Cheri's Baby Shower Delights

Last weekend we threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Cheri. We had an amazing day celebrating her and are excitedly awaiting my little nephew William's arrival.

Cheri's shower gave me the opportunity to create some handmade gifts and to get crafty. Here are some cute projects that I wanted to share with you.

Inspired by the chalk art class I took at Belovely, here is my first chalkboard!

(By the way, isn't the background in the above photo amazing? We held Cheri's shower at Valley Forge Flowers...it was perfect! I highly recommend this beautiful boutique and café as a lovely venue and a gem of a store.)

Here's the proud mom-to-be posing with my chalk art. Hi, baby bump!

The teddy bear, below, is part of my gift. This cutie is sitting on a little chair that I decoupaged with a gray and white chevron print. He is even wearing a matching bow tie.

I layered strips of zig zags on top of each other, in all different directions, for a funky look.

I also made bunting for the nursery! I think I am most proud of this project. I have never made bunting before but I loosely followed this tutorial from The Painted Hive and it turned out really well.

Little William's room is painted blue (Martha Stewart's Blue Suede) and I thought that this gray and white chevron print would make a great accent. I used this same fabric to decoupage the chair above.  

The letters were cut out of blue felt using a simple template that I made.

Here is a fun display item from my mom. She bought this Umbra frame that has little clips inside. She enlarged a gorgeous photo of my brother and Cheri to use as the background and then clipped baby pictures of each of them on top. The effect was so adorable! 

We were marveling at how similar their baby pictures are. I think our moms even sported the same hairstyle!

My nephew will be named William after our father who passed away five years ago. My dad really loved flowers and African Violets were a favorite. So to honor his memory, each guest received a little white violet as a favor. The pots were spray painted silver and we applied "thank you" stickers in a chalkboard design. I wish I could say that I made the stickers but they were just a really great find from Michael's. 

And last, here are a couple of details that I wanted to share. Remember those kraft stickers I found at Target before Christmas? Well, they worked out perfectly as little gift seals that I could personalize. 

This is on the bottom of the decoupaged chair. 

And this sealed the paper that I used to wrap the bunting. 

I think it perfectly describes Cheri's shower, too. Show how much you care for those you love with handmade design-goodness.

*****

images by The Pink Chalkboard