#tbt Work Showers

Since it’s Thursday, I’m throwing it back and highlighting a couple baby showers I threw in 2011 and 2013 for work friends.

Throwing a shower at work can have its challenges – the space isn’t exactly party friendly, what with the industrial laminate floor, the florescent lighting, the office chairs and tables… Do I need to go on?! Nevertheless, you can still make the shower special if you embrace (and try to distract from) the space! I’ve had the good fortune to be surrounded by lovely coworkers who I’ve been thrilled to celebrate and I’m going to highlight two baby showers I’ve thrown at work. Hopefully your eye is drawn toward the decor and away from the office space.

In 2011, I threw a shower to celebrate the arrival of baby Claire. Her mom was doing a zoo theme in the nursery, so I decided to focus on one animal in particular – the elephant! It was so fun to bring the idea to life. Some of my favorite things are the orange circus peanuts, the elephant books, and that pink appliqued sleeper (my favorite baby gift to give – the company that made this particular one doesn’t exist anymore, but there are tons of similar shops on etsy). The elephant cake was one of my first attempts at piping -It was quite the project, and since then I’ve opted for simpler desserts and less stress.

The flower vases have a smaller nesting vase inside to hold the tulips and then the peanuts line the outer vase. When the shower was over, I was able to lift the smaller vases out of the peanuts and send those with the tulips home with Claire’s mom. Most of the other decor also went home with Claire’s mom – I love being able to do that, because the items can be a great memory of the shower for years to come as they get re-purposed for other uses (like those great pink tubs!).

In 2013, I hosted a shower to honor baby Sam’s mom. Sam’s parents are huge hockey fans, so I decided to make that my theme. I loved searching etsy for the perfect artwork to accompany this party, and I was so pleased with what I found because it has a children’s book feel that made it easy to incorporate into the nursery. The wrapping paper was a happy accident – the night before the event I realized I didn’t have anything to cover the table. This polka dot (or hockey puck!) paper was in my garage and ended up being perfect! I also love the look of the black licorice (or hockey puck!) candy.

The activity for this shower was painting onesies, and everyone had fun creating a wardrobe for baby Sam L. (his name was a secret before he was born, so an L went on his onesie). For a shower that has a lot of guests coming and going like this one did, I like to choose an activity that is self-paced and self-explanatory. I created a sample onesie and had it displayed with all the supplies and instructions so the guests could work on the project at their leisure.

Both of these parties were so fun, and the two moms were showered with great gifts. For office showers, I always like to offer the option of a group gift. I usually talk to the honoree ahead of time to see what large items she might need. The group gift takes the pressure of selecting a gift off your coworkers, and you’re able to give the honoree exactly what she wants. For these two showers, we were able to give Claire’s mom a food delivery subscription, and Sam’s mom got his BOB stroller and car seat!

Party on!
JW