Alicia & Lauren’s Sprinkle

A few of us got together yesterday to ‘sprinkle’ two of our dear friends, Lauren and Alicia. Since Lauren is having a boy (Amos) in June and Alicia is having a girl (Reese) in July, we wanted to have a theme that was appropriate for both. We went with a mid-afternoon garden party (and kept our fingers crossed that the weather would cooperate, which it miraculously did!). I seriously love throwing baby showers, we had so much fun crafting and planning everything. And what’s better than a kid-free weekend afternoon with your besties?

Alicia and Lauren, the beautiful momma’s to be (they both already have almost-two year old boys as well, they’re going to have their hand full!).

All of the girls (minus yours truly, as I am behind the camera as always!)

I had come across several ideas for lemonade bars, and thought that would be a cute addition to the party. I re-purposed the mason jars and straws left over from the last shower we threw, and put out fresh berries and mint (and a side of sangria, of course) so people could doctor up their drinks as they wished.

I went to Joann’s a few weeks ago and bought four yards of burlap, and I used that to make the runner, banner, and to cover the mason jar vases. Since I knew I wouldn’t be using it again, I just cut it an let it fray – no sewing required! One caveat: burlap is MESSY, it sheds like crazy. It’s seriously all over my downstairs.

{I hand-painted the letters with leftover white paint from O’s walls.}

{Love the green bow.}

I used lanterns left over from O’s 2nd birthday to decorate the tree, and covered them in paper butterflies to fancy them up a bit. The butterflies are made of scrapbook paper and attached with a glue gun.

And now, on to the food. Simple afternoon bites: vegetable tea sandwiches, spicy crab in cucumbers, fruit and veggies.

{I made the tags on card-stock and used a scrapbook background I had downloaded – I can’t remember where I got it but there are tons of sites with this type of thing. I then attached the tags to ribbons and draped them on the platters.}

And for dessert, vanilla scones, cupcakes, and mini pies in mason jars.

{These didn’t come out exactly the way I had hoped, but they were still cute. All you do is fill the jar 3/4 full with pie filling of your choice – I mixed berries with sugar, a bit of cornstarch, and lemon zest – and then use the outside ring of the jar top to cut the pie crust. Do yourself a favor and make your own crust, the store-bought one was pretty icky. Then lay the crust on top of the jar, push it down, and use a fork to squeeze the sides against the jar. So easy and so cute!}

Ali had the darling idea to make homemade jam as a little favor.

I think it all turned out pretty cute! Can’t wait to meet baby Amos & baby Reese…