The "Ooh La La" Lingerie Shower!

I'm happy to report that the Ooh La La Lingerie Shower we threw for my nephew Andrew's Bride-To-Be Kathryn was a HUGE success!!

We had a BLAST putting it all together, but it was a lot of work...SO very worth it though. We wanted to honor this special young woman who has stolen our hearts and welcome her lovely family into ours...

The Parisian pink, black, and white theme was a BIG hit and was so fun to accessorize. Here's another look at the invitations I designed - once we printed these, we used a hole punch to add two holes at the top and through those holes we threaded black with white polka-dotted ribbon and tied a bow! Sorry, I don't have a photo of the finished invite, but it was pretty cute...

I also made cupcake toppers to match...

...as well as chocolate nugget candy wrappers...it all looked so cute together...


Here's a photo of the work pile I still had going Saturday morning...I LOVE these colors and the mixture of patterns...

We used several of my super-inexpensive re-purposed serving pieces for the shower...here's a before photo of two of the pieces I used to make one of the serving platters...the glass plate was $.25 and the glass I used for the pedestal was just a dime...

There it is as a finished pedestal server among many of the other pieces we had laid out...I tied a black and white ribbon on the stem of the glass under the plate and we put cookies on it, but I didn't get a very good photo of it all set up...you can see a few of the small silk flower arrangements I made for the decorations as well...

One of the biggest challenges we faced with planning and executing the shower was that we had to host it in Beaumont, a town about 2 hours away. My nephew just bought a home there that he and Kathryn will share when they get married, and it was the perfect venue for the shower - it was big enough and it was close to all of Kathryn's family and friends. Beaumont is also my birthplace, and much of our extended family lives there as well.

The great room/den in the house was the focal point for the shower activities - this huge fireplace was the perfect place to stage the shower theme and gather the gifts...

This is one of the larger floral arrangements I made...we gave this away as the door prize at then end of the shower...All the silk flowers came from a store in Houston called Garden Ridge Pottery - they were part of their Spring collection and we got them for 75% off!

It had been an afterthought to get this package of black and white bags and coordinating tissue, but once we got to the house, I was so glad we got it...I didn't realize how BIG the fireplace was, and these bags helped us fill up the vertical space and provide pops of pattern throughout the vignette. We hung them using a single Velcro sticky dot pair...the dot came right off the brick once we were done, but held the bag just fine in the meantime...

I knew I wanted a coordinating "Ooh La La" banner to hang from the mantle, but I also knew I was not going to have much time to design, print, and embellish one, so I was on the lookout for a quick alternative. I found these tag-shaped fold-over cards with 2 holes at the top, then I saw these pre-cut black scalloped papers (that fit within the tag) and a light bulb went off...

...what if I just glue these black cards onto the tag cards then use my white paint pen to write out the "Ooh La La", then embellish with ribbon and trims and fold the cards over a piece of cord...? It worked out great, and was really quick and easy to do...

Combined with a pink feather boa and a "Blessed" sign from Hobby Lobby, this was a pretty focal point for the fireplace...

My wonderful aunt had several "props" that we used including this pretty folding screen and white wire dress form which we draped with a black and white slip I found at a thrift store for $1! We also found this gauzy knit pink fabric embroidered with dark pink roses for $1.50 per yard on a clearance table and it draped perfectly over the top of the screen...

I even found these black pumps at the thrift store for $2.50...looks like they had never been worn... Then we topped the slip off with some fake pearls, a black feather boa and a pearl "K" from the dollar bin at Michael's and "Voila", we had a fun foofy diva-mannequin...she really stole the show...

I know you know how much I love a bargain because I always feel compelled to share how much (or how little really) I paid for something, but I do it mostly to encourage people that special touches and little extras for your home or for entertaining don't have to cost a fortune. These aprons are a prime example. We wanted aprons for each of the hostesses (me, Mom, 2 aunts and a niece) to wear but had NO time for sewing and no $$ for buying cute ones already made, so we thought just maybe Hobby Lobby would have plain blank aprons back with their t-shirts and other wear-ables...and sure enough, they had blank aprons...and black ones no less, which is what we REALLY wanted. Best part was, they were already cheap at $3.99 each, but they were on sale for 1/2 off, so these just cost $2 each!!

I just used a hot glue gun to add the black lace, ribbon trim and ribbon rosette (these won't be washable, but you could sew everything on to make it more permanent...but me, I don't sew...)

I love how they turned out and they were a really nice touch - they helped let the guests know who to ask if they needed anything or had any questions...

I wish you could see the Eiffel Tower better in this next photo..it was a great touch (thanks again to my aunt). Next time, we will fill it in with little white lights I think...

These paper plates, napkins and plastic flatware were some of the few things we paid full retail for, but they were very pretty...plus no dishes to wash...

This incredible three-tiered metal serving piece with beaded fringe was my favorite thrift store find of all...it was marked $10 but everything was 1/2 price, so it only cost $5!!

...it was perfect for holding the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes ($5 per dozen at WalMart...and they were delicious!) These little flag toppers were so easy to print and assemble...

OK, this next photo is something really silly that I had in my head...I thought those pink Hostess Snowballs would make cute little bras for the lingerie shower...all I did was add 2 black pipe cleaners as bra straps and a black millinery rose with a rhinestone in between for accent, then put them on a pretty platter with a paper doily and a pouf of black tulle in the middle....silly, I know, but we got a lot of compliments and laughs for these...

Here's another silk arrangement...I enjoyed using a variety of ribbons in coordinating patterns and colors as accents throughout the decorations...

We had dips and chips, broccoli salad, crackers, chicken salad, cookies, cupcakes, nuts, mini-quiches, pink lemonade, peach tea, and coffee...

This is another beautiful piece from my aunt...this was an old brass candelabra that she thrifted for cheap and shabbied with white paint, then she added crystals and beads plus pretty glass votives...she also lent us her little battery-operated tea lights which worked out great. She also had an organza scarf that she made and we covered her tiny white lights with it...it made such a pretty setting...

...and last but not least, my Sister-in-Law, the mother of the Groom, had a chocolate fountain - this was such a big hit...it's pretty, it's fun, and it DELICIOUS! We used strawberries, cream puffs, pound cake cubes and bananas as the dippers...YUM!

We limited our shower activities to two - once everyone ate, we played the "Mr. Right" game, which was SO fun!! Here's the link with the instructions...
http://www.diva-girl-parties-and-stuff.com/right-left-bridal-shower-game.html

After the Mr. Right game, Kathryn opened all her gifts...my goodness, she got some really lovely nightgowns, robes, teddies, beautiful undies, and other goodies...gifts are always the highlight of the shower...

I also provided all the guests with a 3 x 5 index card and asked them to write down romantic advice for the Bride and Groom to be (nothing racy - just a bit of wisdom for keeping the romance alive) I then collected all the cards and put them in a bowl, then we had a drawing of the cards at the end of the shower and the winner received the large floral bouquet as a door prize. We then, with everyone's permission, read the advice cards...they were very sweet and heart warming...it was the perfect way to end the shower!

And this is our sweet Princess Kathryn - she is beautiful inside and out and is going to be such a wonderful addition to our family...we already love her and her family and friends...simply delightful! My Nephew is very blessed as are we! We wish them all the very best! We are excited about their wedding in November..I'm sure it will be beautiful!!

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Just a quick update on my new clipart kit at my new Just Bee 'n Me Digital Boutique - it is selling REALLY well...I am thrilled!! And I am now hard at work on my next kit...I hope to have it up in the next day or two...please stay tuned! Thanks all - have a GREAT week!!

HUGS!!