Once upon a time, in a land not so far away… I had the pleasure of hosting a storybook baby shower!

One of my two best friends, Alana, is expecting her first child (a little boy!) in September. Since we don’t see each other very often (Alana lives several provinces away), we seized upon the opportunity of her recent visit east to throw her a baby shower.

The theme was an obvious choice, as Alana is a big reader. My other best friend, Annie, and my mother, Linda, came on board as co-hostesses, and we had so much fun planning all the details for Alana’s big day. 

Of course the first thing we planned was the menu! We let classic children’s literature be our inspiration for dishes such as Green (Devilled) Eggs & Ham, Willie Wonka’s Chocolate-Covered Strawberries, Treasure Island Caribbean Salad, and Cauldron Cakes with Dirigible Plum Jam.

I was so lucky to be co-hosting this shower with Annie and Linda. Linda came up with a fabulous version of charades, all based on children’s book characters. It was a huge hit! She also made a whole lot of the delicious eats and treats. Annie is a truly exceptional baker, who went to town hand-painting the most beautiful storybook cookies. She also whipped up a batch of Babar’s elephant ears (puff pastry… from scratch!) like it was no big deal.

We decorated the food table with stacks of books and long runners that I created by photocopying pages from “The Secret Garden” (one of Alana’s – and my – childhood favourites). Alana loves tulips, so we went simple and springy with the flowers.

Decorating was fairly easy, as I had access to plenty of books from my school library! These giant story time books were loaned to me by the kindergarten teachers. Thanks, ladies!

I had a lot of fun creating this mobile in the centre of the party space. I made the rosettes (hope to get a tutorial up soon!) by accordion-folding and glueing pages of “The Secret Garden”.

Annie and I got together to craft some decor and favours for Alana’s big day, and one of our favourite details were the favours and prizes. We made “bookworm” prizes for everyone (really just gummy worm candies), and hand-stamped bookmarks with a lovely quotation: “Children are made readers in the laps of their parents.” Perfect for our theme!

Instead of a traditional guest book, we printed out elementary school ABC book pages for guests to decorate. Baby Wood has his own personalized ABC book now… With some pretty creative entries! (I won’t even tell you what “P” is for…)

It was such a lovely bonding activity for all of the guests. Many of us didn’t know each other before the shower, but we definitely left as friends! Everyone was so happy to be celebrating Baby Wood’s imminent arrival.

Of course, Alana and I couldn’t help but be a little goofy in front of the camera. How often do two best friends get to take a pic like this one?? 🙂

It was a day filled with love and happiness, and I am so glad that I got the chance to honour Alana and her little one. I can’t wait for our little babies to grow up as best friends.

Now I turn it over to you: leave a comment and tell me what your favourite children’s book is! I’d love to know, as we are building our own library for our little one.

xoxo

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