Alphabet Baby Shower: Last Minute Projects and The Big Day

Firstly, I want to apologize for the terrible pictures. I am deeply ashamed.  However, we were in a church basement with, gasp, wooden paneling!  So that may have upped the ick factor in my pictures, as I hope they would have turned out better with an amazing background.  Lesson 1 learned: background and location are everything, but tell that to a town with one place to hold a baby shower with over 30 guests. 

Moving on, here are some pictures from the day of all the projects I had been working on throughout the last several weeks.  The main centerpieces were from this tutorial.  I also last minute threw together some plain tin cans topped with Martha Stewart style puff balls and a slender ribbon. 

The cupcake desserts and toppers from this tutorial were incorporated into the tablescape to add interest.  An added bonus was that guests could eat dessert at their leisure.

A sign was created to welcome guests to the baby shower.  The lettering on the bottom cued guests into the first game, where birthday cards were created and numbered from 1 to 20.  Each guest had to write the new baby a birthday message for the age that corresponded to the number on the card.  For example, someone with a 16 card would write the baby a 16^th birthday message about getting their license, maybe having their first girlfriend, etc.  The cards would then be opened every year on the baby's birthday for that year.

Here is the wide view of the baby shower.  I hung Martha Stewart Style puff balls from the ceiling hoping that people would look at those rather than the wooden paneling.  I don’t know if it worked, but the important thing was that everyone had a great time!

Alphabet Baby Shower: DIY Cupcake Toppers

To keep up with the flow of the alphabet baby shower (with primary colors + green) series I will take you through the process of making 60+ cupcake toppers. 

Materials you need for this project:

·        2 sheets of white or cream cardstock

·        2 sheets colored scrapbook paper

·        1 inch circle punch

·        Martha Stewart “Rose Window” punch

·        Scissors

·        60 Toothpicks

·        1 roll Double Sided Tape

·        Hot glue gun

I first designed my 1 inch circle graphic.  Going with my alphabet theme I chose to have 8 different letters with sayings such as “B is for baby” and “C is for crib” in blue with a yellow circle around the graphic to create a polished look.  I choose two different font types for the graphic to give it added interest.  48 circles fit onto one sheet which meant I had more circles than I needed at 96.  That means that with just a little bit of paper you can make LOTS of cupcake toppers! 

I then cut out all the circles with my 1 inch punch and cut out 60 boarders with my Rose Window punch.  I then, making sure they were centered, attached the circle to the rose punch with double sided tape. 

Next, I cut the tips off of 60 toothpicks (just one side) to make sure the edge that was visible would be nice and straight, and so it wouldn’t look so much like a toothpick.  Was I fooling anyone? I don't know! This is a step you can completely skip if you don’t have the time or energy.  I found that when I cut the tips off they went flying all over the room, so I would suggest cutting them inside a small sandwich bag to keep them contained. 

Lastly, I adhered the flat end of the toothpick to the back of the topper with a glue gun.  And voila, you have 60 cupcake toppers for a dirt cheap price to add the decorative touch to your cupcakes!  The great thing about these is you can customize them any way you want by what you put in your 1 inch circle and the paper colors you choose! 

Budget Breakdown for 60+ Cupcake Toppers:

·        Paper $1.66

·        Toothpicks $1.00

·        Tape/Glue $2.50

Grand total: $5.16