Saturday, April 10, 2010

A Green and Budget Friendly Baby Shower

Today, I had the pleasure of co-hosting a baby shower at our house with a wonderful friend. In an effort to make this budget friendly and fun, we decided to make it a potluck shower, which took major stress off and gave everyone a chance to contribute. I made stuffed mushrooms with some mushrooms we'd purchased at Sam's on Monday. They went together quickly and were tasty. Others brought fruit salad, pasta salad, chips and dip, a veggie tray, and a green salad... and let's not forget the phenomenal lemon raspberry cake from StickBoy Bakery.

Beth and I decided to make the shower a girl's event and let the guys take the kids to the park (oh, and they stopped for ice cream too). This meant that Beth could use her fancy punch bowl and I could break out the china and cloth napkins. Not only did this make entertaining a little more fun, but it was definitely more budget friendly and environmentally friendly than using paper products. It took me no time to wash up the dessert plates by hand, and the pretty napkins from my grandmother went in the washer with the towels as soon as everyone had made their exit (so that raspberry stains from the cake and cranberry juice from the punch didn't set in).

Since this was Michele's second baby, we opted to do a diaper shower for her, since we knew she'd be needing these the most. Some folks also brought things she'd registered for, which she greatly appreciated, since she wasn't anticipating having a shower. By the end, she'd acquired several different sizes and brands of diapers, so we told her that she'd have to devise a ranking system for them to help everyone else in the crowd who was expecting (I think there were four expectant moms in the mix). :) There were even some diapers given which had some green or natural qualities, which I appreciated. To make my gift a little greener, I reused some nice floral wrapping paper that had come on a large gift, and some pretty purple ribbon and silk flowers.

So, what about you? How do you make showers and entertaining easy, budget friendly, and green? I'd love to hear from you!

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