My Sister's Shower

Sometimes I wonder if being crafty is a blessing or a curse - especially when I'm up at 3 a.m. poking a needle under my thumbnail for the fifth time in a row.

But say your sister is having her first little (well, maybe not so little) baby boy.  And you, maybe under the influence of alcohol, offered to throw her a shower. Well, then you have no choice but to craft away!

Say she likes these sundae centerpieces, which in the dead of winter require $50 of carnations.  If you're crafty, you can make some tissue paper flowers and know that when folks eat the candy below, it won't taste like wet leaves.   

What if she likes these little hot chocolate cones? I bought all the supplies for 45 (three canisters of hot chocolate, two bags of marshmallows, two bags of mini chocolate chips, two packs of cone-shaped bags, a bag of clear rubber bands, and 45 red m&ms robbed from the bags we bought to fill the cootie catchers we put on each table) for about $25.  I just had to find some willing accomplices... 

See that smiling face?  My BIL and sister actually enjoyed making them with me.  And it went a LOT faster than I expected!  Maybe because my sister said we couldn't have a beer until they were done.

But then there was the trouble with the cake.  My sister's BFF Diana and I were set on a monkey cake to match the monkey themed baby room.  But my sister's bakery of choice said all they could do was an edible paper printout of a monkey (ew). What to do?  We ordered this Dora the Explorer cake, of course.

Well, without Dora, Diego, and Boots (it is pitiful that I know their names, isn't it?).  I also begged them not to put an orange border on it.  I took two monkey stickers from the back of the paper pack I bought for the cootie catchers, stuck them to some dark cardstock, cut them out, and taped them to some toothpicks.  Add some palm trees and voila! Instant Jungle!  Now please don't report me to Cakewrecks.

Now that I see them side by side, I'm not as enthusiastic about the spray job they did.  And wouldn't you know that after I asked them not to do an orange border, they still did orange writing.

There were plenty of other crafty things out and about - Diana not only made the yummy cookies in the background, but also this stupendous diaper cake. 

It was right in the middle of a little DIY project: we bought a kit at Michaels full of pins and baby clothes cutouts so folks can write thoughts for the baby or parents-to-be and then clip them to the clothesline.  They wrote the sweetest things!

We also had a DIY sundae table - what could be better?  I have never seen anyone turn down a sundae, so luckily I had a lot of help from quick-scooping E to get everyone fed.  (It's true - E and I actually hang out every once in a while). 

OK, that's enough baby shower talk.  Now it's time to go through all the loot!