A Bee Baby Shower- Using What I Had in My Hand

 This past Saturday my sister Keren and I hosted a baby shower for the two newest arrivals in our congregation. We held it at the church building (because we wanted to make it wheel-chair friendly). The two little guys who's births we were celebrating are named Buirlen and Brody and so we decided to have a "Bee" ("B") themed party. It was a lot of fun to prepare for. I love hosting parties and decorating for them. I really especially love see how we can make it cool using things we already have on hand. So I didn't buy anything for this shower (not even the gifts or prizes) but I was able to use things that I already had on hand and had great fun doing that. This post is a little bit picture heavy but I hope you find it fun! :-)

Making a last minute welcome banner.

An old burlap potato sack became a banner. Decorated with silk flowers that were laying around, bees we made from felt, felt letters and fabric scraps.

The "B's" were our guestbook  as well as decoration. In their former life they were boxes, curtains, pillowcases and cards. The & chalkboard was borrowed from my house for the event. I had made it earlier from a log slice and chalkboard paint.

 For the "B's" we had each guest put a thumbprint on a little circle of cardstock (what I had cut out of old cards and such) and then add details to make it into a bee and also write their name on it. Then they pinned it on the B. At the welcome table they did that as well as guessing how many M & M's were in a jar and how many bees spent their whole lifetime working to produce that jar of honey. We also had a sheet of paper to fill out for the babies about what we wished for them.

Some of the prizes that I brought (to give out for winners of the games) were jars of honey,

This bag that I had been given at a bridal show and I decorated for the occasion,

This hand mirror that I had in my stash and also decorated for the occasion using bottoms that I rescued from an old jumper.

 We had fun with centerpieces. Keren brought in this geranium. I added bees that Megan and I had made from felt and cellophane that had come wrapped around flowers. I mounted all the bees on curly wires that had been saved from old calendars. The wood slice and watering can I had on hand.

 My old Winnie the Pooh (from my babyhood) and another jar of honey got put into use for another table.

 Megan and I made a few skeps for other decorations. In their former lives these skeps were old yogurt containers, newspaper, a partly done macrame project (that had been given to us) and then the calendar wire, felt and a flower wrapping.

 Another centerpiece made from things I had on hand and the bees we made buzzing out of it.

A close-up of the bee and it's cellophane wings.

We stuck bees in some of the containers of flowers that were already at the church building too.

 We had fun making the invitations. We were a little corny on it saying: "Two little Honey Bees have arrived and we're buzzing with excitement!" But we had fun. I am glad that I already had a set of bee stamps to use. We also used these stamps to decorate napkins and the paper for the games we played. I did re-purpose brown packing paper for making the invitations and the envelopes.

 We were able to use some silk flowers that were already at the church building for decorations. The chalkboard vase was one I made a while back from an old olive oil jar. The Chalkboard is another of mine from home (It is a slate tile that I bought for very little at the Restore). I stopped by the side of the road to pick pussy willows and other branches.

Megan and I made pins for the mommys. I re-purposed old political pins and more of the party finished macrame project.

 Keren made the lovely cake complete with M & M bees on top and a delicious filling! I made Lemon bars, Honey and Ginger cookies (that were supposed to look like skeps) and popcorn. Keren also brought lemonade and peanuts and I brought Mint Tea and honey.

For the gifts I had fun using some yarn I had on hand and making sweaters and hats (which they will grow out of very soon - unfortunately!). I also made Brody a blanket and Buirlen (and his mom) a nursing cover. I had started working on Brody's sweater a while back (and I actually made the blanket last year) but was planning on a making a very colorful sweater for Buirlen as his Momma loves colors but when we decided to have a bee theme I knew that I needed to make a bee sweater. I was happy that I did find black and yellow yarn in my stash.

   Buirlen slept through much of his shower. Brody didn't - when I held him he just stared and stared at me but when we tried to take the picture he thought it was a pretty bad idea and complained quite heartily.

Another friend gave Buirlen his yellow boots. This cute little guy is also my nephew. His daddy is my younger brother.

 We were trying to figure out a good pose for our little bee.

 That is one of the fun ways I was able to use things that I had on hand. How about you - how have you had fun using things that you already had lately?