Woodland Themed Baby Shower

I used a lot of things I already had. I don’t like to buy stuff that’s super specific for a party. I like to use stuff that you might use in real life and just double duty it for parties.

For this I used a lot of natural elements, wood trays and plates, I had faux fern and evergreen wreaths that I use for lots of things. Magnolia Market has cute ones. I had old thermoses, wooden lanterns, and old Coleman ice chest. I have wooden berry baskets that I use usually at the holidays to put cookies in. I put an enamel bowl in one for snacks. If it had been fall or winter I would have used some plaid blankets.

Just think about the theme. Don’t think about what kind of party it is or look at regular party stores they will mess you up. Instead think about the theme. It’s a woodland theme. What is in the woods, what do you do in the woods, that kind of stuff. So there are trees, pine needles, pine cones, acorns, ferns, wildflowers, nests, and wildlife in the woods. So then I look around my house and in my storage of stuff for those kinds of things. Next what do you do in the woods. Camp. So campfires, s’mores, etc.

You want tall things, medium things, then tiny things to scatter and fill in empty spaces. The lanterns and thermos were tall, I used cake stands to raise some of the food platters. Then the platters and plates are the medium items. The small things are pinecones, fake acorns I have for fall a fake nest with moss in it. I found some mason jars, filled them with battery twinkle lights and moss to look like fireflies. Your serving dishes should go with the theme too. That’s why I mostly have white, silver, and wood. You can pretty much use that combo for anything.

I also don’t like paper products. It cost more money, you are throwing more into the dump and it’s not as nice. I only use paper plates if it’s a lot of people. I have white plates from World Market or TJ Maxx or even Target they all have standard nice white plates that will go with anything. Target and World Market carry the same style for a long time so you could gradually buy what you need. I think at least 20 is good. You’ll use the small plates more so buy those first. Same thing with napkins, silverware and cups. You can get inexpensive white or off white napkins almost anywhere. Just don’t get the polyester ones. They feel terrible, look cheap, and don’t work anyways. Get cotton, linen or something natural. The cups you can mix and match so just buy cool smaller glasses when you find them. They should be old fashioned sizes. That works best for parties. The silverware will be the most expensive. You can get them at the same places or go to an antique shop that sells silver and buy mixed matched ones which I prefer. But eventually you’ll have a nice collection and never have to buy paper products again. And it just looks so much nicer.

For the food…

If I want to go with the theme because you don’t have to always do that. But if I go with the theme I think about food that would be eaten in that country or in that location or if you were really doing the thing the theme is based on. So in this case woodland, I went with camp type stuff.

Local baker made S’mores cupcakes (I got the idea from good ole Pinterest), I tried to make the cute little red toadstools from Pinterest but I couldn’t figure out how they made the little white dots. So it wasn’t a complete success but they were still cute. Made deviled potatoes that I just made up. Bought some fancy nut mix (Sahale) for a trail mix, made pigs in a blanket but put them on little twigs to look like we roasted them over a fire (you can order the twigs from Save-On-Crafts) Then the rest wasn’t all that camp like but it went with the rest of the food. Just roll with it.

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Menu

S’mores Cupcakes
Graham cracker mini cupcakes with chocolate Hersey icing,
toasted marshmallow and a teddy graham
(if it needs to be baked the day of – order it instead
it will be too much to do the day of)

Camp Sliders
Hawaiian rolls, with turkey, smoked gouda,
and sautéed onions mixed with fig jam

Campfire Pigs in a Blanket
Good quality hot dogs rolled in crescent roll dough
baked according to the package.
Then skewer with a twig and serve with
mild mustard mixed with apricot jam

Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Sandwiches
Pepperidge Farm white bread cut in half and toasted
2 pouches of smoked salmon (like tuna)
mixed with crème fraiche, chopped drained capers
chopped dill, mustard, lemon zest and juice
top the toast with the salmon, a thin slice of
cucumber that’s been patted dry, celery salt and
a few sprigs of watercress.

Toadstool Caprese Skewers
Skewer half a grape tomato, a little piece of
mozzarella string cheese, and a leaf of parsley.
(maybe you can figure out the little white dots)

Deviled Roasted Potatoes
Baby gold potatoes, cut in half tossed with olive oil
salt and pepper and roasted until soft and browned.
Hard boil eggs and remove the yolks, whip the yolks with
sour cream, mustard, and drained relish. You want it stiff.
Top the cooled potatoes with a dollop of egg mixture
and a piece of cooked bacon.

Spring Vegetables with Dip
Bousin cheese with sour cream, chopped fresh chives.
Microwave a bag of French green beans until still crisp.
Microwave very thin asparagus with the woody ends snapped
off until still crisp, slice radishes in half.

Fancy Trail Mix
Sahale nut mix they have many different flavors

Coffee and Nut M&Ms
These were buy one get one at Publix so I grabbed them
can’t really taste the coffee but they are all different shades
of brown so they looked like pebbles! Perfect!

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For the drinks

I bought Simply Lemonade brand juices. They are all natural not from
concentrate so they taste great. Not fake.

Simply Peach | add sliced fresh peaches and blueberries

Simply Limeade | add sliced cucumber, limes, and strawberries

Pitcher of water | add sliced cucumber

Then I also had a bottle of champagne if anyone wanted to spike their juices.

Usually I set up everything the week before to make sure I have what I need and have time to go buy what I’m missing

Then I prep the food the day before and just assemble the morning of. It was a busy week so I didn’t get to prep ahead of time. Fortunately, I had chosen simple things and my son, his boyfriend, and my husband all pitched in. We had the food ready to go in 3 hours. Sweet!

Photo credit | Carly Robertson Photography