DIY pink baby shower

I’m just a little excited about the impending arrival of my first niece.

For one thing I just can’t wait to see my tough brother melt at his little girl’s smile. And another is the girl stuff is just so darn cute. Those two coupled with the fact that I consider my sister-in-law a true sister, I knew the baby shower had to be amazing.

I began planning months in advance. Pinterest’s addition of secret boards was perfect timing. My sister-in-law is frequently on Pinterest and I wanted to have some surprises for her at the shower. I compiled idea after idea searching for baby girl shower, pink shower, etc. Then the tough part was culling down the ideas. I probably could have done a better job at that but I was also fine with going overboard on this shower.

Because it can be tough to know what projects will work and which will be misses I figured I’d share my lessons learned from this mainly DIY shower.

Best idea: Use scrapbook paper to make homemade banners. This project was inexpensive and easy to do, plus it allowed me to totally customize the look. It also took next to no time at all. I got five different patterns of scrapbook paper at Michaels and mixed and matched. I decided to do two banners. One was a pennant banner that I glued letters onto to make a welcome banner. I drew the outline on the back of the paper and then cut it out using the first one as a template for the rest.

Once the pages were all cut I cut out letters from darker scrapbook paper and used a glue stick to adhere them. I then used a hole punch to create two holes on the top and string twine through it.

Because that project was so easy to accomplish I decided to take on a second one with the same concept. I used the same scrapbook paper and this time freehanded a onesie pattern.

I had asked my Mom and my sister-in-law’s Mom for photos of the two parents-to-be from when they were little. I also had gotten a current photo of the couple together to serve as the center of the banner.

The whole project probably took 10 minutes from start to finish – not counting the Moms searching for the photos.

Next up was the centerpiece of my table: the diaper cake.

The cake in general was a good idea and brightened the table, but also lead to the biggest disappointment project of the shower – the crepe paper roses.

On Pinterest the crepe paper roses look easy to do. There are even videos that show how simple they are. But what isn’t conveyed is how tedious they are to make or how many are required since they end up being so small. I loved the finished look, but this is definitely a project that sucked up much more time than I had anticipated. It also was very tough to explain to my many helpers who made the shower possible.

Luckily another diaper cake decoration turned out to be a really easy project. I rolled baby socks – in this case 9-12 month size socks – into a rose shape and secured it with a safety pin. I then inserted lollipop sticks in them and stuck them throughout the cake. Each was so simple and added some fun pattern and color to the centerpiece.

Overall I was really pleased with how all the DIY projects turned out and the personal touches they added to the shower. What has been your best DIY project?

Jennifer Erickson is a Sr. Public Relations Specialist at Texas Health Resources who is very excited to have a niece joining the family in May.