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!

Ruby Chocolate Dipped Embossed Sugar Cookies

Since I made my favorite guy his own batch of Valentine's Day Peanut Butter Blossoms, I figured the kiddos could probably use a proclamation of my love, too - in cookie form.

Back during the Christmas holidays, I bought this amazing embossed rolling pin at the Budapest Christmas market. Sadly, I lost the business card of the artist, but you can Google search "embossed rolling pins", and find all different patterns, to fit any occasion.

I loved the one that I bought because it was reminiscent of some of the traditional Hungarian (or on broader terms, Eastern European) folk imagery. I've been dying to use it!

On a slightly sad note, my former sugar cookie dough and I on are a break. I want to be like, "it's not you, it's me", but really, I don't know who is at fault. The last couple times I've used it my cookies have spread to INSANE sizes and have lost all definition. I was on the search for the perfect "non-spread" sugar cookie dough recipe, as I really wanted the pretty pattern on these to stay defined and crisp. I decided to use one by Design, Eat, Repeat. I liked that it didn't need to be chilled. Well... it was okay. I cut out and baked a few cookies to start with, and felt like they were spreading more than I'd like. So, I cut out the rest, then let them sit in the fridge for maybe 15-20 minutes, and they turned out much better - but still spread more than "advertised". She has a picture on her blog post with the cookie cutter on top of her baked cookie, to show that there was basically no spread - I don't know what she did, but mine definitely spread, even with chilling a bit.

So, I'm still on the search for the perfect recipe.

That said, I will give you the recipe as I ended up using it, with you, sweet reader keeping in mind that if you have a favorite no-spread sugar cookie recipe, definitely use that! Also, hook a girl up! Let me in on your secret!

For these cookies specifically, you'll need these tools:

- a rolling pin with a thickness gauge (like this one, that I got for Christmas). Okay, this one isn't a "need", but I've found it to be really helpful.

- embossed rolling pin (you could just as easily cut out plain hearts and dip them, too. This just makes them a little "extra").

- Standing mixer

- Offset spatula

- Heart-shaped cookie cutter (any other shape will do too, but it's fun for Valentine's Day)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter (softened at room temperature - approx 2 hours)

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

150 gr ruby chocolate

sprinkles of your choice - I found the cutest ones yet, here. (I also really liked them with just the chocolate. They looked a little more "elegant".)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C.

2. Cream together butter and sugar on medium setting for about 20-30 seconds.

3. While mixer is going add egg and vanilla extract.

4. On a low speed add in baking powder and salt.

5. Still on the low speed, add the flour 1/2 cup at a time.

6. Mix until flour just combined.

7. Pour onto a slightly floured surface. Kneed into a ball for about 10 seconds, then flatten into a disc shape.

8. Using your (lightly floured) rolling pin with thickness gauges, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Firmly roll the (lightly floured) embossed rolling pin over the dough, creating the gorgeous pattern.

9. Dip your cookie cutter in flour, find the part of the dough that fits it the best, and cut it out. Continue until you've used up all your dough, but do try hard not to re-kneed your dough over and over again. Makes 20-30 cookies, depending on size.

10. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Using an offset spatula, lift out the cookies and place them on the lined baking sheet.

11. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

12. Remove the baking sheet from the fridge, and bake for 7-9 minutes, depending on size. (You can see in these two pictures - the top one was the first batch that I didn't chill. They got a little deformed. The second picture is of the ones I chilled. They kept their shape better.)

13. Allow cookies to fully cool. (10 minutes in baking sheet, then until room temperature on a cooling rack.)

14. While waiting for the cookies to cool, using the "Dutch oven method", melt the ruby chocolate. (A metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. Make sure the water level in the pot is low enough that it doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.)

15. Take each cookie, dip it partially in the melted ruby chocolate. Allow excess to drip off, then place on a sheet of baking paper.

16. If desired, use sprinkles at this point.

17. Allow to fully cool. Keep in a cool, dry air tight space.

18. Take adorable pictures - because, memories. <3 

Extra tip:

- Ruby chocolate is a bit of a novelty, and I hated to let any go to waste. I had some left over after dipping all the cookies, so I poured it into a silicone ice cube tray, placed it in the fridge for it to set up, and then moved the chocolate cubes to a ziplock - ready to be quickly melted for a drizzle got another day.

If you decide to try this recipe, I would LOVE to know how it goes! Please feel free to leave a comment. :)

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.