It makes me a bit sad to be entering my last post about Tram’s baby shower. Albeit, five consecutive posts about one party is a lot, I’ve really loved sharing it with all of you and reliving it for myself.

I’ll start with the beginning, what the guests saw as they entered…

… the front doors and the burlap wreaths that I made especially for the shower. I had purchased a couple of springtime wreaths at Home Goods last year, but they were all nasty and faded before the end of summer, so into the trash they went. Once I took down the Christmas wreaths this year, I had nothing to replace them with.

I had pinned THIS tutorial on how to make burlap wreaths on Pinterest and decided, “no time like the present” to get it done! Oh my goodness, it could not have been easier! I whipped them both out in about 20 minutes. Seriously, ten minutes each! Follow the tutorial and you can make some of your own. By the way, I used an 18-inch wreath form. I will be adding some sort of spring/summer embellishments in the near future.

I found the yarn and number twos at Hobby Lobby and the baby shoes at, Micheal’s, of all places! I used clear adhesive dots to adhere the shoes to the burlap and the twos to the doors. Of course, the shoes went home with Tram.

To the right of the door was a chalkboard sign (of course!) telling guests what to do and where to go. Some people are so darn bossy!

About an hour and a half into the shower, Peggy set the Party Favors out in the same front courtyard so the guests could easily snag them on their way out.

You have to know by now that there was another chalkboard sign, with instructions. This is a school theme, after all!

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Creating a party around a theme is all about the details. The little touches that tie it all together add up to a lot.

Once the theme for Tram’s baby shower was solidified in my mind, I began scouring my house for items to build the theme around. Chalkboards, Scrabble tiles, various items with the number 2 on them, scales, globes, children’s books, etc. Then I made a list of the additional items I’d need to purchase to make it complete.

Two such purchased items were these Dr. Seuss flipbooks. I bought them at Half-Price Books and then proceeded to take them apart.

In doing so, I could use the flashcard-like pages to place all around the inside and outside of the house.

Similarly, I cut up the pages of other books to make garlands and bunting.

These were strung on just about every surface available cabinet front.

I used vintage flashcards from an ABC set I already owned to make not only the garland seen below, but…

… also to scatter about as seen on the tray that held the classes at the drink station.

Notice that many of the glasses themselves are numbered, adding to the schoolhouse theme.

Other school-type items I used were rulers and yardsticks. This one is my favorite. It is from my husband’s family’s old lumber and fuel store in Rockton, Illinois. You can see just how vintage it is by the 5-digit phone number.

Oh, but not everything was a hit.

Tram and I had decided that neither of us wanted to “play games.” But at the last minute, I thought I’d put one out, just in case anyone felt the urge to partake in a little competition.

I found a Celebrity Baby Name Game on the internet and printed it out. Actually, I found two, so I printed them both out and called the second one, “Extra Credit.”  There were no takers. I should have known better and gone with my first instinct to forgo any and all games!

Much more popular was the opportunity for guests to give Tram a favorite parenting tip. Guests wrote down their best hints and tricks. Tram, Peggy, and I read through them after everyone left. Some were funny, others were sweet and touching and some should prove to be quite helpful to the first-time mommy and daddy.

When guests first entered, there was a place to drop off the unwrapped books they brought …

… to build the twins’ library.

I started it off with a set of ten classic children’s novels. (Oh, and the book in the wagon was sent FedEx by a sweet friend who lives in Texas – so very thoughtful!)

And this is what it looked like by the time the party ended.

Over on the gift table…

… we started out with a gift from Peggy and me and a second one that a friend who wasn’t able to attend had dropped off.

Another decision Tram and I made ahead of time was to not open gifts during the shower. This sign informed the guests of that matter upfront as they dropped their gifts off.

It reads, “Time has not been set aside for gift opening. We will be enjoying our time together ‘mingling.’  If you would like to have Tram open your gift while you are here, just pull her aside.”  Tram and I were happy with the decision, I hope the guests were too.

This is what the table looked like at the end of the shower. Such generous guests!

Speaking of the lovely guests… here they are.

Emma, Tram, and Jen.

Lin Sue and Tram.

Heather, Tram, Matt, and Kacie.

Tram, Cruz, and his mommy, Veronica.

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Many of the guests at Tram’s Baby Shower had expressed interest in the recipes for the brunch food I served.  In fact, Tram commented that yesterday’s post was a “Cliffhanger” since so many of her friends were hoping for the recipes and I said that the recipes would be coming tomorrow.

That actually made me laugh. A Cliffhanger? Me?

No, I just have so much to share about the shower that I have to break it up into a week’s worth of posts. So, today I shall give you all the recipes!

It sounds more daunting than it actually is because all but one of the recipes have already been posted here on the blog. See, no Cliffhanger to be had. Most of them, I made exactly as previously written and a couple of the others – have a few tweaks. Let’s get to it!

First up, The Granola Bar.

I made a double batch of my Glinda’s Wickedly Delicious Granola. It is my take on a recipe from my friend and colleague, Gwen Ashley Walters.

To accompany the granola, there were bowls of fresh blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries, plus lemon curd, low-fat vanilla yogurt, and, my favorite store-bought yogurt of all time, Greek Gods brand Honey yogurt.

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