Inside Our Nesting Bird Baby Shower Theme

This one was all my sister’s idea: When guests walked in, they saw a table with a giant tree branch (more like a mini tree) spray-painted white, holding cupcakes made to look like nests. (We used styrofoam cones to hold the cupcakes.)
We went with a white cake with white frosting, and lightly toasted shredded coconut to look like a nest. And those blue eggs are actually Jelly Bellies. They looked beautiful and tasted even better.

This is my favorite aspect of the shower: We took branches from my sister’s backyard and put them into a vase, and attached cards that we stamped with four different words: Always, Remember, Never, and I Hope.
Guests chose one (or more) as a writing prompt, and wrote a note to her unborn baby, which was later assembled into a book titled “Roots.”

It was a fun activity to keep everyone busy, and resulted in a beautiful keepsake for her baby. Leaving the writing prompt open-ended meant that guests could be funny, serious, or profound in their wishes and advice.

Here’s an example of how the guests wrote on pre-hole-punched paper. This was my son’s wish to his new cousin: “I hope you have good memories.”

Each chapter begins with one of those words, followed by a heart-felt note from my sister and her partner. Then each guest’s note follows.

Although I love the whole party planning process, my sister is the immeasurably crafty one in the family ( EXHIBIT A.) So I had to call in for back-up.

Minted.com has new party decor packages, including a “Nesting Bird” party theme. I got a personalized banner (“Welcome to the Nest”), personalized table signs, mini note cards (which we used for the Wishing Tree), table confetti, paper straws (with tags), and plates and napkins. It was easier than making everything myself, and it tied everything together beautifully.

We rounded up the rest of the decor at Michaels craft store — including mini nests, mini birds, and bird house party favors that we filled with Jelly Bellies (in the wedding aisle).
We also used plenty of things around the house — like mason jars, burlap, twine, and real branches.

Although our first focus was the decor, I’d argue that the food is probably more important. My favorite “bird-themed” food idea was the fruit salad that we put inside of a cantaloupe cut to look like a hatched egg. Cute!