Baby Shower Decorations

Clothesline Banner

I like consistency. What can I say? It's the mathematical/analytical side of my brain that always wins over the creative/emotional side. When planning decorations for Molly's baby shower, I felt compelled to use the same decorative papers and clothesline theme as I used in her shower invitation.

I didn't have the use of the Cameo Silhouette Machine at this point, so I traced and cut out the onesies by hand. I used a onesie template that I found online at Chia's Rubber Stamp Art.

For the decoupaged letters I used an old chipboard alphabet from Stampin Up!, which unfortunately, I don't think they carry anymore. I traced each letter onto the back of coordinating decorative paper and cut out the letters as well. Then I used PVA from Paper Source to glue the decorative paper to the chipboard. 

I used a light brown ink pad and wiped around each of the letters to distress them a bit. It helped make the letters stand out on the onesie. I also used PVA to adhere the letters onto the onesies. Then I used the same bookbinding thread to create the clothesline banner, just as I did for the invitations.  

I also had some chipboard flowers left over from another project, so I decoupaged them as well to add a few accents to the clothesline.

Paper Pinwheels

For the rest of the decorations, I created paper pinwheels using the same decorative paper I had used for the invitations and clothesline banner, but I added a few more colors to brighten things up a bit. 

I can't take credit for this idea though. I was inspired by a blog from Amy Atlas that I found on Pintrest. Each pinwheel required 3 sheets of decorative paper cut into squares, which I varied in size. I used a hot glue gun to layer small pinwheels onto the larger ones.

Since some of the paper I used for the pinwheels was heavyweight cardstock, it was difficult to keep the pinwheels together. They kept falling apart. I had to use a combination of tape, staples, and even hot glue to get them to stay put. I would recommend using a lightweight paper for this project.

I also used the same bookbinding thread to hang the pinwheels as I used for the clothesline. I doubled-up with the thread to keep the pinwheels from spinning too much. Also, some of the paper I used was double-sided, and the designs on the back sides didn't match the rest of the pinwheels.

Paper Streamers

Instead of using crate paper streamers, I punched out circles of varying sizes from the scraps of decorative paper I had left over. I used double-sided tape and stuck the bookbinding thread between 2 coordinating circles. Most of the "streamers" I let dangle from the ceiling above the buffet, but I also created another banner across my mom's fireplace to serve as an area for gifts. 

 

Party Favors

For party favors my cousin Abby made sugar cookies in the shape of onesies. I created tags using more of the decorative paper from the invitations, banner, and pinwheels. Then to pull it all together, I found cheap wooden clothes pins which I covered in more decorative paper and backed with magnetic tape. I wanted guests to be able to re-use the decorative clothespins as fridge magnets.