Books & Bees Baby Shower (Winnie the Pooh Theme)

So tomorrow kicks off A Week of Sundays! I thought I'd ease into the mommy talk by sharing a baby shower I threw this past spring for Emily and Baby S. When Emily told me she was planning a Winnie The Pooh nursery theme I knew I wanted to take a spin on the idea for her shower. It wasn't long before I decided on a Books & Bees theme. (Be sure to check out my pinterest board for the shower!) I asked each guest to bring a book in leu of a card and the small favor bags had handmade bookmarks in them. In addition to the bookmarks, the favor bags contained little baggies of caramel popcorn and a stick of rock candy. I tried to stick with a sort of yellow-white-brown theme overall, so the contents of the favor bags reflected those colors. And the goodies were super yummy! (I would know since I ate way too much of the leftover caramel popcorn.) Sooo delish!

The decor was simple with a burlap table runner, fresh flowers and Winnie the Pooh accents around the room. I printed a few of the original drawings of Winnie the Pooh (google image search for the win!) and framed them in small wooden frames I found on sale at Michael's for $1 each. They stood next to small vases, also bought for $1 each at Family Dollar, filled with fresh flowers. Simple, easy, and refreshing! (Also super affordable... win/win!)

The cupcakes were done by my amazingly talented friend Jennifer and her daughter Rhiannon at La Bella Torta. The location was a cozy cabin - perfect for the theme - and the day was lovely. I had such a fun time planning and preparing for this shower and it was a joy to throw. Emily was glowing and happy the whole time. It blessed me to see her enjoying herself.

One thing I did that received great feedback from Emily was having guests write notes on newborn diapers. I remembered those first few days of motherhood being cooped up inside and overwhelmed at the thought of having people over, but so badly missing the interaction and activity of normal life. I thought having sweet notes to read from friends during nighttime changes would brighten Emily's world if even for just a minute. I simply bought a package of newborn diapers and set them out with some sharpie markers and a little picture frame with a directional poem. People had a lot of fun with the notes and got pretty creative. Here is what Emily had to say about the activity:

"The diapers from my shower were a huge blessing to me right after we got home from the hospital. It's crazy how isolating it can feel while adjusting to being a mom and taking care of a newborn. The notes, drawings and comments made me smile. I usually saved the diapers for the "middle of the night" changings because I knew those would be the most difficult and often the diaper I grabbed was perfect for that particular moment. Diaper messages reminded me to smile, cherish every moment, and helped me keep things in perspective. The most important thing the diapers reminded me of was that I was not alone. I would recommend this for all of my friends who plan to use disposables! It's such a great idea!"

And here are a few pictures Emily shared as she went through the diapers:

Just in case they are a little tough to read, one says "Isn't it Daddy's turn?" and the other says "Loading..." (A spin on dad's career in technology!) So cute!

Overall, I would say the shower was a great success! Emily received a lot of goodies from her gift registry and we had a great time with her friends! I really enjoyed the process of planning, prepping and throwing the shower and it's just as much fun to relive it here on the blog months later!

Venue: The Barrack-Falwell Lodge Cupcakes: La Bella Torta Sandwich wraps: Roly Poly Photo booth: Lynchburg Snapshot Studio Flowers: Bought the day before at Kroger Table runner: Burlap fabric bought at JoAnn's Beehive drink container: TJMaxx

Equipment used for this session:  canon 5d mark ii // canon 50mm f/1.2 lens

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Liz Cook is the owner and photographer of sincerely, liz: photography. She is a virginia wedding photographer and virginia portrait photographer who loves virginia weddings, family portrait sessions and couple photography.

To see more of Liz’s work, check out her latest work as well as some of her favorite weddings. To hire Liz, simply fill out this form.

my baby shower, pt 1

A week ago my sister threw me a beautiful baby shower across the state in Fredericksburg. I was so excited to have a shower in Fredericksburg because it enabled a lot of my lifelong friends to be able to attend that otherwise probably couldn't drive all the way to Lynchburg. It was so beautiful and I really felt honored during the whole shower. My sister also blogged about the shower. You can hop over there to read about her decor choices and planning process... she had a lot of fun planning the shower. (Which makes me feel SO good because sometimes I think people can get overwhelmed by planning parties so it was a relief to know she enjoyed the process. :))

Look at these adorable mini pancake stacks! Perfect for a brunch!

The beautiful cake:

 The dining room set up:She set up a mini candy bar for party favors. So sweet!

She went with a daisies & polka dots theme - very "Liz" if I do say so myself! 

The coffee bar, complete with a "how to" keurig tutorial (my sister kicked off the shower with an instructional piece. haha.)You can never have enough daisies!

Oh it was such a treat! Baby received LOTS of essentials and we are oh-so-grateful for the helpful gifts received! I came home immediately and spent the first day doing laundry and finding a place for everything in the nursery.

Today is my second shower here in Lynchburg. I am so excited! Have I mentioned how stinking grateful I feel that I am having TWO showers? Even just one is awesome. :D

While I am at the shower, my dad is actually going to be working around my house - helping put up some final touches in the nursery (as final as we're getting before we know the gender) and finish some other construction-type jobs around the house. It is so awesome seeing everything come together and working on the final baby preparations! Makes me so giddy!