A Nursery Rhyme Baby Shower

I love throwing a party. Like, love it. I get giddy over flower arrangements. I squeal when I see the vision I have in my head for a theme come to life. My co-hosts typically think I’m nuts. I am – I embrace it.

So my latest soiree was a baby shower with a nursery rhyme theme. I hosted this shower with a few of my colleagues to honor our co-worker who’s expecting a baby girl this fall.

Here’s how the nursery rhyme party went down:

We had all the guests sign a Mother Goose nursery rhyme book as a keepsake for the mommy-to-be.

We decorated with framed nursery rhyme prints (courtesy of a quick Google image search) with little knick-knacks that went along with each rhyme.

I arranged small flower arrangements in a mix match of jars and set them at each nursery rhyme scene. 

[oversight note – I forgot to set the clock to 1 :/]

For food, we catered to the pregnancy cravings and served mini cheeseburger skewers, BLT pasta salad, bacon wrapped dates, goat cheese dip, shrimp salad and fruit salad. Delicious.

And here are a couple of the recipes…

Gluten Free BLT Pasta Salad
[disclaimer – there’s no L, but BT pasta salad just didn’t seem right]

1 lb gluten free pasta (I used corkscrew), cooked according to the package
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp pepper
5 green onions, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, diced (I used a little more)
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled (I baked mine on a sheet pan at 350 degrees for 30 mins)

1.) In a small bowl, mix mayo, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, and seasonings.
2.) In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, sauce, green onions, tomatoes and bacon.

Adapted from The Country Cook’s BLT Pasta Salad

Fruit Salad with Honey, Lime and Mint

2 cartons fresh strawberries, halved or quartered (depending on the size of the berries)
1 pint fresh blue berries
1 lb red grapes, halved
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

1.) In a small bowl, whisk together honey, lime juice and mint.
2.) In a large bowl, add fruit and stir in sauce and coat the fruit well.

Adapted from Epicurious’s Fresh Fruit Salad

And because I’m a firm believer that if you don’t play a game, it wasn’t really a shower, we played a fun rendition of “Baby Mad Lib” to tell the birth story.

Me and the beautiful mommy-to-be!