Baby sister's baby shower!

And this is the reason you've heard little from me in the past week--it's quite a great deal of work to throw a shower! This one was for my youngest sister (I have two, I'm the oldest of three), was hosted by my other sister and myself at my house yesterday. The weather couldn't be finer, and I think the details came out quite nice. I see a million things  we could have done differently, but then again--I really like the final product. I habitually don't do great photography when I am hostessing, and a few of these were taken on the "little" camera, so be kind!

Here is my backyard, just as the guests were beginning to arrive.

We chose a bird theme using little birds, branches, nests and eggs. This little guy came from Armstrong nursery for $1.99! Everyone wanted to know about the woodcuts. I grabbed them last Christmas at the nursery where we bought our Christmas tree. They made a fresh cut on each tree sold and I asked if I could have the woodcuts. I have also used them as candle coasters. 

 

The table runners were made from a tablecloth we bought at Target (the Dwell line). I cut and hemmed it into three strips for the three tables, then cut lengths of burlap for underneath.

Karen loves tulips and purple, so I was over-the-moon when I found purple tulips at Trader Joes! She loved them!

We made this wishing tree, taking inspiration from a shower we saw on another blog. Each guest was invited to write a wish for the mommy-to-be and hang it on the tree. I read the wishes between presents later and two of the wishes were secretly pre-marked and the authors won birdie salt and pepper shakers! 

My sister, Kristin, found these blank bird cards at Home Goods for next to nothing--we couldn't believe our luck! I printed them up on my home computer. 

Kristin also made the cupcakes including the birds!

I made the wreath and Kristin made a sweet bird cookie for each guest to take home. 

Later, I had Karen pose for lots of prego pics! This is a cute on with her hubby, John.

At the end of the day, we were all completely exhausted and poor Kristin ended up in bed with a fever  (the perils of having two small children!).  After all of our guests had gone home, my sisters, our husbands and children all sat on the porch and ate up all the yummy leftovers! I hope that Karen and all our guests had a lovely lunch on the patio! I'm admittedly glad to be done with this only because we have been planning this gathering for months and it was exciting to see our plans unfold and come to life! I'm also terribly excited to meet my new niece and see my baby sister in action as a mommy.