Flash back to November, I hosted a darling baby shower at my house! I couldn’t have done any of it, like… really really couldn’t have, if my Mom and my sister didn’t co-host this party with me!

If you want to throw an inexpensive & beautiful party, whether it’s a baby shower or any other type of party, you gotta have people to help out! Otherwise all the food, décor, and anything else you want at that party is going to cost a LOT! Your budget will go bonkers!

So here are the things that worked for us, and I think it came out pretty beautifully…

Tip #1:

Invitations- DIY them or call up a friend with mad graphic skillz (oh hey, have you met Bree?) and see what they can come up with for you! Get them printed yourself, and you can get beautiful colored envelopes at Paper-Source.com – this store is the bomb.com I would totally work there just for fun if there was one less than an hour away from me. Talk about inspiring! If you need ideas for a party or just want to grab some cute décor, head there!

Tip #2:

Flowers! Flowers everywhereeee! My favorite of all time? Baby’s Breath. You can buy it very inexpensively, and a lot of it! But 2-3 bunches usually around $4 a piece, and you’ve got enough flowers to fill several vases or cute glassware you have around your house. Then just grab some carnations, or other flowers in your color scheme (not a lot) and place one or two in with your Baby’s Breath. You can tell in the pictures all of the flowers are in different size, and shape glass pieces. Mason jars, wine bottles, vases, and pickle jars! I save all of my jars that I ever empty (pickles, peppers, jelly…) just wash them and remove the lable. Boom. Cute FREE containers.

Tip #3:

Remember those  mason jars? Grab them, because they make the most adorable cups for a party. If you see them at the grocery store on sale for around $8, grab a pack, because you will use them all the time! I grabbed some fold over elastic and purple fabric that I had in my scrapy crafty bucket, cut the fabric into circles, and then my sister put together those super cute decorative pieces for the jars. Again- less than a yard of cheap fabric, and some elastic, or just hot glue them straight on, they’ll pop right off when you’re done. My mom picked up those cute straws from Hobby Lobby, and viola! Adorable drinks. For CHEAP.

Tip #4:

Don’t overdo it on the food. And by that, I mean, you don’t have to serve gourmet food. AND, you don’t have to do all the cooking! Share the love. Especially at a baby shower, family loves to feel involved. So get them to bring a dish and that will relieve your stress, and your wallet. If you’re worried about what they’ll bring ask them more specifically. ie. ask them to bring a salad or a pasta dish so you know exactly what will be at the party.

Tip #5:

Dessert. Can you bake? If not, do you know someone that can? Use your resources for this one. Chances are you can make it or a friend can make it and it will taste just as good, if not better than if you bought it. For this party I made the cake (my sister made the topper) and my mom and sister made the cupcakes and the pumpkin dip. All that was store bought were those cute little cookies.

Hint:

Your homemade desserts don’t have to be perfect! Look at that icing, no way is that smooth, but ya know what, it looks cute and homemade. At least… I think so. I added some ribbon to the bottom and some edible pearls. My sister made that adorable elephant out of fondant. And look at the inside of that cake!! Super proud moment for me. So glad it turned out!

Tip #6:

Keep it simple. Really, everything I decorated with I had around the house. The only things that I bought for this party were food, and flowers. I used jars I had been keeping, vases I already had, platters that I or my mom had, and grabbed scrap fabric, table covers, and see those sparkly things in those vases? Christmas décor! Use what you have around you, and if you don’t have it, ask around.

Here’s the special couple we threw this party for. My cousin Esquire, and his wife Jamie. She just gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl, Elle, on February 1st. Congratulations you two! We are so happy for you guys and are in LOVE with baby Elle.

Oh, you want to see her? :)

Picture one is the day she was born, at the hospital. Picture two was last week when I went to visit. They only live 10min away from me, so I’m going to sneak in as much cuddle time as possible.

Happy Thursday!