Oh Baby!
Kim & Jodie from The Party Parlour shares with us a ‘How To’ guide to creating the perfect baby shower for both boy and girl. Gender neutral can easily be done if you follow these simple steps. TEXT
Jodie Turner
STYLING
The Party Parlour
PHOTOGRAPHY
Glenys Flynn O’Neill
Opposite Page: Vanilla Eyelet Knitted Cardigan $59.95, Vanilla Knitted Booties $29.95, Pale Grey Stripe Knitted Stripe Growsuit $54.95, Vanilla Woven Bodysuit $39.95 Vanilla Hat with Pale Grey Leaf Yardage $14.95, all from Purebaby, purebaby.com.au All partyware by The Party Parlour, thepartyparlour.com.au and all stationery by Love JK, lovejk.com.au This Page: Cake by C For Cake, cforcake.com.au Little Feet Cookies by Sweetness, sweetness.com.au www.lovejk.com.au
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baby shower is a fantastic excuse to gather family and
friends to celebrate mum-to-be and her baby.The celebration is all about making Mum feel special at this late stage of her pregnancy and sharing in the excitement. The most common form of baby shower celebration is an afternoon tea setting, where mum-to-be can sit and relax whilst being spoiled by her family and friends. If you have taken the reigns of hosting a baby shower celebration, the first step is to have a chat to the Mum-to-be. Decide what sort of celebration she would like – Would she like to theme the shower the sex of the baby? Or would she like it to be unisex and keep the sex of the baby a surprise until the birth? A new idea is to reveal the gender of the baby at the shower with the cutting of the cake. This celebration could be themed with a neutral colour palette such as lemon and mint green or pastels. An iced cake takes center stage at this event; with a pink or blue sponge, the baby’s gender is revealed to guests at the cutting of the cake! Once you have discussed these ideas with the mum-to-be, work out a guest list and set a date. Now you can get on with the fun stuff...Planning and decorating!
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Baby Shower Tips Jodie & Kim share their expert tips on planning and hosting a beautiful Baby Shower for the mum-to-be. Afternoon Tea Table Family and friends will be more than happy to help out with the catering, so take them up on any offer to bring some treats along! Once relieved of last minute baking duties you can devote your time to setting the scene, creating a lovely afternoon tea table and decorating to your hearts content! Serving food on a variety of white platters helps to tie everything together
Differing heights will add interest and symmetry to your setting. You can create height by using simple risers such as the ones we have used from the Ikea kitchen department, wrapping boxes in coordinating giftwrap, or stacking cake plates on top of each other . Fill clear glass jars with lollies of your theme colours. Have sweet and savoury treats available. Name them with personalised labels and tags. If you don’t know what food people are bringing along, have some blank labels ready. Consider creating a backdrop for your table using personalised bunting or even baby clothes hanging on a line. This will create some height behind the table. Another suggestion is to use a timber pallet, spray painted white, before hanging a clothes line. Why not fill the space around
Having your food laid out at different levels creates visual interest.
the table with tissue paper fans?
Display your special cake as the centerpiece and create a focal point to the table. Invest in matching servingware such as plain white platters or white timber trays. Keeping it simple is the key! Make a feature of the table by using coordinating baking cups for desserts or cupcakes. Ask people to bring their food in containers so you can arrange them onto pretty little plates. Use disposable party-ware, such as plates, napkins and cups as part of your display. Stack cups in interesting ways and use plates and paper doilies to create decorations that coordinate with your look. You can prepare the table ahead of time - Play with the Mixing disposable cups and plates with glassware & crockery, can help you to create the look you want without spending a small fortune.
arrangement of plates, jars and party-ware until you get the look you are happy with. Be creative! Hang decorations and backdrops in advance. It is easier to do this when there is no time pressure or little ones running around.
Drinks Table A separate drinks table is a nice idea if you have the space. This can be set up inside or outside and decorated to suit your afternoon tea table style. Try to organise it so that guests can easily serve themselves. Personalised labels on mini milk bottles are a cute addition to the drinks table. Have non-alcoholic options such as punch or juice. A drink dispenser allows people to help themselves, just remember to top it up with ice throughout the afternoon. Personalised Milk Bottles can be filled with champagne, soft drink or juice, and make for a gorgeous addition to your table
A few savoury nibbles at the table will keep guests happy.
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An ice bucket filled with mini champagne bottles is easy to organise and looks great! A little later in the afternoon you can replace champagne glasses with coffee and tea supplies.
Gift Table As most people will bring gifts, be prepared and set up a ‘gifts table’ so that your guests can leave them throughout the event. Simply decorate the table with a tablecloth and runner, some wrapped gifts, and a “For Baby” bunting. The mum-to-be might like to open these gifts before people leave.
Kim hired the pretty gold chairs from Little Wish Parties to ensure every pampered princess had somewhere special to sit
Baby Shower Game Ideas Download our adorable calendar template and ask the guests to guess the baby’s arrival date. Who is who? Ask the guests to bring along a baby photo of themselves and peg to a line. Each guest has to guess who each photo is of.
Take Home Thank You Gifts Sending your guests home with a thank you gift is a nice way show your appreciation. This may be something your mum-to-be wishes to do, but you could help her source coordinatied packaging to suit your party styling. Ideas include individual cupcake boxes tied with a ribbon and a personalized thank you tag, individually wrapped baby feet cookies, lolly bags, or even colour themed lollipops tied with a tag. Make sure you display these somewhere prominent to add to the decoration of your baby shower. Baby Feet Cookies by sweetness.com.au, wrapped in Blue Gingham Ribbon Blue Gingham Ribbon 20 metres for $12.95, thepartyparlour.com.au
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It’s A Boy! Revealing the gender of the baby at the Baby Shower is an exciting way to make the big announcement.
OmbrĂŠ Cake
White mud cake with white chocolate ganache cforcake.com.au
A refreshments table ties together all the little details to create a wonderful centerpiece to your occasion. By bringing together accessories of a similar colour palette with carefully selected food and beverages, your table can look effortlessly styled. You can even get the bubbles to match too!
It’s A Girl! Revealing the gender of the baby at the Baby Shower is an exciting way to make the big announcement.
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INSPIRATION GENDER REVEAL BABY SHOWER
Lemon & Grey Baby Shower 1 Yellow & Grey Rocking Horse Baby Shower Invitations $2.49 ea, lovejk.com.au
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2 Mini Milk Bottles $2.50 each or $45.00 for 24 Yellow & White Straws $12.95 for 50 both from thepartyparlour.com.au Personalised Milk Bottle Sticker $1.49 ea lovejk.com.au 3 Yellow Rocking Horse Baby Shower Bunting Flags $1.99 per letter, lovejk.com.au
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LEMON Y
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WHITE LI
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4 Large White Ceramic Cake Stand $39.95 thepartyparlour.com.au
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5 Paper Eskimo Baking Cups 24r $5.95 thepartyparlour.com.au 6 White with Yellow Polka Dots Paper Lantern 6 for $14.95, thepartyparlour.com.au
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7 Sambellina Yellow Polkadot Cupcake Box 6 for $5.95, Lemon Spot Ribbon 20 metres for $12.95, thepartyparlour.com.au Personalised Thank You Gift Tags, $0.99ea, lovejk.com.au 8 Sambellina Candy Stripe Yellow Plates 12 for $6.95, thepartyparlour.com.au 9 Sambellina Champagne Candy Stripe Cups 12 for $6.95, thepartyparlour.com.au
A combination of lemon yellow’s, cool grey’s and
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bright white’s is the key to creating a classic gender neutral palette. Fresh, yet calming, these colours can be 10 Milky Yellow Freckles , $12 per kilo, thepartyparlour.com.au Lemon Spot Ribbon 20 metres for $12.95, thepartyparlour.com.au Large Lolly Jar $22.95, thepartyparlour.com.au Rocking Horse Party Circles, $0.99 ea lovejk.com.au
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mixed and matched to your hearts content. www.lovejk.com.au
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Baby Boy
Small Lolly Jar $6.95 Medium Lolly Jar $17.95 Large Lolly Jar $22.95 All Lollies $12.00 per pack, Blue Gingham Ribbon 20 metres for $12.95, All available from thepartyparlour.com.au. Rocking Horse Party Circles, $0.99 ea, love jk.com.au
Get the look...
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By simply changing the basic colours of invitations and accessories, you can host the perfect shower for a baby boy, girl or even go gender neutral.
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Here’s how to get the look for a beautiful baby boy‌
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1 Blue Tissue Paper Fans $7.95 ea, thepartyparlour.com.au 2 Milky Yellow Freckles , $12 per kilo, thepartyparlour.com.au Blue Gingham Ribbon 20 metres for $12.95, thepartyparlour.com.au Large Lolly Jar $22.95 thepartyparlour.com.au Rocking Horse Party Circles, $0.99 ea lovejk.com.au
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3 Paper Eskimo Striped Straws 50 for $12.95 thepartyparlour.com.au 4 Sambellina Polkadot Cups 12 for $6.95 thepartyparlour.com.au
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5 Paper Eskimo Baking Cups 24 for $5.95, thepartyparlour.com.au 6 Baby Blue & Grey Rocking Horse Baby Shower Invitations $2.49 ea, lovejk.com.au 6 Baby Blue & Grey Rocking Horse Baby Bunting $1.99 per letter, lovejk.com.au
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Baby Girl 1 Baby Pink & Grey Rocking Horse Bunting $1.99 per letter, lovejk.com.au 2 Baby Pink & Grey Rocking Horse Baby Shower Invitations $2.49 ea, lovejk.com.au
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3 Paper Eskimo Baking Cups 24 for $5.95, thepartyparlour.com.au 4 Sambellina Polkadot Plates 12 for $5.95 thepartyparlour.com.au 5 Sambellina Polkadot Cups 12 for $6.95 thepartyparlour.com.au 6 Ceramic Cake Stand Pink Small $34.95, thepartyparlour.com.au 7 Tissue Paper Fans $7.95 each, thepartyparlour.com.au 8 Lolly Jar S $6.95 M $17.95 L$22.95 All Lollies $12.00 per pack, Pink Ribbon 20 metres for $12.95, All available from thepartyparlour.com.au. Pink Rocking Horse Party Circles, $0.99 ea, love jk.com.au 9 Mini Milk Bottles $2.50 each or $45.00 for 24 Pink & White Straws $12.95 for 50 both from thepartyparlour.com.au Personalised Milk Bottle Sticker $1.49 ea, lovejk.com.au
Gender Neutral
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1 Tissue Paper Fans $7.95 each, thepartyparlour.com.au
2 Lolly Jar S $6.95 M $17.95 L$22.95 All Lollies $12.00 per pack, Pink Ribbon 20 metres for $12.95, All available from thepartyparlour.com.au. Lavender & Mint Rocking Horse Party Circles, $0.99 ea, love jk.com.au 3 Lavender & Mint Rocking Horse Baby Shower Invitations $2.49 ea, lovejk.com.au
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4 Ceramic Cake Stand Green Small $34.95, thepartyparlour.com.au 5 Sambellina Striped Lavender Cups 12 for $6.95 thepartyparlour.com.au
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6 Lavender & Mint Rocking Horse Bunting Flags $1.99 per letter, lovejk.com.au
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