My Busy May - Environmentally Friendly Baby Shower

You may have noticed that I have been MIA again and it is not due to lack of inspiration but an insanely busy month. (I know we are only two weeks into May!) 

I had the opportunity to co-host an Environmentally Friendly themed Baby shower for my sister-in-law and my daughter's 5th birthday party all in the same week. Planning and crafting has been ongoing for many months so the culmination of everything has been exciting and tiring. Did I mention I have also been working on the artwork for my soon-to-be's nursery? My family has not seen the bottom of my dining room table in months so I think it's about time to clean and share what exciting things have been going on at my house.

"Green" Baby Shower Invite

My brother-in-law & sister-in-law just adopted the most beautiful little girl and since they live in Indiana we wanted to have a celebration with their family in Virginia as well. They are a very environmentally conscious couple and when asked what theme they wanted for the shower it was natural for them to request a "green" party. I admit that I had never heard of one before and thus began my research. I gathered a lot of inspiration from a baby shower thrown for Sheryl Crowe and from other's on the web.

The invitation was very simple to make. I bought a flower Martha Stewart punch, some buttons and card stock. My girls had loads of fun playing with all of the extra supplies!

When it came to party favor ideas I struck gold when I can across this idea for "green" gifts. I ordered the wildflower seed craft paper from Amazon and drew the earth onto it. I modified the poem to read:

...The whole world is made so sweet
By blooming flowers and tiny feet
So plant this globe, watch it grow
And think about the seeds you sew
To celebrate this happy news
Keep your own foot print tiny
For baby Maya . . .

I filled one of my glass mixing bowls with white beans and had a very inexpensive (and "green") vase filler. The parents were thrilled with the end result and so was I.

My sister-in-law is on a gluten free diet which was another area I have not ventured into. I found the health food aisle at Martins very helpful in finding crackers, cake mix, vanilla extract (who knew!) and other yummy food options that my sister-in-law could enjoy. I even found nitrate free bacon wrapped scallops at Costco!

I found the grass printed cupcake wrappers at Walmart during the Easter holiday which was a great find. I cut flowers out of fondant and used silver dragees for the middle of the flowers.

Chocolate Mousse Tarts


This was the only dessert that was not gluten free. I bought already baked pastry shells and filled them with chilled chocolate mousse that I made the night before and topped them with raspberries. They were delicious and SO easy to make!

Fruits and veggies were a natural menu choice. I had originally wanted to get to our local farmers market to pick up the produce but was attending an out of town wedding the day before so Costco was my market for this party. 
The proud new parents were thrilled with the celebration and I enjoyed learning some new recipes and party ideas.