Hosting a Sip and See

OK, I realize my recent posts have been heavy on the entertaining side and light on the interior design side.  But, it's the summer.  And we tend to entertain more this time of year, so my posts reflect this.  Like the one today!

A couple of weeks ago, we hosted a baby shower - well, the baby (a girl!)  arrived early so we turned the shower into a sip and see for the family's new addition.  

My plan was to keep it simple and do one center arrangement of flowers on the table.  One late night Pinterest search later, and "keep it simple" was thrown out the window.  You know what I'm talking about here!  So many ideas, it's difficult to decide where to focus your time and energy.  

Here are a few pictures of my dining room table decorated for the party (pre-food) . . . 

Can you see the rain boots?

These were so fun to make, I took a pair of Hello Kitty rain boots, and created a simple monogram for the baby to place on top of the Hello Kitty logo.  Then, I filled them with summer flowers to complete the look.  

Here's the table decked out with all the food.  All these delicious dishes were made by two of the other hosts of the party!  It was a ton of work, and I'm so grateful they let me focus on the flowers! 

You may recognize the food offerings.  I tried these recipes out earlier in the summer on my study club which I posted about here just to make sure they were delicious.  There were around 20 couples at the sip and see, and it was during the dinner hour - so there was a lot of food to make!

I did want to show you this trick!  The desserts were store bought brownies and lemon squares.  One of the hosts spruced the lemon squares up by adding a fresh raspberry and a sprinkle of powered sugar.  Before I even knew what happened, I'd downed three of them.  So good.

We did a beverage station in my breakfast room. . . 

I also did these very simple cards for each of the food offerings and the beverage table.  They were so easy to make, and it's amazing how much they add to a table.

At the end of the party, we had party favors (just a chocolate mint or two) to grab on your way out.

We had so much fun celebrating this sweet baby girl's arrival.  She was an angel the entire party, and it was a great getting to share this special evening with some very proud parents.  

Have a great day!  I promise to share more interior design stuff with you later this week. M.