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When my friend  Yvonne King was having a baby girl after two (gorgeous and wonderful) little boys, I was more than a little excited when she agreed to let me host her baby shower! I could just imaging a queen themed baby shower in honor of the newest baby King. My friend Yvonne is one of the most kind, strong, and smart women I know and she is a wonderful mother to boot. I just know her daughter is going to grow up to be a Queen in her own right. Read on to see the details from this queen-themed baby shower.

Queen themed baby shower | A Well Crafted Party

Party Inspiration for a Queen-Themed Baby Shower

When planning a queen themed baby shower I knew I wanted to have a few crowns on display, but really just wanted to fill the space with beautiful flowers, delicious foods, and bits of glitter and gold.  The shower colors of mint and peach were based loosely on the colors from the baby’s new nursery. I’ve always felt that using nursery colors in the baby shower makes it easy utilize some of the nursery decor in the shower or some of the shower decorations in the nursery.

Inspiration for a Queen Themed Baby Shower | A Well Crafted Party

Queen-themed Party Decorations

I met the mother-to-be a few years ago through blogging world. She used her background in fashion to design her beautiful home. When it came to decorating this party I knew that I didn’t need to go crazy on decorations because her house would be a delightful backdrop that I did not want to cover up! I kept the decorations to some beautiful flowers (both real, fake, and the paper variety), glitter crowns, and small balloon arrangements. I usually do not use fake flowers in my decor, but I wanted to have something that wouldn’t wilt in the balloon decorations so I did break my rule and utilize beautiful fake blooms in the balloon arrangements. I got all of my decor supplies on Amazon. (Affiliate links below.)


For the flower arrangements I picked up blossoms from my local super markets (I think I ended going to three different ones to get the blooms I wanted) but I focused on peach, pink, and cream blooms with eucalyptus. I actually arranged them on site of the party because I wasn’t entirely sure about how I wanted to use them. A few blooms were cut to their heads and placed in the beverage bucket as well. I also used fresh fruit to decorate the food platters and beverage station.

Queen Themed Party Decor | A Well Crafted Party

Lunch Baby Shower Food | A Well Crafted Party

 

Baby Shower Activities

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times… I’m just not a fan of most baby shower games. In nearly every party I host I keep it to activities rather than the more traditional games. (Not saying I won’t play and enjoy when I attend a party… I just don’t do them when I host.)

The mom-to-be actually picked out the main activity! She knew she wanted to create onesies with black text on white after seeing parties online. I loved the idea but just couldn’t find the right typeface for the tiny little onesies. Thankfully, our mutual friend Suzannah, of Create/Enjoy, had a Silhouette machine (affiliate link) that we were able to use to create iron on messages in the fonts and sizes we desired. (See her post on creating custom T-shirts.) The guests in attendance got to pick a blank or printed onesie and add a message for baby-to-be. We had a table with the Silhouette machine and computer set up as well as a ironing board and iron. The onesies doubled as party decor!

In addition to the onesie activity I did have a small set of envelopes set out asking guests to write their addresses on them. I gifted the mom to be a set of coordinating thank you cards that she could fill out after the party and not have to worry about sourcing addresses.

Baby Shower Activity Making Custom Onesies | A Well Crafted Party

Baby Shower Activity Making Custom Onesies | A Well Crafted Party

Baby Shower Activity Making Custom Onesies | A Well Crafted Party Baby Shower Activity Making Custom Onesies | A Well Crafted Party

Queen-themed Party Favors

(Items marked with asterisk (*) is an affiliate link.)

I am a fan of party favors in general. Seriously, it is a must for my parties. But, for some reason, it is difficult for me to land on the right favor for each party. I never want it to be things that people will just want to trash. I ordered beautiful mint colored boxes from Oriental Trading*, rock candy in pink*, sparkling rose from Trader Joes, and crown pins from Amazon*. I then created a card for for the crown to go on and slipped them into a plastic sleeve. I am hoping that the guests placed the pin on their bags or some place that they may be reminded of sweet baby King. The cards shared a quote from author Adrian Michael, “She is the type of queen that knows her crown isn’t on her head, but in her soul.”  (Download my printable queen favor cards and thank you tags here!)

Queen Themed Party Favors | A Well Crafted Party

Lunch Themed Baby Shower Menu

The time of day of a party always helps determine the party menu. I’ve enjoyed doing brunch baby showers before but really thought it would be fun to try a lunch-time shower this time around. I knew that we had meat eaters, vegetarians, and some who avoided gluten so I wanted to have a variety of lunch items. The menu consisted of:

  • Caprese sandwiches
  • Ham and Brie sandwiches
  • Salad
  • Veggie Platter
  • Fruit Platter
  • Assorted pastries
  • Homemade ice cream

I made most of the foods other than some of the assorted pastries and the salad which was created by the blogger behind The Spicy Bee. To make the sandwiches I just halved baguettes and filled them with goodies. The caprese sandwiches had mozzarella, roma tomatoes, and basil with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The ham and brie sandwiches had a ground mustard with ham and slices of brie cheese. I then wrapped the sandwiches in tan parchment paper and twine.

Lunch Baby Shower Food | A Well Crafted Party Lunch Baby Shower Food | A Well Crafted Party Lunch Baby Shower Food | A Well Crafted Party Lunch Baby Shower Food | A Well Crafted Party Lunch Baby Shower Food | A Well Crafted Party

Baby Shower Beverages

I really wanted to keep the beverages simple to compliment the light lunch. When serving alcohol at morning or mid-day parties it is advisable to keep the beverages light. I went with sparkling wine, pink lemonade, and sparkling water for the baby shower beverages. What really set off this beverage station was the gorgeous glassware that the mom-to-be had in her home. Can you believe it? They are BEAUTIFUL!

Baby Shower Beverages | A Well Crafted Party

Baby Shower Beverages | A Well Crafted Party Baby Shower Beverages | A Well Crafted Party

I don’t know if there is a greater honor than being able to celebrate a friend in a special moment such as a wedding, milestone birthday, or when they are having a baby. I’m so thankful that I got to help celebrate my friend Yvonne and her baby King with this shower fit for a queen.

Have you ever had the pleasure of hosting a party for a loved one? What was your favorite detail? Comment below!

 

Halloween for me is a dream. It is a chance to truly create a one-of-a-kind world within a party each year. There have been some years in the past where I’ve just had all of the crazy life things happening and I’ve opted for a traditional, creepy black and orange style Halloween party. There will always be a special place in my heart for those traditional Halloween shindigs. However, my favorite years tend to be the years where we create a party around a theme, including this past year’s comic book themed Halloween.

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

For me a theme gives me boundaries to be creative within which helps in pulling back and focusing on the most essential details. Some of my favorite themes of the past include a Joss Whedon themed party (still to be posted!), fairy tale themed Halloween dinner, and a Mad Tea Party. Last year we decided to try out a comic-book themed party. It was a blast! Read on to discover some tips for creating your own comic book themed party.

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Our bar was inspired pretty heavily from the Evite ‘Comic Book Party Super Bar‘ – I had drew a similar design from their inspiration post. Theirs is about 50 times more fabulous, but the idea made an impact for our bar as well. Kudos to their in-house party stylist for some seriously awesome inspiration. If you don’t already follow the Evite party planning blog then I recommend you check it out!

I created a few fun cocktails including a punch bowl. In addition we had beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages.

Comic Book Themed Costumes

Hosting parties that have a theme give guests a small idea of what to expect and it also helps bring together some pretty great costumes. The comic-book theme made me get creative with my costume. I like doing family costumes so I finally landed on a Felicity Smoak costume and the family and I pulled from the Arrow and Flash comics for our outfits.

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Decor

I really wanted to have fun with the comic book decor, but honestly, didn’t have a crazy budget. So, instead, I ordered a batch of comic books off of Amazon (affiliate link) and was pleased at the crazy mixture that I received. I held back the best books for part of my favor bags and then used the other ones to create a table cloth for the tables, tags for our favor bags, and wraps for the cups. I also created large comic book images utilizing a roll of white butcher paper (affiliate link) and a projector.

Our really big cityscape wall was created with black kraft paper (affiliate link), yellow construction paper, and cardboard boxes. A very good friend of mine came over and built the whole city knowing that the kids were going to destroy it afterwards!

I also found some great comic book characters at local thrift stores for about a dollar a piece. It was a great addition to the party and then my sons got to play with them afterwards!

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party


FOOD… the food was hard for me because I wanted it to be tasty and easy, but also in theme as much as possible. We did ‘Hero Sammies’ and Super Salad to make sure that there were some hearty and healthy dishes. We also created some super hero cupcakes with a mini-hershey bar and a store bought cupcake!

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

Comic book party favors

Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party Comic Book Halloween Party | A Well Crafted Party

I love giving guests something to remember the party by… typically, for Halloween, I get some candy or edible treats that the guests can enjoy. For the comic book themed party I put in a comic book (super affordable when buying in a mixed group!), stickers, and candy. We also had a costume contest with small comic book character prizes and tasty chocolate.

Check out more ideas for a comic book themed party via my Comic Book Party Pinterest Board.

Tell me, what is your favorite comic book themed character?

I seriously cannot stop sharing images from this amazing night. Our tenth anniversary party was absolutely an excuse for us to celebrate our marriage with the people that we’d gained over the last ten years—the people who are our support group now (and always). It was also an excuse to eat ridiculously good food and drink some delicious beverages. Andina Restaurant in Portland, Oregon provided the perfect venue and menu for our little shindig.

(Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way.)

Andina's Party Menu for special occasions from A Well Crafted Party

We chose Andina restaurant in Portland, Oregon as our venue for four very good reasons:

  1. We loved the food there and had one of our most memorable post-marriage date nights eating a delicious meal there.
  2. They had a GORGEOUS space that fit our party’s numbers.
  3. Andina’s team of people that helped me secure the space, view it, try foods, and plan my party were so very helpful. I am a tad anal with events (spreadsheets are your friend!) and they were nothing but gracious hosts.
  4. It was affordable. I mean, it wasn’t inexpensive… but, I wanted a GREAT meal. A great meal was certainly had. Don’t believe me… let me show you:

(Amazing photos by Mary Boyden of Mary Boyden Photography)

 

Andina's Party Menu for special occasions from A Well Crafted Party

Andina's Party Menu for special occasions from A Well Crafted Party

 

Party Menu at Andina Restaurant in Portland, Oregon

There were several different choices and price points to create the party menu that we wanted. We chose to do a four course meal along with Tres Salsas Con Pan (breads with salsas/dipping sauces). My favorite part was being able to let my guests actually peruse the menu and select items that they wanted. I have done every style of dinner party there is from family style to buffet to plated… but, getting to have choices really made me feel like I was able to treat my guests. For our menu guests were able to choose from three selections of each of the courses. We chose those three selections prior to the day, but the guests got to choose their own items in the moment. I created the pictured menus because I wanted the menus to match the rest of the paper goods. The restaurant will make menus for you based on your selections if you aren’t as particular as I am. ::wink::