheme!
Here are a few of my favorite elements of this animal themed baby shower:
The petit fours made to look like toy blocks
The mason jars filled with lemons and used as vases
The baby animal onesie cookies
The honeycomb tissue flower backdrop
and MORE!
Green checkered tablecloths — Amazing Celebrations
Baby Blocks and Mommy to be cake – Bliss Pastry in Deland, Fl
Paper Goods, Banner and Signs – Alicia from Designgirl on ESTY
Favors Animal Cookies – Cookie Cousin – Edgewater, Fl
White bud vases and White Oval Tub- Weddingstar.com
Rental Tables and Chairs – Rentland Orlando, Fl
Caricature Artsist – Rob Smith Jr.
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Honeycomb Tissue Flowers Pom Ribbon Milk Bottles Baby Animal Carousel Baby Animal Banner
This is what Avastie said about the party- “This was a Baby Celebration for my sister Naomi. It was held in Orlando, Fl at my parents’ club house. I wanted to create a fun space for a co-ed shower to include the men and make them part of the shower. Not so frilly but still pretty. Although we knew my sister was having a boy, I wanted to use bright colors since the shower was outdoors and the weather was warm and sunny. It was a wonderful day. We played three games and also had a caricature artist there. I did not want to throw the typical baby shower. I wanted to make it a little different, where the men could actually have fun as well.”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Honeycomb Tissue Flowers Pom Ribbon Milk Bottles Baby Animal Carousel Baby Animal Banner
This is what Maja said about planning the party- “This Baby Shower was a very special event for my client who is awaiting the birth of her first grandchild. She had the pleasure of throwing this baby shower for her daughter-in-law. As the gender is unknown, we chose to use neutral colours.
The theme of the Baby Carriage was chosen, with gorgeous red and soft teal and soft aqua tones to complement. Izabela from Bela Designs is amazing at what she does and came up with the perfect design to set the tone for the Baby Shower. She then created all the labels, backdrop, favour box stickers, buntings and personalised chocolates for the event.
I set up the main dessert table, as well as a drink station and a favour box stand. The drink dispenser contained a mocktail with fresh strawberries made by my client for the event. The cake, cupcakes and cake pops were made by Cakes by Josephine and complemented the theme perfectly. I wanted something special for the macarons made by Macarahrah. They featured little Baby Carriages made from fondant. The baby carriage cookies were created by My Sweet Obsession and were a gorgeous red colour that just popped on the table and complemented the whole “Baby Carriage” theme. The whole table was hit!”
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Honeycomb Tissue Balls Apothecary Jars Ribbon Rock Candy Swizzle Sticks Whirly Pops Lollipop Sticks Striped Paper Straws Milk Bottles Cupcake Liners Popcorn Boxes
Gender Neutral Aqua & Red Baby Carriage Baby Shower
Sea Side + Beach, Gender Neutral Baby Shower
Clock Themed Reveal Gender Baby Shower
Baby Animal Themed Baby Shower
Little Red Riding Hood Birthday Party
Little Red Riding Hood Fairytale 1st Birthday Party
Little Red Riding Hood Birthday Party!
Little Red Riding Hood Themed Birthday Party
Pink Ballerina 4th Birthday Party
Butterfly Themed Baby Shower
Pink Giraffe Baby Shower Party
Vintage Pink Baby Shower
Monster Themed Baby Shower
Circus Themed Baby Shower
Stork Special Delivery + Airline Themed Baby Shower
Gender Neutral “You are my Sunshine” Themed Baby Shower
Shake Rattle & Roll Baby Shower