Nautical Baby Shower {featuring Paper Smooches, Sizzix and Carta Bella}

I am finally here to share all the details and tidbits of the nautical baby shower that I recently decorated for. WARNING: This post is photo heavy, link heavy, and info heavy! Hang in there!

My sweet friend Sara is having a baby boy in just a few short weeks, and some of her friends got together to host a shower. My job was to decorate and to bake cupcakes, and I had a blast doing both! I have a ton of pictures to share with you, and lots of great links and ideas that I collected along the way.

The Ahoy There collection from Carta Bella, is what jumpstarted this whole theme. I just love the colors, (you might know how I love a pop of AQUA) and I thought the theme would be perfect for a baby boy shower. I like that it all came together in a very non-baby way though - these decorations and theme could have been made for a birthday party, or any occasion really, so don't be scared away by the word BABY!)

The first project I started was the banner. I created a banner for my friend Sara's first child, and it hangs above her bedroom door. So now, the new little mister will have a banner to hang above his room too. Now that his name has been chosen, I'm going to add his name onto the banner and get it ready to welcome him home! Banners are one of the first party decorations I start, because the Sizzix Banner Framelits dies make it so easy and fun. I love to layer them and combine patterns and colors. I added pinwheels and anchors to the banner for fun details.

The next project I created was a framed piece of art to serve as the centerpiece. I created the text in a word processing document, printed it on cardstock and then added patterned paper matting, and stickers to embellish it. I put it in a simple IKEA frame. It reads "Mightier than the waves of the sea is His great love for you." Many people attribute this as a Bible verse, but it's a pretty (extremely) loose translation from what I can find, so I left off the verse number. 

Now, onward to the cupcakes. This recipe is my very favorite. It's absolutely delicious, and although it starts as a cake mix, you'd never know it! They're called Wedding Cake Cupcakes - and thats truly what they taste like! To decorate the cupcakes, I stamped and die cut fun little embellishments and adhered them to toothpicks.

I turned again and again to my Paper Smooches stamps and dies for all of the projects here. The stamp set Wicked Nauticool and the coordinating dies made these projects so fun to create! I also used a stamp or two from Lawn Fawn's Float My Boat set. 

For the party favors, I followed some great tutorials (you can find them on my Pinterest board) to create paper boats. They turned out really cute, although some of them didn't want to stay standing up! I created sails from the Sizzix Banner Framelits, and adhered them to skewers. After forming the boats from kraft paper, I poked the skewer and sail through each boat. Then we filled the boats with Lifesavers candies, for the guests. They also doubled as cute decorations scattered around. 

And finally, as a gift to the lovely mama, I created a coordinated 6x6 scrapbook with the leftover papers I had. I simply cut papers and cardstock into 6x6 blocks, added some simple layers and embellishments, punched holes and threaded twine through. Usually when I create these fun little books, I use metal book rings, but I didn't have any, and I love the way the twine looks. Sometimes they are a little tight to open and close at first, but they loosen up over time. 

Also as part of the gift I created, I made coordinating thank you cards - because hey, what's one MORE project??? I tried to keep it as simple. . . and I love the way they turned out! Paper Smooches anchor die, banner dies, and sentiment dies made it pretty fun to just mix and match. I ended up with a few different combinations. . .these were my two favorites! 

So I think those are the highlights. I always love decorating for parties, but I must admit, I'm always happy when they're over! Sometimes my brain just can't stop thinking about new ideas and projects, and I tend to overwhelm myself! The weekend after this shower, we hosted my five-year-olds Sharks and Fishies party. I'll be working on that blog post next!!!! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Products I used: (affiliate links)
Carta Bella Ahoy There 12x12 Collection Kit
Sizzix Banner Framelits dies and scalloped dies
The Cat's Pajamas pinwheel die
Paper Smooches anchor die
Paper Smooches Wicked Nauticool clear stamps and dies
Lawn Fawn Float My Boat clear stamps
Paper Smooches Banners Dies
Paper Smooches Thanks Die
Paper Smooches Quote Tag (with sentiments)

PS You can find all the things that inspired me on my Pinterest board, Party: Nautical Baby Shower. Many of the products I used are also linked there, as well as products that might be perfect for YOUR next party!