When we found out our sweet friend Jessi was expecting a little boy, my girlfriends, Erin and Lindsay, and I decided to throw her a baby shower. Her nursery is travel-themed so we knew we wanted to do something along those lines, but with a twist. Our inspiration was ships and whales and captain’s wheels. It was so fun to think of different decor and food we could incorporate to make the day just perfect and totally unique to Jessi & baby.
We divvied up the roles, putting Lindsay in charge of the food and Erin would lead the sharing time. Since it would be held at my house, I was in charge of decor. Lindsay chose food that she knew Jessi would love and would be pregnant-girl-friendly. I went to The Printed Palette, which is just a few steps away from my house, and found the perfect piece to be the center of attention, a captain’s wheel light. I also got 2 wooden signs from there that tied the colors of the shower together. The final piece of decor we needed was some “seaweed” and fortunately for us, Mr. B’s Luminaries had these incredible succulent boxes that looked like seaweed in driftwood. Good thing we have some talented friends!
Guests arrived to a table filled with the most delicious food, thought up and made by Lindsay. (Recipes below.) There were decaf Arnold Palmers for the pregnant girls and mimosas made with lemon sherbet for the others. The Potato Cheese Hash was the favorite of the morning. That is, until we enjoyed the Italian Cream Cake. Delish.
After we ate it was time for the DIY project. We had all agreed that shower games weren’t really “our thing” so we needed to think of something fun to do to fill the time. Making onesies for baby boy was the perfect option. We prepped fabric to be iron-on and provided the guests with shape options, scissors, needle, thread, and, of course, onesies! I got a few of each size, newborn to 9 month so that he would have options at every age. The girls loved it and Jessi got to go home with some pretty stinkin’ cute onesies.
For the favors, we enlisted Shem from Mr. B’s Luminaries to make us baby candles and Alissa from The Printed Palette to print some of her most adorable nautical quote prints. We tied them with “rope” (aka twine) for the perfect nod to life on a ship.
The shower was flowing perfectly with good food, laughter, and way too much talk of placentas, when Erin announced that we would be starting our sharing time. I was completely caught off guard by how sweet and intimate this time was. We each got a piece of paper where we could write Jessi a little note. The prompt was to encourage her as to why she is going to be an amazing mama. We all wrote in silence, not realizing that many of us were saying the same things. You’re going to be an amazing mom because you’re so selfless. You’re going to plan the best birthday parties for your son. You’re already the sweetest mama because you love Jesus. Tears welled up in my eyes as I wrote about the images that came to mind when I thought of Jessi as a mom. I imagined the moment when he is first placed in her arms, the tantrums in the middle of Target, the middle of the night feedings, just mama and baby, and all of the perfectly planned parties she’d throw for him. When I finished my note, I looked up, and I wasn’t the only one with tears in my eyes. As we shared with Jessi, we cried, she definitely cried, and we were so thankful that we hadn’t played a shower game.
The food was wonderful. The decor was adorable. But, the thing that made this shower so special was being able to tell Jessi that we were proud of her, that we loved her, and that we will love her sweet baby boy too.
All-Natural Baby Candles: Mr. B’s Luminaries | 5×7 Nautical Quote Prints: The Printed Palette | Ombre Ruffled Shower Curtain: Anthropologie | Letter Blocks: Chatterblocks | “Seaweed” Succulent Centerpieces: Mr. B’s Luminaries | Captain’s Wheel Light & Wooden Quote Signage: The Printed Palette
Special Recipes: Goat Cheese Biscuits with Honey Butter | Italian Cream Cake with Blueberries | Sherbet Mimosas
Decaf Arnold Palmers (Decaf Black Tea and Frozen Lemonade Concentrate)
