As an event coordinator for a community bank, I plan a lot of different types of events, but I was recently asked to arrange a surprise baby shower for a co-worker.  Yes, I have an awesome job! 🙂  Luckily, I already had a “Baby Shower” board on Pinterest full of ideas.  Those who know me personally would now say “but of course you would!”  LOL

My recon/planning partner learned that the nursery was being decorated in yellow and purple, so we based all of the decor off that, including a ribbon garland that can be hung in the nursery.    

My co-hort picked out adorable mini cupcakes with purple and yellow frosting to match our theme so I made a simple cupcake stand with two square glass plates from Walmart and a glass candlestick from the thrift store.  Easy peasy!  And you’d never know it only cost about $8 to make! Oh yeah!  Thrifty chic!

And what baby shower is complete without a diaper cake?  I’d recently seen a new style done to look like fondant on Pinterest, so I gave it a try.  Note to self – next time use thinner ‘flannel/receiving blankets’ rather than the cute, but thick fuzzy blankets!  Granted the chevron one was from her registry so I just had to make it work.  A little ribbon trim and thrifted faux flowers gave it the finishing touch.  Our male colleagues were quite baffled at the idea of a cake you don’t eat, but they too thought it turned out pretty well.  Although it did look good enough to eat on my pretty cake stand I bought last year at Home Goods for a measly $15!

My Pottery Barn knock-off drink dispenser – which I found at Safeway for just $17 – finally found a use other than decorating the tops of my kitchen cabinets.  It held the very tasty pink lady punch that was a surefire hit!  And the recipe was super simple:

• 1 quart pineapple juice
• 1 quart cranberry juice cocktail
• 2 quarts ginger ale
• Cranberries to garnish (or substitute fruit or other berries)

It was actually so good that I brought the rest home to share with my hubby who liked it as well – which means it’s super good because he’s a secret chef! 🙂

I also framed a picture from the maternity session I had done with her and her husband the week prior so their baby girl will have a picture of mommy and daddy in her room from the moment she arrives!

We all chipped in to get the stroller she still needed and put together a hospital survival kit, so she’s got everything ready for the trip to the delivery room!  I’m still surprised we were able to pull it off without her finding out.  We had a few close calls and thought she might be on to our little scheme, but we were very happy that she was truly surprised!

That was my take on a simple, chic baby shower!  Whatcha think?