So, my bestest friend, Emily Foley, is expecting her third baby. Her first two are boys and she never really had a proper baby shower yet. Now, every Mommy deserves to have a proper baby shower...am I right? And I figured better late than never.

So I planned, coordinated, designed, mailed and assigned from 2,000 miles away. And this weekend is the big day. I am going to share with you (over two posts) how I planned and threw the shower for her from Pennsylvania.

Step 1 - Recruit a willing party planning liaison in Utah. Emily and I have a wonderful mutual friend named Alison. I contacted Ali about 3 months back and asked if she would "throw" the shower for Emily Foley and help coordinate on her end. She agreed! Phase one complete. Ali and I then wrangled a party planning committee of sorts including Emily's other friend and Emily's Mom. Now we had a team...ready to party!

Step 2 - Pick a theme. Emily wanted a very frilly and feminine party, so I chose "Posies and Polka-Dots" as the theme for this shower. She also wanted pink to be involved, and I like a two color scheme, so I chose one of Emily's other favorite colors...orange. Next, I planned out decor and food choices that could fit into the theme and color scheme.

I drafted a document that looked like this....

Posies and Polka-Dots Baby Shower
Color Scheme: pink and orange and white.

Décor:
Pink and Orange Gerber daisies in mis-matched clear glass vases
White table cloth with pink runner or wide pink polka-dotted ribbonHanging white tissue balls from the ceiling.

Food:
Chicken salad croissant sandwiches
Fresh orange slices and fresh strawberries dipped in white chocolate.
Pink strawberry lemonade / water
white cupcakes with white frosting and a cupcake topper

Favors:
Sweet treat mix in white paper bag with custom label.

Step 3 - Make Assignments. We got an email going between the planners and divided up assignments based on which assignments would be the easiest and most logical for each person to fill. We got everything assigned in a hurry and I got on to step 4.

Step 4 - Design the Invites. I browsed through some invites online and found some great inspiration for these ones. The style was so completely Emily that this was the clear winner. I whipped these up in Photoshop in under a half hour. Then I collected the mailing list from Emily and stuffed and addressed the invites and mailed them from here. However, I made the return address Emily's address, so if an invite went missing or returned she would get it and be aware of whose was missing.


I drew up a quick map with directions to Emily's house and included it in the invites. I found these cute little graphic envelope seals at Staples for $2/20 pack.



Check out other posts in this series by clicking the link below:
Long Distance Baby Shower: Invites + Free Download
Long Distance Baby Shower: Favors + Free Download

I have recently decided to begin quilting in earnest. I have made two baby quilts before with moderate success, but never quite knew my options as far as binding methods and for home machine quilting. I also felt I had gaps in my knowledge of pattern, techniques and general knowledge.

I picked up this book on the recommendation of a friend and I was very pleased with it. It very thoroughly covers almost everything you might need to knew about quilting. It covers a lot of information, but it is divided into small segments of info so you never feel bogged down with too much information. It has plenty of color photographs and illustrations to reinforce topics.

I can see myself coming back to this book as an easy reference again and again. I highly recommend this book to novice and expert quilters alike.

This is normally the part where I would showcase a craft made using the info in this book, but I'm still working on it! I will be sure to share my finished quilt when it's completed.

Buy this book on Amazon.com for around $15

Do YOU have a favorite reference book for quilting? Please share!

My craft room is currently in a state if utter, total and dismal disaster. So I thought I would share some delightful Etsy finds.

If you don't already know, Etsy is an online community where handmade goods are sold. I love browsing for ideas, inspiration and to dream of what I would buy if I had some disposable income.




Personalized Girl Stamp by craftpudding
Unfinished Nesting Dolls by WhittleWorld
Sugar Cookie Baby Cocoon for Photographers by SimplyBasicDesigns
Lace Flower Headbands by Mazzy522
Leggies Covers for Kids by TweetBabyDesigns
Small Blue Bowl by MaryMeeStudio