Last weekend we celebrated Diane with a book-themed baby shower brunch. Because books! {Need I say more?}

Photo with Diane, baby Carter in utero, and Diane’s sweet mom.

There are a million ideas on Pinterest for this theme, but I took things down a notch and feel like I accomplished a sweet little celebration without making myself crazy trying to achieve Pinterest perfection.

Library Card Invitations.

To set the tone for the day, I made the invitations look like a library card. I found a template online, and ordered small manilla envelopes from etsy. After the fact, I found out they were just a teensy bit too small to mail legally, so I modified the invitations and ended up liking them even better than my original plan.

{I can’t find the link to the original template I used, but this one is similar.}

Build baby’s library!

Baby Carter now has a HUGE collection of books, and amazingly, there was only one duplicate in the whole bunch! (I’m told that Barnes and Noble allows you to exchange a new book even if it wasn’t purchased there.)

Book-themed Brunch Menu:

Each of the food items was based on a children’s book. I could’ve gone crazier with it, but this was simple enough. And no, I didn’t make everything from scratch. Target has yummy scones, Sister Schubert makes great frozen sausage rolls, and we enjoy Publix savory tarragon chicken salad.

We had:

• Blueberries for Sal ~ blueberry scones
• Green Eggs and Ham ~ basil pesto deviled eggs
• Chicken Little ~ chicken salad croissant sandwiches
• Three Little Pigs ~ “pigs-in-blanket” sausage rolls
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar ~ fruit salad
  (This was going to be on skewers to look more like caterpillars, but I couldn’t find skewers at the store, and the world did not end.)

Custom bookshelf:

My 6-year-old has a bookshelf like this that makes it easy to put books away, and easy to find what he wants. It’s great for pre-readers, but good beyond that stage, too. I wanted to make one for Carter, so I found out from Diane what colors they were doing in his room but didn’t tell her we were making it. She was surprised, and loved it.

Ken made the bookshelf almost entirely himself; all I really did was come up with the idea, polyurethane the wood, and choose the fabric. He built the shelf, and even did the sewing because I couldn’t wrap my brain around how to do it in one continuous piece. Now Carter has a piece of furniture built by his grandfather; how cool is that?!

Using an old book of poems, some scrapbook paper, and Mod Podge, I made a pennant with Carter’s name to hang on the mantle — and for handy use in a group photo!

The countdown is on: He’s due in late August!

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »