Country Theme Baby Shower Revealed

Remember the Country themed Baby shower I mentioned a while back? Well, I’m finally going to share the photos of the food and styling! (hooray!)

It started with the invitation. I used polished hemp rope for the little lasso thing, plus a brown brad for the “nail”. me like. 🙂I had only 2 photos of the clubhouse where the shower was being held. I pictured where we could put the tables and accessories but once I got there and realized I didn’t have an accurate vision of the room, it quickly changed. The room was very large and elegant, and had 2 areas made to look like living rooms. It was a bit challenging but the hostess and moms were a tremendous help in moving everything around. They combined all the sofas & chairs into a sort of circle, with the expectant mom in the middle-front. Overall it worked out well!

Some background on the prep. I ordered wood forks and mini pie tins. The forks looked a little odd on top of the tiny tins, which is where I wanted to rest some, so I sanded them down. I also stamped them with a rocking horse, which matched the theme. Here’s the difference.
Due to the nature of the theme, I decided to use paper plates with the straw holders. I didn’t realize those holders were seasonal (duh), so my mom saved the day with some plastic ones she had. I wish I had found more, and in the right tan color, but overall I think it worked. I stamped each plate with the rocking horse and stars (with red food coloring).
I had three tables, Sweet, Savory & Beverages. Here are pictures of each.

The sweets table menu included: mini pies, cheesecake pops, blueberry muffins, chocolate pretzel sticks, fresh strawberries, meringues, apple pie pops, cowboy cookies and caramel popcorn.

The savory table menu included: mini spicy quiche, veggies/dip, deviled eggs, chili mini bowls, boiled peanuts, and chips/salsa.
(I made the items in italics)

Backdrops were burlap and bandanna patterned bunting. I continued the burlap on to the tables as runners.

I designed wraps for the water bottles. The glass dispensers were going to hold red punch and sweet tea. In a setup accident, one of the dispensers cracked so we ended up using the sweet tea gallons we brought. The mason jar glasses were accented with more hemp rope and I used the red/white striped straws for a colorful accent.
Also, I created advice cards and hung them on rope above the beverages.I had a lot of fun putting together the buffet cards. I love how they came out, layered with rope and a punched star.
I found out I’d be styling the shower way back in November, so I had my eyes peeled for props whenever I was out and about. Some of the items I had from another western reception and most of the little items came from discount or craft stores. I tried my hardest to find old/vintage items at yard sales and flea markets, but it didn’t work out very well.

One thing I found at a Goodwill was this wooden doll bassinet. I didn’t know what I would use it for but it fit the bill on many levels. For $3.02, it was a steal. It ended up being a perfect prop for the caramel popcorn cones!
I used mini hay bales to hold the apple pie pops, and a bit larger ones for the mini pies. It worked. 🙂
(pie with fork/twine inspiration came from here!)

I just HAD to add the “dypa-rize” soap box. More closeups… Mini chili bowls went fast. Prep note: I hard boiled eggs and when it came time to peel – well, it wasn’t pretty, so my husband went to our local grocery store right before I had to leave and got these. He also got the white meringues because I ran out of time to make the other thing I had planned for that spot… He’s so great. 🙂
Cheesecake pops…I came up with party games for the hostess, including these baby bingo cards which were a big hit during the gift opening.For favors, I made a star shaped sugar cookie and paired it with a horse shoe shaped chocolate a friend of mine made for me, then tucked them into a burlap bag. I sewed the tags on each bag and bunched them in a metal basket filled with straw for guests to pick up as they left.
I will be adding these country party designs to my etsy store listing so check over there if you’re intested!

Special thanks to my mom who came out to help and turned out to be (as usual) my hero. My photographer’s wife also helped out greatly with table stocking & restocking. Thanks!!!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ve found some inspiration for your own party.

Credits:
Styling/Organizing: (me) Intrigue Design Studio/CrazyforDesign blog (crazyfordesign.blogspot.com)
Photography: Chad Oneil Myers Photography (blog)
Graphics/Partyware: (me) Intrigue Design Studio (etsy shop soon)
Red/White Straws: Bake it Pretty
Wood Forks: Webstaurantstore.com