Showered with Lots of Love

I have to say, I have the best friends and sisters in the world!  I decided to split up my large baby shower invite list between friends and family and I am so glad I did because we had such a fun girls day that was much more intimate and enjoyable!  I loved how relaxed it was and how we could all just really enjoy each other's company -- it is challenging to get this mommy group all together, at the same time these days.  They were so sweet to attend our "Over the Moon Excited" themed baby shower to celebrate our little guy arriving next month!! (it feels crazy to say "next month" already!)

{my sweet, sweet family who hosted the baby shower at my house.  My sister-in-law with her daughter Finley and my sister, with her daughter Emersyn}

Keeping with the star and moon theme of his nursery, the theme for the day really started with the beautiful invitation by my talented sister, Julie created.  From there, we decided to carry out the theme with the colors of Gold, Silver, Black, and White to keep the decor sophisticated, yet boyish!

{this was my husband's favorite stuffed animal toy when he was a baby, and he has hung onto it all these years}

{I love having baby photos displayed of mommy and daddy at baby showers.  Getting anxious to find out who he will look like}

{I was SO SO impressed by this ombre cake from Kroger.  We just showed them a picture from Pinterest and crossed our fingers they could do some similar.  It turned out better than I ever expected and tasted REALLYgood!}

{Notes from guests written on the diaper for the "Wee Hours"}

A baby shower isn't complete without a couple of games, but I hate the cheesy games.  So we kept it simple with just 2 "games" that were quick and fun!  I've done this a few times at other baby showers I have hosted and it is always fun for any age.  With a sharpie, guests can leave a short note on the diaper for a little laugh during those late night changings.

Now a days, it's so hard NOT to know all about celebrity's lives as everything is so public, so we tested the knowledge of the guests to see if they could match the celebrity mommy to their child.  It was a lot harder than I thought with the crazy celebrity baby names such as "Apple" or naming your daughter a classic boy's name, James.

{"Match the Star to the baby name" game, created by me}

{the winners of the games, each received a planted succulent}

{It's SO fun being pregnant with friends!}

 

{I am SO excited to use my black and white Milk Snob cover!!!  :) It is so versatile and multi-functional.  Check it out HERE. }

 

{My little gift opening helpers -- my neices!}

A full list of vendors for party decorations is below.  If I missed anything you are interested in knowing where we purchased it from, just leave me a comment at the end!!

Invites and Thank You Cards:  JLM Moments and Designs on Etsy
My Outfit:  Dress - Old Navy Maternity
     Kimono - GroopDealz (Stay Warm in Style Seller)
     Turquoise Arrowhead Pendant - GroopDealz (Aneya Boutique)
Cake:  Kroger in Carmel, IN
"Let Them Be Little" wood sign:  Erin Barrett - For the Love of Letters (Hobby Lobby)
"Love You to the Moon and Back" wood sign:  Hobby Lobby
Tassel Banner:  (two banners mixed together) Home Goods & Paper Source
Moccasins:  Made by Molly on Etsy 
Black & White Chevron frame:  Z Gallerie
Paper Pinwheels:  Home Goods
Tin Cake Stand:  World Market
Black & White striped table runner:  Home Goods
Succulent plant:  IKEA
Succulent pot:  small bowl from Target
Games:  both created by me on PowerPoint (feel free to download and print for your next shower)

 

Gallery Wall {Client Design}

Gallery walls are one of my specialties these days, as I have now installed over 20 gallery walls of all sizes and shapes.  The first thing I ask my clients is what style of gallery wall would you like?  An ECLECTIC STYLE GALLERY WALL or a UNIFORM GALLERY WALL?  Or, maybe you are looking for something a little IN BETWEEN.

ECLECTIC STYLE GALLERY WALL

UNIFORM STYLE GALLERY WALL

MIX OF BOTH STYLES GALLERY WALL

With the eclectic style gallery wall, there really are no rules!  There is no rhyme or reason of how you hang the collected items together and the fun thing about this style is that anything goes!  You can hang your favorite deer antlers next to your favorite family photo.

A gallery wall with a more uniformed style to it, you should really keep all the frames the same size and shape to create a grid-like space.  You can use any number of frames to create your collection, any style of frame, and black and white or colored pictures.  This style creates a more formal approach to the gallery wall. 

Most of my clients choose a mix of the two, which is also my favorite.  They typically like to hang mirrors, word art, and artifacts with their framed photos and have a mix of frames.  Most people like a little uniformity, like in the last photo.  You can see there is still an overall 'collected look' to the last photo above, but it is installed in a very stylized and planned out way with keeping some of the frames in line with each other.  This really gives you the best of both worlds!

For this client, I decided to do more of an eclectic style gallery wall, where no frames line up with each other and they are all laid out in more of speratic manor (but in a very planned out way, of course), if that all makes sense! 

I started the design of the gallery wall on the floor.  Yes, on the floor! I like to lay out the gallery wall design on the floor, before any holes go on the wall.  

panoramic shot from my phone

I actually determined this layout from one of the options in the DIY Gallery Wall books from Hobby Lobby.  

  

I chose the above Eclectic Gallery Wall layout with some of my own modifications.  This books is full of great gallery wall ideas, as well as over 30 card stock prints to frame in your gallery wall. 

I don't trace all of the frames onto craft paper and then put the craft paper on the wall to figure out where each frame will be hung.  Once I have everything laid out on the floor just how I want it, I take pictures with my phone.  Lots of pictures.  Then use that as reference.  I start in the middle and work my way around the first picture.

I framed some of the pages from the DIY Gallery Wall book until the homeowners can fill all of the frames with their family photos.  I wouldn't typically frame this many 'word art' images together, but wanted some of the frames to be filled until then. 

To keep an eclectic gallery wall stylized and not looking too busy, it is very important to keep a similar style to all of the frames.  I chose four white Pottery Barn frames in two different sizes.  Two brown frames with mats from Home Goods.  I really like frames with mats more than without to make the photographs stand out more.  Three matching rustic, gray frames also from Home Goods.  And a couple of miscellaneous frames that are in coordinating rustic wood tones. 

Sources:

mirror from Hobby Lobby

custom arrow from JlM Moments and Designs (my sister)

'Home Sweet Home' art from For the Love of Letters (Hobby Lobby)

white matted frames from Pottery Barn 

all other frames from Home Goods

wall paint is Sherwin Williams Balanced Beige

**if you would like a gallery wall installed in your home, email me with inquires.  I can shop for all of the materials and install the frames in any style.  jessicastoutdesign@gmail.com**