Long-distance Baby Shower

Some of our great friends from our neighborhood had their second child, a baby girl, Saturday. They are a part of our neighborhood group of 4 couples who meet every other weekend for Bible study and dinner, and we are so incredibly blessed by them. They moved here a year ago from the west coast, so most of their close friends and family are way too far away to have made it in for a baby shower. The rest of us girls from the group wanted to throw an unforgettable shower that somehow included the long-distance friends and family. We had so much fun, and it turned out to be a hit.

We decided to send invitations to everyone with information on the when's and where's of the shower in case they wanted to send a gift. We also included a little note asking everyone to email a family photo along with a message or favorite quote that we could turn into a photobook for the nursery. The invitations were simple - plain cardstock cards (sold in bulk at Hobby Lobby) with a 2D cupcake sticker. I just ran them through my printer before attaching the stickers.

Since the guests were our four couples, we wanted to do something a little different than traditional shower foods. Instead we made up a menu of the mom-to-be's pregnancy cravings. Chili-cheese dogs, french fries, strawberry limeades, and some crunchy snack-food appetizers rounded out the menu. She also loves all-things-s'mores, so dessert were these delicious s'mores cupcakes (recipe here).

We really wanted to keep the decor simple too and focus our budget more on our gifts. We made tissue paper pom poms in the nursery colors to hang from the chandelier.
We also used my Onesie Kit (more in the shop asap!) to make a clothesline filled with precious girly gifts.

It was so fun to have a table filled with gifts from friends and family from so far away.

We wanted to be sure to include something special from our kids. So we gathered them all up (including the baby's big brother secretly), and used their fingerprints as "sprinkles" on this cupcake decoration for the nursery.
We played two fun shower games - Math the Mom-to-Be, and Celebrity Baby Names.
And then we opened gifts. The finished photobook was priceless. I used Mixbook for the first time, and it was quick, easy, and precious!
What a neat memory of such a special evening.
We had such a great night celebrating!