a winter {penguin} baby shower

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to host a baby shower for my sister-in-law who is due in less than a month.  Since, it's not every day that I host a party, and never had I hosted any sort of shower, I was thrilled to seek inspiration and bring to life such a party for this lovely lady.  

Since it is January, and the weather is forecasting snow all over the map, I had to capitalize on the season. 

But of course, with snow, there should be penguins!

Penguins, penguins, penguins!

ice blocks and flurries of fake snow centered the table,

with decorative penguins

and edible penguins scattered about.

Husband made these little guys.

Aren't they sweet? And him, too?

He complained when I asked him to clean the bathroom,

but jumped on making edible penguins.

He can't resist a session of creativity.

There were chocolate and vanilla cupcakes topped with fluffy cream cheese frosting

and plenty of snowflake sugar cookies, too.

This black stemware was a must,

and I have my Mom's best friend to thank.

Now, if I could only get myself a set of 12 or 18!

I'm becoming my mother...but black is SO versatile!

The candles added to the winter ambiance.

I had such a fun time making this banner.  I just loved making the tiny snowflakes and the wee little 

paper-pieced penguin in the center.

It was inspired by one of Brooklynn's children's books.

The papa penguin on the mantle is my new favorite winter friend.  I eyed him at the store for at least a couple months, and finally snatched him up for $11.99.  Unfortunately, he only had two arms for about a day.  The kids were after him like a new puppy.

I hung glistening snowflakes from the light fixture above the table

to add to the snowy theme.

When I saw these pails, I had to have them for the shower.

I searched high and low for 22 of these white Target pails.

I had three people purchase them for me, and even had help from a friend in Arizona!

Filling them was the tricky party, but I finally settled on hot cocoa and marshmallows and a couple chocolaty treats.

We played a few games, including this

icebreaker game...

I think I made a few dumb jokes about the ladies preparing to get fast and furious,

and they didn't know what to make of me.  But by the end, an icebreaker it was.

We played the 'Dirty Diaper Game'

and the 'Name that 'Baby' Song game,' where you name the song and the artist of the song with 'baby' in the title.  Oldies are perfect for livening up the group. Ice, Ice, Baby, and Hit Me Baby One More Time are sure to spur a sing-along.

And of course, we showered the honoree with plenty of gifts and love.

It was a lovely afternoon and plenty fun to host!

Maybe in another post, I'll tell you all the things I learned not to do when preparing for the big day.

xx