REAL PARTIES: Oh Boy! Gumball Shower
categories: baby shower ideas, real parties
This next Real Party is a colorful “Oh Boy! Baby Shower” from Ebony Sparkes, featuring fun details like gumball-filled vases and an adorable plush-lion-topped diaper cake. Read on for all the sweet details, as told by Ebony herself…
*****
“My friend Nicole and I were so excited to plan this baby shower for our dear friend Torrie. Planning this shower was an absolute joy for us, as Torrie has always been a great friend. She gave us complete range to do whatever we wanted and “Oh Boy” did we ever!
We were inspired by Amy’s “Oh Baby” baby shower right here from the HWTM and added our own special touches, so we came up with the “Oh Boy Gumball Shower” theme.
The welcome table was decorated with a diaper cake that I made using the instructions found here on HWTM blog.
We added some bling to the table by adding crystals along with bright fresh flowers, in beautiful mint julep cups.
Guest could also make a scrapbook page for the parents album, sign the Piggy Bank and complete a label for the baby’s book club!
I made the invitation (pictured at top) using Adobe Photoshop and applied a cute pregnant diva stamp from Stamping Bella. Torrie had not seen the invitation prior to the shower, so we framed it as a keep sake for her.
For the venue, we selected a beautiful art gallery in a community center that featured children’s artwork displayed on the walls. This gave us a great background for the shower and beautiful high ceilings.
The centerpieces were tall clear vases (about 17″) with transparent dots on them from IKEA. We filled them with literally hundreds of gumballs that we ordered from Sam’s club. Atop the gumballs we added beautiful fresh flowers for additional color.
We really wanted to incorporate Torrie’s favorite color orange, so we used bright orange table linens. We added turquoise 12x 12 scrapbook paper for the place setting. We made custom napkins rings with ribbon from our local craft store (A.C. Moore) and cut circles out of colored paper and stamped “Oh Boy” on them.
In keeping with the theme, the favor was a turquoise miniature gum ball machine, wrapped with orange ribbon and hang tag (see 2nd image, above)! They were a big hit.
The cake table was adorned with all things orange, brown and turquoise. There were treat bags, cupcakes, and edible arrangements (with fresh fruit).
Here is mommy-to-be on the left with the two hostesses (Nicole and Ebony on the right) that were both expecting by the time the shower took place.
Special thanks to Torrie for allowing us to share is the beautiful event, and we were all so excited when Baby Jayden made his appearance!”
-
This is adorable and I LOVE the idea of the art gallery with CHILDREN’S artwork!!!
http://www.celebrationsathome.blogspot.com
Aug 25, 2009 at 10:44 am -
Ebony and Nicole you all did a wonderful job. I knew my shower would be great, but it exceeded my wildest dreams. Thank you for a heartfelt shower. i am BLESSED to have you wondeful ladies in my life. Not only are you are wonderful freinds but you are wondeful mother’s as well. You both are an inspiration to me!
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:04 am -
You guys did a great job!!!!
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:10 am -
I really love how you incorporated the gumballs everywhere! It’s such a cute theme!
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:23 am -
The Baby Shower was absolutely fabulous. The ladies did an outstanding job of incorporating the theme and color palet down to the final details. Obviously, they know Torrie very well. She was ecstatic and overwhelmed with the whole event and what a wonderful way to welcome Baby Jayden to the world surrounded by family and friends.
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:23 am -
Soror Ebony,
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:26 am
You guys did a great job. I especially love the decorations. You didn’t do the traditional safe colors and decorations and it turned out nice. -
This is one of the BEST baby showers I’ve ever seen. I love the gumball machines and the lion on top of the diaper cake. The color choices are fantastic! I also really like the activity book for guests to fill out for the parents to be! It’s like every little detail coordinated with each other perfectly.
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:27 am
-
This is gorgeous! I love every little detail…it’s obvious these women put much energy and time into this shower and it shows!
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:31 am -
Super cute shower!! I love the mini gumball machines and the scrapbook table idea. What a great favor and super cute way to get the guests involved in the shower.
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:42 am -
This is absolutely adorable and unique!!! I love the idea of a gumball shower. I agree that having the art gallery with the children’s artwork as the location added a special touch to the day. My favorite idea (besides the centerpieces) is incorporating the mom-to-be’s favorite color of orange in the decorations. It gave the whole theme a special touch while still using the traditional blue. Great job!
Aug 25, 2009 at 11:49 am -
This shower was absolutely beautiful. The scrapbook paper was a unique addition. The color scheme and textures used were fabulous. I love the whole look. Great job
Aug 25, 2009 at 12:29 pm -
Thanks! this was a pleasure planning… Lots of fun and most of our inspiration came from right here – HWTM is the BEST!
Aug 25, 2009 at 1:04 pm -
Soror Ebony,
Aug 25, 2009 at 1:14 pm
GIRL YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR CALLING..idk if youre this good at project management work but in the event you get sick of that, party planning should be your next thing..this is SOOOO BEAUTIFUL. When its my turn, will you come to NC and do mine -
WOW, really nice. Great idea.
Aug 25, 2009 at 1:47 pm -
The gumball motif is engaging and amazing. This looks like a top notch event that kept everyone entertained. High style indeed! Good job!
Aug 25, 2009 at 1:59 pm -
WOW! That was an awesome idea, incorporating that theme with all those vibrant colors! You guys did a fabolous job. I will definitely look you up for a future event.
Aug 25, 2009 at 2:44 pm -
Wow! This looks like it was professionally done without being “stuffy!” The colors were bright and beautiful. The gumballs were a nice touch without being over the top! I’m sure the mother could not have asked for a better event! Look out world!
Aug 25, 2009 at 5:44 pm -
Very colorful and creative. Nice job!
Aug 25, 2009 at 5:48 pm -
I love this theme… what a cute idea!
Aug 25, 2009 at 6:10 pm -
What a unique theme! I love the colors. I can tell you and your co-hostess put a lot of time and thought in planning this shower. You guys did a fabulous job!
Aug 25, 2009 at 8:46 pm -
WOW WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SHOWER.YOU LADIES ARE SO TALENTED,I LOVE ALL THE DETAILS.
Aug 26, 2009 at 6:41 am -
Excellent job. I just love the colors!!!!
Aug 26, 2009 at 8:24 am -
Where did you get that adorable paper for the invitations?
Aug 26, 2009 at 9:03 am -
What a cute idea! I’m taking serious notes as I have a baby shower to plan too!
Aug 26, 2009 at 9:58 am -
I likes your photos of decoration with gumballs and also gumball machines. You can get more gumballs in Gumball.com for gifts or for table decoration.
Aug 26, 2009 at 11:41 am -
I love all of the gumball details, so fun!
Aug 26, 2009 at 11:57 am -
Soror Ebony, this is wonderful! you are very talented!
Aug 26, 2009 at 8:16 pm -
Love that adorable diaper cake
Aug 27, 2009 at 9:24 pm -
Creative, charming, and colorful–
so why wasn’t I invited?The fact that I don’t know ANY of the participants may be a reason.
LOL
Aug 31, 2009 at 8:35 am -
Alaina -
I made the invite in Photoshop and placed in on top of bright orange cardstock.
Sep 14, 2009 at 6:19 am
