Celebrating Karla's Baby Soon to Come!

It will not be that long until we have a baby in the family! Karla, my stepsister and lovely mom-to-be, is expecting.Not since Harleigh toddled around have we experienced all the joy that comes with having a child in our midst. Today I, along with four of Karla's dearest friends, hosted a baby shower. Despite the fact that said friends are all from out of town, it came together perfectly!

As I've shared in past posts, the nursery fabric is birdies in shades of brown and green. I used the fabrics on a number of items. And carried the theme of birds throughout. Burlap spoke to me for this event, perhaps because Karla is having a boy, and so choosing a fabric with a little bit of "toughness" seemed the right direction to take. I made this wreath, initially thinking I'd hang it on the front door of the hostess' house, but it found a home someplace else.It wound up on a wall over my trusty bedroom night stand (a piece of furniture that has gotten a ton of mileage for things other than bedside surface and storage) which I brought along for the hostess' foyer (newly married couple, new baby, new house = not a lot of furniture).There were store-bought flowers used for my various vintage baby planters, but at this time of year there's nothing like filling big ceramic pitchers with flowering tree branches.

For the napkins, I chose to sew squares of nursery fabric and fabric from my shower gift onto ripped muslin. Simple and pretty. And once laundered, a nice keepsake for the newly expanded family.

Plain paper cups got a dose of fabric squares; even cups have to wear the theme!
For outdoors, the directional signage leading to the site was birds taken from the nursery fabric, projected onto foamcore, then cut out, painted, and given wire legs. A bright yellow balloon was also a cue as to where to turn.
In a crepe myrtle at the entrance walkway to the house, I tucked a bird and nest. A single blue egg as a reminder that we've got a little boy on the way!!
At a church council meeting last Sunday (where every month a different council member is in charge of supplying lunch and opening the meeting with a devotional), Charles set out the plastic utensils, and as he taped a fork, spoon and knife to each cup holding the utensils, said he'd had a brain child the night before as to how to put out the utensils without putting them utility-side up (which means everyone touching the part you put in your mouth). Thank you, Charles, for this idea. Put that to good use! (Used the same fabric from the cups and napkins, paired with the burlap).
Here are some of my vintage planters. I love finding these in thrift stores!!


And for my gift to Karla, I truly wanted to do something handmade. She and her husband Lynn are two people who appreciate art and craft; their home is BEAUTIFULLY decorated with meaningful works of art. For Baby Bean (as the little one has come to be known), I made this mobile. My inspiration came from Dottie Angel, one of my all-time favorite blogs. I bought an old lampshade, tore off the shade, leaving the metal frame. Wrapped the frame in ripped fabric (the same fabric that I then used on the napkins, cups and utensil holders), covered a branch in burlap, adding buttons and fabric flowers, topping it off with a felt bird. I have a ways to go to become adept at felt work, but I know that Karla appreciates the love and care I took making it.