I LOVE to cook, but there is one thing I almost love even more...throwing showers for friends and family!
Yesterday, I helped a friend with a shower for her daughter's childhood friend.
Kecia wanted a "John Deere" tractor themed shower. We stretched it a bit by making it a farm/country style John Deere theme.
First item on the list was the cake. We found a cake we like online, then sent the photo to my favorite cake maker, Dorothy Stone from West Frankfort. She replicated the look, but did an even better job! Half of the main layer was chocolate, the other half was lemon.
Next,we decided on the decor. Green and yellow with country touches. Green table cloths, with yellow runners. Scattered raffia. We used the decorated gifts for the games, as added centerpieces to each table. Plates were green, napkins were yellow and John Deere napkins. Forks were served from a green plastic pail that Gena added Tractor stickers to.
Diana had a great idea--Mason jars tied with raffia and ribbon and filled with assorted old-fashioned candies. Each jar was filled with something different. Guests enjoyed going from table to table filling their plates with their favorites.
Also, I added yellow cupcake liners that were filled with animal crackers.
Instead of punch, we opted for assorted sodas, bottled water and COUNTRY TIME lemonade served from a "farmish" galvanized bucket.
The food was simple. In addition to the cake, Diana made "haystacks" (Rice Krispie treats with a "B" for BRAXTYN, I made white chocolate covered pretzels with yellow and green sugar sprinkles,
assorted fruit/dip, veggies/dip, "It's a Boy" mints and assorted nuts.
When the guests arrived, the signed a "diaper", a keepsake for Kecia to remember the special day. The diaper was surrounded by John Deere Tractors.
Diana created an Adorable "DIAPER CAKE" which was made with PAMPERS and assorted baby accessories.
We played three games. The first was "Animals and their Babies Name game. This was much harder than it sounds. We listed 25 animal names, and guests filled in the baby names accordingly. However, several stumpers...including, OWL and Turtle. Do you have any idea what those babies are called?
Game number two was simple-- guests wrote the name JOHN DEERE vertically, then wrote a baby boy's name next to each letter than began with that letter (J-Joe, O-Oliver, etc.) The winner was the guest that chose the highest number of the same names Kecia chose.
The third game, yellow and green yarn and a pair of scissors were passed around to each guest. They chose a yarn and cut to the length they thought were fit around Kecia's growing belly. The winner was Delta whose yarn length was closest to Kecia's belly diameter (trust me- it wasn't much-- Kecia is due in 2 weeks and from the back you can't even tell she's with child!)
Door Prize was awarded to the guest who had a simple JOHN DEERE TRACTOR sticker on the bottom of her plate.
Kecia's childhood friend Gena, helped write down gifts/giver's so Kecia could thank her guests later on.
Some of the guests...
Now, we're all just waiting for this DEERE Baby's arrival.
*The shower was held in the Sam Mitchell Community Room. A room that a local lawyer has set aside for community members to use AT NO CHARGE! (I LOVE it when people decide to give back to their community!)
*For more Baby shower ideas, click here:
SHE'S ABOUT TO POP! Baby Shower
BABY BOY shower
