Much Ado About Somethin: wish tree

Friday, March 20, 2015

Baby Shower Activity: Make a "Wish Tree"

I'm not into most baby shower games. What pregnant lady wants her friends to guess how big her waist is (Lord help the person who goes way over...) or taste candy bars in diapers? I'd much rather do something that will last forever!

I was tossing around a few ideas for shower activities - it was between three things:

- writing messages on diapers to make the new parents smile during those late-night changes
- decorating onesies
- a wish tree

I decided to go for the wish tree because it's seriously one of the sweetest things ever. We made one for my friend Laci at her baby shower last year and everyone loved it. These two special little girls needed one too. Here's how it works!

Everyone writes down wishes or things they are excited for the girls to experience as they grow up on a leaf. They can range from kisses from their puppy, their first school dance, to cuddles with mommy...anything goes! This is nice because people can do it at their own pace while you're eating or chatting, and do as many (or few) as they'd like. Later, everyone reads their wishes for the mom-to-be and puts them on the tree to be hung in the nursery.

You can either reach out to family members and other good friends who aren't able to attend before the shower to include their wishes, or leave some space on the tree for others to add to later. We decided to do a mixture - Barb's sisters and nieces sent in some wishes ahead of time that we were able to share at the shower, and her husband and other friends will fill out their own later!

To make this, you'll need:

A large frame
White paper
Tape
Acrylic paint (1 color for the background, 1 color for the tree)
Assorted paint samples (from Lowe's or Home Depot)

First, you'll need to cut out the leaves. Barb sent a picture of their nursery a few weeks ago, so thankfully I knew what colors to pick out when standing in front of the paint sample section. You could do all one color, different shades of a color, or a mix like I did.

(Funny story...I was really uncomfortable getting all the paint samples at Lowes. I know they're free, but I felt like I was stealing! 3 people asked me if needed help and I told them I was just browsing...as I discretely stuffed paint samples into my purse. I even held them up and pretended to compare them. I'm a dork.)

Then, plan out your tree. There will need to be enough branches to hold lots of leaves, but few enough so there's room for the leaves to live. Take the back of the frame out of the glass and tape white paper together so it covers the entire surface. Sketch out your tree with a marker on the paper.

Owen photo-bomb'd the picture!

Lay our your leaves to make sure there's enough room for them to live without feeling "scrunched" so you know if you need to adjust the limbs.

Now it's time to start painting!

Pick out your background color and apply 2 coats on the board of the frame. Once it's completely dry, cut around the tree you drew on the paper and place on the board. Cut away piece by piece, drawing what you see under that place (this helps keep the proportions you just double checked with leaves!).

Then fill out your outline and let dry!

Here's a look at the (almost) finished product (they still have to add more leaves from additional family and friends) in their nursery! Looks pretty great, doesn't it?

What are some of your favorite baby shower activities?

Monday, March 9, 2015

A twin baby shower

This weekend, I hosted a baby shower for my friend Barb, who is having twin girls in 6 weeks (or sooner!). I love cooking and making things, so I was excited to spend my last bit of maternity leave working on a special day for a good friend!

The shower was at 10:30, so I decided to serve brunch. I made sausage and cheese breakfast casseroles, banana bread, yogurt parfaits, fruit salad, mini chocolate cupcakes and chocolate dipped pretzels. (Check back for future blogs about how I made the diaper cake and chocolate covered giraffe pretzels!)

I also had a "Cravings Corner" full of all the foods Barb has been craving. Some of her cravings over the last 7 months have been...

Honey Bunches of Oats with raisins and 2% milk
Strawberries
Diet Caffeine Free Coke
Cheeseburgers
Donuts
Chips with Ranch Dip

It was a huge hit with Barb and the rest of the guests. Who knew burgers went so well with brunch?

Since the party consisted of groups of people from lots of different "friend circles", I decided to make name tags. Sticky-backed "My Name Is..." name tags wouldn't do, so I decided to make some tiny onesie tags for everyone to wear.

I drew a onesie on a piece of paper, cut it out, and traced the template onto three shades of pink paper. Then I traced a slightly smaller version of the onesie on white paper and taped them on each other. All that was left was writing names on them and hanging them on the clothesline!

I hung a line beside the cravings corner table with two newborn onesies and the name tags (held by clothespins) so everyone could find their tag as they came in. They attached them to their tops using the clothespin! Super cute.

We had a great time chatting, eating, opening presents, and making the soon-to-be family of four a "wish tree". We made one of these at my friend Laci's baby shower, and I loved the idea. Everyone writes things they're excited for the girls to experience as they grow up and/or wishes for them on leaves. After they share with the group, we put them on a tree to go in their nursery! We left a lot of room for other family members and friends to add experiences and wishes as well.

Check back for a later blog on how to make this!

Barb and Dave already hung it in their nursery! Doesn't it look great?

The girls and their mamma were thoroughly celebrated and Barb even got to practice holding two babies, Owen and Alice (my friend Robyn's little girl, who was born 3 weeks after Owen).