Baby Chalkboard Updates: Round 2

A while ago I wrote a long post about the monthly chalkboard updates I did for our first son, Townes.  When we had our second son, Hayes (who also goes by Hondo), I wanted to continue the tradition, but also changing it up a little to make it his.  I was also much busier, since I had a toddler running around and a newborn to take care of, so doing two per-month for holidays and milestones was a bit much.  This time around I consolidated my holiday themes into the monthly update when I could instead.

However, the main difference with Hayes' is that instead of using a chair, I drew Hayes right into the picture.  I accomplished this by using the same chalkboard "wall" I had made for Townes during the renovation, and instead of leaning it up against a wall, I laid it down on the floor and then put Hayes down right on it.  Then I photographed him from above.

As always, some of the designs came out better than others, and you can tell it took me a couple months to get into a groove of what works. One big thing that changed was the kind of chalk I used, I found the most fantastic, high pigment chalk from Crayola at Michael's and it changed a lot.  The colors were so much brighter, had more depth and I was able to really expand my creative range.

Its hard to choose favorites, because so many of them are just wonderful memories of my little guy at that age, but my top four are certainly seven months (May/Cinco de Mayo), eight months (June/Father's Day), eleven months (September/Where the Wild Things Are) and his birthday.

My final thoughts on this method are to remember that the chalk will smudge, so be ready to snap your photo the second you put your baby down.  Normally for that reason, I had an extra set of hands (Chanel's) around to help.  I would stand on a chair to get the shot from above, and she would place him down and get him to giggle.  But once he rolled over, we were done.  Also, keep in mind that the little one will get chalk on whatever they are wearing - the high pigment chalk can be a bit harder to get out of light colored clothing - so you've been warned.

For more photo tips and editing (remember to adjust your white balance when you edit) - see the original post about Baby Chalkboards!

Alice's Baby Shower: Looking Back

Next Saturday I am throwing another baby shower, this time for one of my very best friends, Katie.  Her husband, Clay, has been friends with my husband, Aaron, since they were in high school (so like 20 years ago haha).  Katie and I hit it off the moment we met when Aaron and I started dating - and the rest is history.  As I write this, her sweet baby boy (dog-baby) Jackson, is snoozing with my three pups on the bed (how is there even room for me?).

In any case, I am so excited about showering Clay and Katie on Saturday and it has me thinking back to last summer when I showered my friend Alice, who was expecting her first baby girl, Betsy, just ten days after I was expecting our sweet Hondo.

Alice is as southern-girl as they come.  She couldn't have been more perfect to have a baby girl and the matching sweet southern, pink shower to celebrate her.  So from the get-go with Alice, there was no question that pink would be front and center, right along with bows, and frills, and sparkles and anything cute.

The Invitations

After scouring for hours, and changing my mind 15 times, I finally chose this adorable "Mommy to Bee" invitation from Minted.com.  The hardest part with this shower was choosing a theme, besides pink.  Chanel and I had considered a "Cute as a Button" theme, a "Twinkle Twinkle" theme ( so. much. glitter.), the list goes on.  In any case, we just kept coming back to this invitation.  The colors seemed so perfect for Alice and Betsy.  They were girly and soft, but popped with that navy accent.  Very girly and traditional, but a little modern. It just fit. 

To keep the whimsical, girly feel that we liked about the invite so much, we chose a mint envelope from The Paper Source, lined it with a sweet polka dot paper, and then dressed up the labels with perfectly coordinated washi tape.

The Activities

Baby showers can be really hard, I will be honest.  I am not a huge fan of the kitschy games that make everyone feel kind of awkward (I'm looking at you, Mystery-Poop-Diaper Game Inventor). At a party like a baby or bridal shower, its likely that not everyone knows each other, they just all know the guest of honor.  So games that require everyone to really let their inhibitions down and do something extremely silly can be rough for people who air on the side of awkward (like me). 

My goal with the games for Alice's shower were to be things that people could 1) enjoy without all the attention on them, 2) might produce something for the momma-to-be to keep, and 3) were short, but funny.

What we came up with was a due date calendar, Pin-the-bow on the Baby Alice, and Baby Price is Right.  I even was able to order these cute customized signs from Minted!

The Due Date Calendar was simple to put together: we got a pretty wall calendar from Paper Source, a set of pink pens (different shades) and set it up on the wall.  Each guest was asked to sign their name and write a message to Alice on the date they predicted Besty would arrive.  This game checked all my boxes!  Each guest could do it on their own, it functioned as a guest book and a gift for Alice (she got a whole calendar), and only took each person a minute.

Pin the Bow on the Baby Alice was also easy to prep and easy to do.  I had Alice's mom send me a baby photo of Alice, then I emailed the image to my local Staples and had them produce a black and white 2' x 3' engineering print for 5 dollars! I hung it on the wall with it corresponding sign, and then hung a baggie full of tiny bows with adhesive (they were from the scrap-booking section at Joann Fabrics) next to the poster. There was no spinning and blind-folding to be completely transparent.  If your friends are game, I'm sure it would have been cute, but all of our guests just happily decorated baby Alice with adorable bows and Alice got to take it home.

Finally, while we were all eating, I passed out the custom cards I had made for our Price is Right game with some pens.  We uploaded a slideshow of all the items to my TV (don't ask me how I hooked up my laptop - I called my brother and he talked me through it) and everyone made their guesses while we ate and chatted and tallied up their guesses.  As always with the Price is Right, the winner was the one who was closest without going over.

The Menu & Decor

I had envisioned a beautiful outdoor brunch on the back porch at wood tables with pink and white table runners, but the reality was it was July in Central Texas so it was actually 105 degrees outside and no one wanted any part of that.  So we served the food buffet style on the kitchen island, and added extra seating to the family room for people to be comfortable, play the games and let Alice open gifts.

I was able to stick to my menu though, despite the awful heat.  When I do a party that is celebrating someone specific like this, I try and design the menu around their favorite foods and then tailor them to the occasion and theme.  Since the party was a southern brunch, Alice's favorite foods were easy to incorporate.  I am about to let you all in on the crazy that is how I organize for a party - below is a menu snapshot from my Excel spreadsheet. 

My spreadsheets for any given party have three tabs: guests, menu, and decor and to-do.  On the Guests tab, I have each guests name, address, RSVP (# attending), and then a column for their gift. At the bottom of the RSVP list, it tallies the total number of guests I am expecting and then when the party is over I can send the sheet along with the guest of honor so they have address and gifts written down to make Thank You Notes easier.  Then the Menu Tab has a column for each food item I am going to make, the ingredients I need to purchase for that item, and then a servings cell, so I know how much to make.

To make this brunch quintessentially southern, I chose to make mini fried chicken and waffles, mini biscuits served with jam or white pepper gravy, spinach feta crescent rolls, a caprese salad, pimento cheese deviled eggs, and fruit salad.  For desert I made trifle parfait cups, lemon and raspberry sorbet, and pink ombre Italian Rainbow cookies.  As of right now, I haven't written posts and recipes for all of the things I made, but I promise I will as opportunities arise to make them!  It's most likely that those Rainbow Cookies will appear again soon, everyone always asks for them. 

Finally, the decor.  I went simple and pretty for this.  Shades of pink and white tissue blooms on the ceilings in the kitchen and family room.  Pink crinkle table confetti strewn among the serving platters and gold glitter stars atop the toothpicks in the chicken and waffles.