How To Host A Zoom Baby Shower

Although life in parts of the world is starting to go back to normal, there are many of us who are still dealing with strict lockdown measures which make getting together for something like a baby shower near impossible.

That is the situation I found myself in this month.

My dear friend is expecting her first baby. Although she lives here in Europe, she is from Canada, and had always really looked forward to having a baby shower of her own. As we began planning for the festivities, the lockdown measures started to change weekly, and we found ourselves up against the date, but under restrictions that would not allow public gatherings. Additionally, my mama friend is naturally trying to stay healthy leading up to her due date, and so we were trying to avoid any unnecessary risks before her big day.

So, rather reluctantly at first, we switched gears, and decided to make it a "Zoom Baby Shower".

I wasn't sure that we could pull it off, but it ended up being incredibly successful, so I though that I would share with you some of the things that I did, in the hopes that if you find yourself in a similar situation, that you will be able to create your own fun, and make the sweet mama-to-be feel special and loved.

1. Scheduling a Zoom Meeting

The first thing you are going to need to do, is decide on a date and time for your Zoom call. If you don't already have one, create a free Zoom account, and follow their very easy steps to create a meeting. Once you've done that, you can send the link to any invitees. You could create an e-invite, or an invitation PDF and send the link along with it.

2. Party in a Box

One of the main components of the Zoom Baby Shower was something I called "party in a box". Basically, the idea was, that the box would contain everything the person would need to have a party at home. You (or mama-to-be) can choose a theme, and go crazy!

Mine included:

1 paper plate

1 napkin

1 balloon

1 themed cookie

1 white onesie cookie

1 edible marker

1 cakesicle

Other ideas:

stickers, BINGO cards, "mommy or daddy" questionnaire, candy, juice box, etc. 

I made elephant cookies following the recipe steps I used for my llama cake, as well as onesie ones. For the onesies, I only iced them in white, so that every one could then "design" a onesie with the marker I included in the box. It made for a fun activity we could all do "together" on Zoom.

For the cakesicles I made two 9-inch cake layers using this chocolate cupcake recipe. I love it, because it tastes almost like a brownie! 

I also saved about 2 tbsp buttercream frosting from the last time I decorated a cake. I found some cakesicle moulds on Amazon, watched a lot of tutorials on Youtube, and set to work. Leave a comment below, if you'd like to see a more in-depth tutorial for the cakesicle! That might be a fun follow-up post!

I baked and prepped everything ahead of time, kept them in the freezer, then packaged everything in boxes the day before the party, and my friend and her husband delivered them to her friends the day before the party. We asked them to keep their boxes in the fridge to avoid anything getting melted and ruined.

I made personalized labels for each box, tied them with some yarn, and added a tassel that matched the garland (see further down) I made, to really make it feel like the party came to them.

When mama-to-be delivered the cookies, the guests also gave her any gifts or cards that they had for her to open at the party.

3. "Setting the Scene"

This is my friend's first baby, so I really wanted her to get the full baby shower experience. The wall that we normally have our TV on is a great dark gray color and gets good light, so it's where I decided to set up some sort of backdrop. 

My backdrop included:

1 ballon arch

1 tassel garland (tassels are super easy to make, and are fun and whimsical)

2 elephant pull toys (the company sent on damaged one and sent a replacement, but didn't require me to send the chipped one back, so I used them both as decor)

gift section

2 chairs

some flowers (I decided to go with potted calla lilies, because my friend also just moved, so they are a great housewarming gift, too)

desserts

computer

Other ideas:

banner, poster, maternity photos, a screen with a slideshow going, etc.

4. How to actually HOST the Zoom Baby Shower

Think about who your guests are, and try to tailor the meeting towards them. Here are some examples of what I tried to think about and be mindful of.

- For this baby shower, I had people calling in from 3 different countries, and the attendees were of different nationalities/traditions. So, I couldn't do things like "the baby name game", or "the price is right", or something like "describe your favorite children's book".

- Not everyone knows one another.

- Not everyone speaks the same language. (I asked one sweet friend to please be gracious enough to translate for people. This inevitably made things a little longer, but made it so everyone felt a part of things.)

- We have about an hour.

- We have about 13 people attending.

Keeping those things in mind, this was the schedule I came up with:

5 minutes - Welcome everyone, explain the "party in a box"-es, invite them to open them up, and decorate their onesie cookies.

25 minutes - Introductions - I asked every lady to take turns introducing themselves, tell us how they know the mama-to-be, and one thing about her that tells them that she will be a wonderful mommy! 

10 minutes - "Help Mama" scavenger hunt. (I knew I didn't want our party to be game-heavy, what with the translation, and different cultures mingling. BUT I did want to engage our guests, and this game was perfect!) Explain to your guests, that the purpose of the game is to help our mama-to-be! In each round you will be describing an imaginary "emergency", then they'll need to go find the "thing" that mama needs. At the end of each round, the last ? people (we did 2) were out, and did not advance to the next round. The person who successfully helped mama with each emergency (i.e. made it back to their screen with the needed item in each round) wins!

These were our scenarios:

"Oh, no! Baby is hungry find him a bottle! It can be any kind of bottle!"

"Okay, now baby is cold, find him a blanket!"

"Baby is getting bored, quick, get him a toy!"

"We're on the move, find something to carry baby in!"

"Baby's skin is getting dry, lets get him some lotion!"

"Oops, baby has a blow out diaper, he needs a bath! Quick, find him some soap!"

It was AWESOME! Everyone got involved, they were super creative with their solutions, and it was a fun way to create a party atmosphere.

10-15 minutes - opening gifts (don't forget to have mama hold them up to the camera)

5 minutes - Close time together and pray over mama. (Of course, if you aren't religious, just skip that last part.)

This was my first time hosting a Zoom meeting at all, so I was a little anxious about how it would all go, but honestly, it could not have gone better! Everyone had a lovely time, my friend felt celebrated, and some very sweet memories were made!

Although a "Zoom Baby Shower" may not be ideal, for many of us these types of compromises are a reality, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun with it!

Fun And Chic Backyard Llama Party - On A Budget

I love parties. I love to think on them, plan them and then have it all come together. Color schemes get me excited, and although baking challenges scare me, I enjoy pushing myself to make something new.

This year especially, with everything going on (2020, amirite???), we decided to make our daughter's 2nd birthday party as budget-friendly as possible. This meant getting creative, and doing a lot of prep work ahead of time, but we managed to pull off a great party that was as fun and colorful as our little girl.

I thought others may find themselves in a similar situation - wanting to give your kid an unforgettable party, but also trying to be budget-conscious - so I decided to give you a few ideas on how to do just that.

1. Plan ahead - way ahead

Okay, I know not everyone gets as excited about kids' birthday parties as I do, but I generally have my kids' themes in mind months before their birthday. This allows me to buy things when they are on sale. For example, I knew I wanted these specific llama plates and napkins, and I knew which store carried them, so I kept an eye on them, and bought them when they were having a 25% off party items sale. This also can work with things like candles (pink and red ones are on sale after Valentine's Day), candy (after Halloween), fiesta decor (after Cinco de Mayo), etc. 

2. Dried flowers (use what you have)

I have a stash of dried flowers and branches and stuff. I have everything from cotton, to poppy pods, billy balls (craspedia), etc. I have collected them over the years, and use them interchangeably. I tend to stay within similar color schemes in my home and for parties, so having them already on hand helps. Dried flowers ended up being a great choice anyway, because it was so blasted hot, any fresh flowers would've withered in minutes.

In addition, I used vases I've had for years, and instead of buying bottled water, we kept refilling a couple glass bottles with water. (Except for a couple large bottles of Radenska, because Slovenian pride, woot-woot!)

3. YouTube How-To Videos/Pinterest

I watched so many how-to videos on YouTube in the past couple months! You can literally find everything on there! I'll reference back to this in my next points, but it deserves its own mention. Also, Pinterest is of course great for inspiration, but you can also find a lot of tutorials, which is fantastic for us visual learners.

4. Home-made decorations

I know not everyone feels crafty, but the decorations I made for my daughter's party were beyond easy, and very affordable.

I really wanted a garland, but they are ridiculously expensive, and I had a large wall I needed them to fit, which meant I was looking at at least 2 of them. Tassels go with the llama theme, but they are also just "in" right now, and oh so easy to make. 

So, I bought some yarn (in the colors of the party) which you can find for really great prices (in Slovenia you can find them at Svet Metraž or at Tedi, and in the States any craft store, or Walmart). I measured the length of my wall, then I measured out how spaced out I wanted them, and started making tassels in the evenings while watching TV, lol.

If you've never made a tassel before, it is beyond simple. There are numerous youtube tutorials out there, such as this one.

After I made the tassels, I sewed them (you could hot glue) to a piece of jute/twine that was the length of my wall.

Once I had that finished, I realized I had a bunch more yard, so I made a second garland to go around the table.

I still had yarn, so instead of buying a number balloon this year, I cut out a number 2 shape from cardboard, and then wrapped it in yarn (using hot glue to adhere it at the back).

I STILL had more yarn left, so I used it as ribbon on my daughter's birthday present. That yarn was the best thing I could've bought!

5. Cook/make/bake whatever you can for food

I've been baking bread (#thanksquarantine), so we decided to have sandwiches, for which I baked the bread the day before.

We also made a veggie tray instead of buying it (not that you could find one here, anyway) - it took one cucumber, 2 carrots, 1 1/2 bell peppers, a small container of cherry tomatoes, and then my husband made a sour cream dip. These were all things we normally already have on hand, so score one for the home team!

One of my favorite parts of the fiesta was this cactus watermelon.

I found an image of something like this on Pinterest, then watched a couple tutorials I found on YouTube, and got to work! It was actually easier than I thought it would be, although you do have to be careful, because as soon as you cut into a watermelon it wants to crack all over. But we did it, yay! (Luckily for us it's still watermelon season, so it was easy to find.) 

6. Bake the cake/cookies/dessert yourself

I've only been really baking for about 3 years, so trust me, I've been there. For our son's birthdays in the past we totally ordered a cake. BUT, I really had this specific cake in mind, and thought that if I tried really hard, I could do it.

I got my inspiration from Peggy Porschen Cakes. I used Chelsweets vanilla cake and buttercream frosting recipe. I added a little more cream than the recipe says (although she suggests doing exactly that to achieve the desired consistency). I made her recipe exactly, and it was just enough frosting. If I were to do something more elaborate with the frosting, I would've made a 1.5 batch, but it was perfect for my needs.

I baked the cake layers 3 days in advance and froze them (according to her instructions). This made them easier to torte and frost.

I frosted the cake the day before the party, and stored it in my fridge. (Again, I watched a LOT of tutorials on how to frost a cake as smoothly as possible. Mine isn't perfect, but considering it's only the second or third cake I've every frosted, I'm happy with the results.)

Now the cookies. Ah, the cookies. So, I'm not going to lie, these were hard, and took a couple days' work, but were totally worth it in the end. 

About a week before the party, I baked the cookies (I have my favorite recipe here), then I put them in the freezer. 

A couple days before the party, I made my icing according to Ann Clark's royal icing recipe (their website is also where I found the cookie cutters). 

I watched a bunch of "llama sugar cookie decorating" videos (mainly to see the order in which they iced certain parts). Then, I spent a whole day (thank goodness for school) icing the cookies.

Then, on the day of the party, I assembled it all, and was thrilled with the final result!

7. "Entertainment"

Since we were having the party in our backyard, we once again just worked with what we had. The kids spent the majority of the time on the trampoline, we took the kids' play tent outside, along with some Mega Bloks and our a doll house. We also had a little "coloring station", which I'm not gonna lie, not a single kid cared about, lol!

OH! And we had a piñata! Which was a complete hit! (Get it?)

And there you go! A very budget-friendly and super cute backyard llama party! At the end of the day, what the kids remember the most is that so many people who love them were there, and that they got to eat a couple too many cookies. And that, we had in spades!

Honeybee Themed 1st Birthday Party

This past weekend we celebrated our littlest cutie's 1st "bee day"! I love planning any kind of party, especially one with a fun theme. For Aidan's birthday we went with "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", so I kind of wanted to go with another Eric Carle book for Jocie's party. I found one of his books called "The Honeybee and the Robber", and it was so cute! Slovenia is really into beekeeping, so it just seemed like the perfect choice.

Here are some snapshots from the sweet day:

Food/Treats:

- Danish Lagkage - I decorated the cake with peaches, nectarines, apricots, mangoes and blueberries. Then I added a few fondant flowers and candy bees. I made the cake in a smaller pan, so it made 4 layers. I used a round cookie cutter to cut out three smaller circles and made Jocie a mini version of the cake. It worked out perfectly!

- Sugar Cookies - I bought cookie cutters from Ann Clark. I used the beehive one for the cookies. I decorated them with royal icing, candy bees and flowers. If you plan on making these, I suggest watching a tutorial on youtube, it was a big help.

- Sandwiches - My mom helped by using a hexagon shaped cutter to cut out sandwiches. Then my dad cut bees out of bell peppers. It looked so adorable!

- Melon Flowers - We cut flowers out of melons, put them on kebab sticks, and topped them with blueberries. So cute!

- Oreos - my parents brought back these Oreos from the States that have yellow filling.

- Cereal - we had some flower shaped cereal (Honeycombs would work well too). Perfect for a party for babies!

- Food pouches - another great addition for a baby party!

- Lemonade - we added some of the cut up fruit left over from the cake to it.

Decor/Other stuff :):

- We used sunflowers and craspedia (billy balls) for flowers.

- We found the bee lights at IKEA.

- The banner is from Amazon.

- Jocie's super cute dress from her grandparents is from Mini Mioche.