Baby Shower Decorations

Last month I had the wonderful opportunity to throw a baby shower for my sister and future nephew/Godson. It was one week after my big exam, so I tried to make it as simple as possible. This is what I came up with...

I found this super cute graphic from http://www.etsy.com/:

This little guy quickly became the theme for the shower, and I used him as much as possible.

I knew I wanted to make a diaper cake. What a great way to provide the new mommy with tons of necessary things, have a cute decoration, and be able to use it as a game. First, I made the diaper sections (followed by two additional layers not pictured):

Then I added some ribbon and the various goodies I had picked up:

Although it isn't the greatest picture, here is the finished product (see the very bottom for a better picture):

I think I had a total of 20 different items on the cake. Mainly items that came recommended by Ellie and her parents (excluding the ISU hat that is on the top- that was not recommended by us at all.)

I printed out the giraffe graphic and made circles to be used on various items.

As part of the party favors, I did mini water bottles with the giraffe head.
Then I made sugar cookies using baby blue sugar.
Which was then packed like this:
And set out at the party:
To make the expectant Mommy's life a little easier, I had people address their thank you card envelopes, and printed out thank you cards that went with the theme (super easy and very cost effective vs. buying thank you cards in the store).
I wanted something else for the guests to do while they waited for everyone to arrive. I had originally tossed around the idea of making a cloth ABC book and having each guest color a letter page... but then Megan's 4th grade class did an ABC quilt for her--- so that idea was scratched.

Instead we did "Words of Wisdom for the Mother" cards.

For games we played "Time to Eat". You taste/smell each food and try to guess what it is made up of. I also removed the diaper cake from the middle of the room when we were playing "Time to Eat". Then we played the "Memory" game, trying to remember what was on the cake.

We also played "Name the Baby"... can you guess the baby names for these animals?

Goose Goat Swan
Owl Whale Tiger
Monkey Eel Skunk
Giraffe Crocodile Kangaroo

Of course there were the prizes for winning the games. Every new Mommy and Daddy need a little "Energy." And since new parents tend to wash their hands like crazy, this Bath and Body Works hand soap is perfect. (A friend of mine gave us this as a baby give and we loved it!!)
No baby shower can be complete without food.
I took the easy way out and ordered these cake balls for the dessert. They came from here: http://www.abiteofcake.com/ I have only had the strawberry one, but it was yummy!
Using my little giraffe heads again, I topped a few of the cake balls with the decoration.
And here is the final spread:

Thank you Costco for making it easy on me (see pre-made fruit bowl and veggie tray!)

And of course, a picture of the Guest of Honor, our mom and myself before the guests arrived (and a better picture of the baby cake).

Can you believe that the baby cake has 156 newborn diapers in it?!?!

I loved throwing this shower, and coming up with various ideas. I know this post is REALLY long, but I wanted to share everything (and have a record of it for myself). I think Megan and Bunky had a great time, I know I did.