Pampering Spaaahh Baby Shower

Becoming a mommy for the first time was quite possibly one of the best things that have ever happened to me.  I never knew I was capable of such intense feeling, until they laid Colin on my chest in the delivery room.  Frankly, I lost my mind and have been head over heels ever since.

You can imagine how excited I was when one of my closest friends, Jessica found out that she was pregnant with her first baby!  I was so thrilled to welcome her to the mommy club, but as is the norm, she was understandably nervous about all that she was about to go through.  So, my dear friends and I decided that we would throw her a shower that would not only provide her with the things she and baby would need, but also help to relax her before his arrival.

Jessica and her hosts L to R, Amanda, Randy, Kate & Kim (Randy and Kim were not able to be there day-of, but they were part of the planning all the way through!)

With relaxation and baby boy’s nursery colors in mind, I set to work coming up with a cute logo for our “Spa.”  I wanted to create something simple that would invoke the spa atmosphere, but personalized for Jess.

Logo complete and ready to be applied generously to all of our party details, I began the invitations.  One of my gracious co-hosts, Amanda bravely offered to have the shower at her home (despite the fact that we intended to have self-service spa sessions) and the guest of honor chose a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Setting perfection.  Of course, I made sure the invites included her registry information, but Amanda had a great plan on an additional fun inclusion for them; a diaper raffle!  Totally brilliant idea from the four time mom, in order to build up Jessica’s supply for when baby arrives.  I think all mommies know that one of the most expensive things a baby needs are DIAPERS (and lots of them).  Guests were encouraged to bring along a package of diapers for entry into a prize-winning drawing.  They turned out to be pretty adorable:

Once the invitations were out, I hit my usual spots for ideas; Pinterest, Hobby Lobby, Amazon, Home Goods and yes, Dollar Tree (I’m NOT loaded, y’all).  Amanda was working on the menu and decorations, while I concentrated on activities and favors.  There would be spa stations, and the raffle, as well as BINGO that centered around Jess' gift opening.  These girls would be taken care of!

We wanted to set up small self-service spa stations for the guests around a large table.  This would allow them to socialize, as well as pamper themselves in the same area.  We set up two stations each for facials, manicures and pedicures around Amanda's dining room table (See?  BRAVE)
I wanted the ladies to be well-supplied while they pampered themselves, so I decided to do a "pamper me bar."  Through the years I've been doing parties, I've accumulated quite the collection of jars and vases for bars such as this, so those supplies were on hand.  The spa supplies were another story entirely.  And so, I began with a site that I had used several times before, nailsupplies.us.  They are priced unbelievably for a non-licensed commoner, such as myself and that is very appreciated!  Amazingly, while browsing, I discovered a collection I had never heard of before...ready for it?  Jessica Cosmetics.  Yep, her very own name.  I found the perfect signature shade that not only matched our theme, but also had "boy" in the title!

Supplied with two dozen of these, matching moisturizers and base and top coats, I dove into the accessories which I knew would be needed to complete each girls' service.  Armed with coordinating favor bags with logo stickers, the girls could pick and choose what they liked and take home treats for further spa treatments at home.  

As I planned more, I was more confident with the task at hand and decided to do some additional crafting for the "bar."  This can prove to be a great idea...or a sad failure.  In my case, there was a little of both!  The three that made it to the table were the Kool Aid Lip Balms (done in Blue Raspberry Lemonade flavor/color), the Creaseless Hair Ties (in matching aqua and gray) and the Homemade Bath Salts (colored aqua and displayed in individual tubes).

And of course, my beautiful, sad little failure...the Bath Bombs.  This may seem like an easy DIY, but I can assure you, for the girl who skipped over Chemistry in high school and avoided it in college like the plague, it is not.  I followed the directions exactly, with one adjustment (which is listed in the instructions as an IF).  I added more water, since they seemed too dry.  DON'T add more water or your bombs will be ruined, as evidenced by the photo below (courtesy of my husband and captioned "Nailed it!").  Even perfectionists with OCD fail sometimes!

Needless to say, the bath bombs were eliminated from the final cut.  I'm fairly certain no one missed these horrifying things.

As the day came closer, Amanda had assembled a banner, framed some adorable printables to display around the shower and mastered another craft I failed on a previous occasion (Stained Glass Votives-hers were done in aqua)!

The printables were so cute, I have to share and give credit to the designers!

Perfect Gift, Little Boy, Colby K & Relax

Decorations and spa stations set, we went to two grocery stores and began prepping food.  This of course, had to keep with the theme and with Amanda's expertise in cookie frosting and melon slicing, we had some lovely results!  We put out "rolled towel" turkey wraps, fruit cups, cheese and crackers and made sure we had some sweets.  The table below housed the coordinating Lindt truffles, "cucumber" cookies, aqua frosted cupcake minis and the "nail file" wafer cookies.

And as is necessary when lots of women assemble to celebrate a new baby, we served a bit of champagne (with OJ and Blue Curacao),  The Mimosa Moons were a hit and matched perfectly, though we did have to call for emergency refill supplies!

The day was a huge success and Jess went home with tons of goodies off her registry, as well as diapers to last for quite some time.  I'm pretty sure she will still be using them for months to come!  The girls helped pamper her and give her a day to remember long after Colby made his debut.  Having a newborn is not exactly relaxing, but I know her life is changed forever in only the best way.  And I'm beyond thankful that we were the ones to honor her as she waited for him.  Love you Jessie!

Jess' sweet boy, Colby (isn't he JUST??!!)