Patriotic Ice Cream Baby Shower

My beautiful friend Jen is expecting her 3rd baby really soon, so to celebrate I decided to throw her an 

Ice Cream Baby Shower! 

Considering it's almost the 4th of July and the baby is a boy, I went with that theme (oh ya--and it's what Jen wanted...hehe).  I imagined the perfect ice cream social where we women soaked up the sun in the backyard while celebrating in patriotic pregnant style. Sadly, and I mean break my heart sadly, it poured and poured and we had to bring it inside.  My baby shower outdoor gathering was no more.  And yet, I think it still turned out pretty sweet...

I HAD to have Mexican Coke.  It's red/white and made out of pure cane sugar instead of corn syrup.  Praise the Carbonation Gods. 

I really loved these bowls/spoons.  I bought the stamped "It's a BOY!" wooden spoons here.  The bowls were cool because I checked everywhere in stores and online and they seemed pretty expensive for a glorified paper cup.  SO!  I went to our local Baskin Robbins, bought their bowls for 10 cents each, and covered them with red and white polka dot paper.  I attached  the spoon with some turquoise Japanese masking tape (my fave).

My friend Cortney made the adorable strawberry/blueberry flag presentation on a platter. And do you see the waffle cones stand?  Totally a candle holder.

I went to South Seattle to an Italian Bakery that I love to pick up the ice cream.  A bit of a trip, but totally worth it!   We had your basic Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate and my favorite one--Nutella!

Kai dipped the cones in white chocolate and sprinkled these babies in red/white/blue.  He was pretty proud so he ate--like--3 before I could even take them to the party. 

 Toppings!  I found these ice cream sundae glasses at the thrift store and they were the perfect assembly line. I also made homemade fudge and salted caramel sauce.  Heavenly!

I DO NOT like lame baby shower games, so for the activity I had a piece of paper with ice cream flavors and toppings listed.  Each guest had to pick which combo was Jen's favorite and then make up a name for it that had to somehow reflect Pregnancy, Motherhood or Babies.  Jen picked the winner who came the closest to her favorite flavor (vanilla caramel cashew) and they won a jar of my salted caramel sauce.

AND NOW FOR MY FAVORITE THING:

DIY Geronimo Balloons 

So, the thing is, these balloons are all the rage, but cost entirely too much for my budget.  I figured that overall it was basically just a large balloon and fringe...and couldn't I do that?  (Disclaimer...the actual Geronimo Balloons are amazing and probably worth every penny...I just don't have that extra penny:)

I bought 3ft balloons online here (they came in a pack of 6) and then took wrapping tissue paper and fringed it up.  I attached them along the string in sections, and then added some circle paper garland that I sewed and some streamers. You can just go to the grocery store and get them to blow the balloon up for you and they will only charge you for the helium.

 Voila!  

A huge impact for $10 a balloon versus $200.

Isn't she the cutest?  It stopped raining at the very end so I took these pictures of her in her backyard.  And don't even get me started on how it was nothing but blue skies and sun the rest of the evening (bleh).

Fringe'n it!

So fun--I just had to send one home with one of my besties who attended.  You just KNOW her kids flipped out when they saw it.

It was a fun afternoon full of sweetness for my dear friend and I loved celebrating with her.

 Jen-can't wait to hold that baby of yours soon!