Hold on to your hats because today’s adorable baby shower is sure to blow you away!  Up, Up and Away, that is!  When I first received a note from Jessica Harris about this event… I knew it would be good!  We’ve had the pleasure to ooh and awe over Jessica’s cakes in the past (see them here).  She is an incredible cake designer who also happens to be part of a family of artistic women!  So what happens when a talented graphic designer (Kim Harris), cake designer (Jessica Harris) and photographer (Jamie Zanotti) come together to welcome a new baby girl into the family?  An amazingly sweet and thoughtful event full of charming DIY touches.  Based on the baby’s hot air balloon nursery, prepare to be swept away by this Up, Up and Away Baby Shower!

Kim Harris, creator of the invitation and graphics, was kind enough to share some of her thoughts with us about this adorable shower.

“Jamie and I decided on the theme for the baby shower based on what Ashley (the mom-to-be) wanted to do in the nursery, hot air balloons.  Since this was her first girl we wanted everything to be soft and vintage and girly, thus the reason for all the pink!  With a little vintage blue added in here and there!”

More from Kim…

“I knew I wanted to have hanging hot air balloon decorations that had a strong impact but I couldn’t find anything online that wasn’t expensive.  I was looking through Ashley’s nursery inspiration board and she had saved these tissue paper lanterns from Martha Stewart.  I decided I would make the hot air balloon decorations based on a different version of these, using pages from a book instead of tissue paper, which I thought would look a little more vintage.  I used paper lanterns for the base of the balloons, scrap book paper for the hot air balloon basket and bakers twine to tie it all together.  Cheap, fun, cute and easy!”

Okay, can we pause for a second and talk about this cake?  I absolutely love the striped details around the bottom and the detail work on the hot air balloons is perfect!  Staggered in height and intermixed with clouds, these hot air balloons are oh-so-charming!

The pink and white striped ‘tablecloth’ is actually a twin-sized sheet, found on sale at Target.  Such a clever way to save money without skimping on the pretty!

A few last thoughts from Kim:

“This shower was truly DIY – we did everything ourselves, from the cloud cookie favors to the suckers and sucker stand to the invitations and signage and food.  The beautiful cake by Jess was truly the cherry on top that tied everything together.  What a talented family we have!!”

I could not agree more!  A huge thank you to all three of these talented ladies for sharing this delightful Up, Up and Away Baby Shower with us today!  It’s absolutely dreamy!  You can get the full scoop on Jessica’s hot air balloon cake on the Jessicakes Blog.     

Vendors & Credits:
Cake:  Jessica Harris of Jessicakes
Invitation & Graphics:  Kim Harris
Photography:  Jamie Zanotti

I’ve been dying to share this shower with you for months!  You may remember that back in JUNE, I mentioned that my family was hosting a baby for my sister who was expecting her first child.  My sweet little niece, Addison, was born in July and is now almost four months old!  It’s about time for me to share this shower!  It debuted earlier today on Hostess with the Mostess (yay!) and I’m thrilled to share some additional images and details with you now.

For those of you who are loyal Half Baked readers, you might recall how excited I was about my little sister’s wedding.  Numerous inspiration boards, a bridal shower, photos from the actual day… well fast forward almost two years and my sister was becoming a mommy!  Of course we were going to throw her a shower!  It was a fun collaboration of efforts between four of us, all living in different cities.  My older sister, the two grandmothers-to-be and myself.  Planning everything from afar can be tricky but with countless phone calls, emails and photos exchanged, we somehow managed to pull it off.  Best of all, we were thrilled to celebrate Ashley and welcome Baby Bray with this Elephants on Parade Baby Shower.

After much discussion, we decided to base the theme on the baby bedding for the nursery.  It’s a fun and vibrant combination of elephants and polka dots.  We wanted the shower to be inspired by the nursery but with our own modern twist.  The color scheme was black and white with pops of pink.  We incorporated numerous different patterns with big dots, little swiss dots and stripes.  And of course – oodles of elephants!!

I designed the invitation and we went from there.  The elephants, with their long trunks and polka dot ears, are my rendition of the elephant on the crib bedding.  The back of the invite featured black and white polka dots with a pink stripe reading ‘Welcome Baby Bray’.  (My sister kept the baby’s first name, Addison, a secret until her birth.)

Guest arrived to a front porch lined with black, white and pink flag bunting and a welcome sign featuring the whimsical black elephants.  Little did they know, but those black elephants were on parade inside the house!  From the desserts to the presents and games, elephants everywhere!

Cupcakes were topped with charming fondant toppers by Brittany at Edible Details who recreated our elephant and polka dots perfectly!  Aren’t they just adorable?  My favorite picture from the whole shower is my sister holding a cupcake over her baby bump!  Only my sister would be willing to put up with me zooming in to get just the right picture!

My older sister, Jennifer, crafted a coordinating diaper cake which created a playful centerpiece for the living room along with much discussion about it’s fabulousness!  We had such a hard time getting a good picture of it but let’s just say that many of the guests thought it was a real cake!  Additional flag bunting wrapped the front table where guests dropped off their gifts while signing the baby book and grabbing a matching name tag.  A plush toy elephant and soft blocks, custom made by Little Sidekick in funky black and white fabrics, added an extra touch of decor and a gift for my niece to keep!

Of course, I designed the cake with it’s sassy cupcake liner flower. {A tutorial on how to make this flower is coming your way soon…}  Additional desserts included meringue cookies, cream puffs, mint truffles and cheesecake shooters (recipe here). Lime Tea Punch and lemon water was served to wash it all down.

To help balance the sugar rush, we served up portions of mixed nuts and white cheddar popcorn in paper cones.  Baby Addison’s Grandpa even got into the shower spirit and made custom stands for the popcorn cones.  Like I said, this was a team planning event!

It was such a great day, showering Ashley with love and well wishes as we welcomed her sweet baby girl.  A huge thank you to Jennifer, Sheila and Sunny for all of their help with this shower.  From the countless planning emails to the shopping, baking, sewing and crafting…  I think we make a pretty good team!

Thanks to Jenn at Hostess with the Mostess for featuring our Elephants on Parade Baby Shower!  You can see and read more about it in her post HERE.

VENDORS & CREDITS:
Party Styling:  Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Invitation & Paper Goods:  Half Baked on Etsy
Fondant Cupcake Toppers:  Edible Details
Decorated Sugar Cookies:  The Cookie Jar
Diaper Cake:  Jennifer Niehoff
Plush Elephant & Baby Blocks:  Little Sidekick
Cake:  Carrie Sellman of Half Baked

I’ve been dying to share this event with you for months!  It debuted yesterday on Hostess with the Mostess (yay!) and I’m thrilled to share some additional images and details with you today.  My husband and I hosted a co-ed baby shower for our friends, Ted and Meredith, in honor of their newly adopted son, Colin.  Ted and Meredith anxiously waited for Colin’s birth and we were all thrilled when he officially became their son.  We were honored to welcome Baby Colin with this modern Milkaholic Sip & See baby shower.

‘Milkaholic’ just seemed fitting for a Sip & See considering how much time a newborn spends eating!  That meant baby bottles, milk and cow print.  Yes, cow print!  (I was slightly nervous about the cow print but it stepped up nicely into this mature and modern role).  The color scheme was black and white with pops of turquoise.   Swiss dots and stripes were used throughout to add a fresh and modern feel.

I designed the invitation and let it set the tone for the party decor.  Sleek and modern yet baby themed was the intent.  The Milkaholic baby bottle became a logo that was used throughout the party.   The back of the invite featured cow print and a turquoise “I ♥ MILK’ stripe that matched custom address labels from Minted.

With this being a co-ed event, we wanted to keep the decor more modern and less traditional ‘baby’.  To create a unique backdrop for the dessert table, I painted a canvas to match the party invite.  Black and white patterned bunting was hung along the wall above the painting.   Mini bottles were filled with milk and given sleek milk labels.  The bottles were stacked in tall vases on ice and also mixed into the tub of adult beverages.  The theme even permeated the coffee station with mini milk bottles serving up the cream and sugar.  The Milkaholic logo was updated to include the baby’s name and then framed for additional decoration.  White hydrangeas were arranged in tall cylinder vases tied with black satin ribbon.

We wanted to provide an array of miniature desserts so that  guests could sample several different items.  Delicious sweets from Caramel  Swirls were served including their Little Treasures (milk caramel and shortbread cookie dipped in chocolate – yum!), Cafe Caramel Cookies and Espresso Brownies.  Adorable custom sugar cookies were created by The Cookie Jar to match the theme.  Sweeties by Kim created chocolate-covered Oreos to match as well.  Of course, I designed the cake!  Additional desserts included meringue cookies, white chocolate pretzels, cream puffs and cheesecake shots.  Cold milk shots were served to wash it all down (along with some adult beverages and coffee).

So many delicious treats! And with the boys around… we made a serious dent in this dessert table!

Activities for a co-ed baby event can be tricky.   Not wanting the male guests to feel awkward, I opted for non-organized activities that would still be fun and entertaining.  Guests were encouraged to write humorous thoughts onto diapers to provide Ted and Meredith a little chuckle later on.  The Diaper Thoughts station gave the men an avenue to showcase their best and most clever diaper humor!  A Well  Wishes station encouraged guests to write something sentimental on keepsake cards which were then placed into a glass bubble bowl. Of course, the main activity was oohing and awing over the guest of honor, Baby Colin!

Guests were given a small box filled with ‘Kisses from Colin’. Hershey Kisses with patterned labels inside a white box wrapped with coordinating paper and tags.

Everyone had a lovely time meeting Baby Colin and indulging in some sweets.  We could not be more thrilled for Ted and Meredith and were honored to welcome their son Colin into this world!

A very special thank you to all of the amazing vendors involved in this modern Milkaholic Sip & See!

Vendors & Credits:
Party Styling & Decor: Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Invitation & Paper Goods: Half Baked on Etsy
Address Labels: Minted
Decorated Sugar Cookies: The Cookie Jar
Chocolate Covered Oreos: Sweeties by Kim
Caramel Desserts & Espresso Brownies: Caramel Swirls
Cake: Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Painted Canvas:  Original by Carrie Sellman.  Duplicates now available for purchase at djDecor.
Milk Bottles: DIY found HERE