From the first moment when Katie told me she was pregnant I was already visualizing her baby shower. My party planning wheels were turning! Katie planned two baby showers in two different states for me when I was pregnant with my daughter so I wanted to spoil her like she had for me. I also had babies on the brain since I was 6 months pregnant with my son when I found out Katie was pregnant…with twins! Yay! I took advantage of my uncomfortable, sleepless last few months of pregnancy to plan out all of the details for her baby shower. I was also very lucky to have both Katie’s mom and mother-in-law helping me out along the way.

I’ve always loved the idea of giving books at baby showers. Being able to build the baby’s first library is so thoughtful and oh so useful to new parents. Because I just can’t seem to stop myself from going all in with a theme I decided to throw Katie a book inspired baby shower with hints of Christmas since the shower was in early December. And that’s just what I did! It was lots of fun researching books I remember reading as a child mixed with new books I wasn’t as familiar with yet. I had not realized how many children’s books are food related! After browsing Pinterest and Barnes & Noble for more hours than I should admit I had selected my curated food themed books with coordinating food, of course!

Here are some of the food and book combinations from the shower:
Thing 1 and Thing 2 cake  //  The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Pasta salad  //  Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
Green centered deviled eggs  //  Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Nachos  //  Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Chopped fruit  //  The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Mini white powdered donuts  //  If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff
Buttered popcorn  // Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
Gold foiled peanut butter cups  //  Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food by Stan & Jan Berenstain

I loved reading Little Golden Books when I was little so I designed book inspired baby shower invitations. I used elements from some of my favorite books and gold star washi tape for the signature “golden” book binding. The inside pages of the invitation gave details of the shower.

Handmade mini book ornaments to continue the theme to the tree decor.
Books were placed as decor around Katie’s living room.  //  Little Golden Books napkins!
A hint of Christmas with a festive custom JOY sign.

Customizing items for a mom-to-be is always fun. Instead of decorating onesies, I decided to decorate wooden blocks that could be used as decor or a learning tool for the little ones. Guests could color on vintage inspired alphabet blocks and/or choose to design their own with the plain wooden blocks. The DESIGN A BLOCK station was paired with the Eating the Alphabet book by Lois Ehlert.

A helpful Gift List sheet and fun shower games for the guests.
Snow globe animal mason jars with a Barnes & Noble or iTunes gift card as game prize.
Chocolate cookies with animal Thank You tags as a yummy favor.
Katie opening her gifts  // Our traditional party selfie!

I loved being able to combine my passion for books and creating little details as I planned Katie’s shower. This baby shower was when I realized how much fun it was going to be to throw themed birthday parties for the kiddos!

Happy Baby Shower Planning, Friends!

– Maghan & Katie