Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Baby Shower Fun!

Our friends Jake & Alana are about to have their first little baby, and I got to host a baby shower for them. It was a wonderful party - their friends were all really great, the weather was perfect, and we got to celebrate our anticipation of our future little friend. Oh, and also the food was great!


The theme of the shower was Children's Books - so everyone gave them a book instead of a card. To go along with the theme, I printed out little mini "books" on cardstock and taped them to toothpicks to decorate the mini cupcakes. I made the Vanilla Agave cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and our awesome friend Sophia made Raspberry-Lemon Buttercream Frosting, which was magically delicious. Sophia is so good at putting on the frosting too, don't they look amazing?

UPDATE
Wow, years later, this is the blog post that I continue to get the most emails about. Everyone wants to know how I made these little books for the cupcake toppers and if I will send them the file I used. That file is long-gone. I just searched Google images for "children's books," and then copied the images I liked and pasted them into a Word document. I pasted them in columns, with blank space for the "back cover" on the left. Then I printed them on plain cardstock. Printed 'em out, and used a paper cutter to trim them. Fold them in half, and use tape to affix them to toothpicks. That's the process in a nutshell! Good luck! 



Here are the name tags I made

... and these were some of the little cards to write down the descriptions of the foods. I also made garlands of little mini book covers, and also of various characters from kids books. They both turned out super cute, but I didn't get a good picture of them.

Assorted crackers from Trader Joe's along with a big bowl of the Mediterranean Cucumber & Cashew Dip from Veganomicon. That dip is so good, and everyone was loving it and asking about it... If you haven't tried it yet, I really recommend it.


It just wouldn't be a party without hummus and veggies now, would it?

Sophia made mini-chocolate chip cookies which everyone was raving about (yeah!), and I made some mini peanut butter-chocolate cookies. On the right are some toasted baguette slices with Sophia's White Bean Balsamic spread, cherry tomatoes & fresh parsley. As you can see, Sophia totally helped me out with this party big time. She is awesome.

Jake found a bunch of these delicious Afghan Bolani at Costco and we heated them up on the skillet. Half were stuffed with spinach, and the other half with pumpkin. I served them alongside a big batch of my Afghan Cilantro-Mint Sauce. They were both good, but those pumpkin bolani with the mint sauce were pretty much a match made in heaven. SO GOOD.

Alana made her favorite Mushroom Pinwheels with Puff Pastry, which were a big sensation as always. Mr. Vegan Eats and Treats was going around telling everyone that he had licked them all so that he could have them all to himself, but this still didn't stop other people from eating them! ha!

Alana definitely wanted some pie at her party (smart girl!), so I made the Double Chocolate Strawberry Pie from Vegan Diner. HELLO! This pie was so easy to make and was so crazy delicious, I will most definitely make it again, and again, and again. Yumtown.


Gratuitous Doggie Shot!
Jake was serving up some tasty mixed drinks for people, and I guess it turns out that our little Snoopy likes the mojitos. He stole someone's empty cup out from under their seat and then ran around prancing like a fool with his cup full of smooshed mint leaves. Quite a rascal, that little guy!

18 comments:

  1. Awww. Now I'm even sadder that we were sick and couldn't come-- what a great party!

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  2. Also: Snooooooooopy! He looks like he's saying "just one more? Please?" Sorry little guy, you've had enough!

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  3. Anonymous2:25 PM

    What an adorable theme and great execution! I like how you're not afraid to get adventurous and stray outside of the traditional party fare. Everything looks wonderful!

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  4. What a great write up (and party of course)! Jake, my friends and I all had a great time and Snoopy was such a party machine! I put a few pictures of Jake and I opening presents on my blog that Charlotte took. Thanks to Amey for being an awesome hostess and for both Amey and Sophia being incredible caterers!

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  5. Anonymous10:01 PM

    It all looks delicious. Those cupcakes are so cute. Love the little books idea as decorations. They look fabulous!

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  6. Beautiful spread. That is going to be one happy baby.

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  7. what a fun party, everything looks delish--but especially that pie. i meant to make it when strawberries were in season, but i failed. spring!

    xo
    kittee

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  8. <3
    i'm so glad to be friends with you guys!

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  9. woah that strawberry pie looks amazing. the cupckaes really are adorable too!

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  10. 1). If I ever get pregnant (highly unlikely) but if I do, you are throwing me a shower!; 2). That pie *actually* makes the saying: "Easy as pie!" valid, now :); 3). Love the theme, Amey! Seriously SO precious. What an awesome friend you are...

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  11. What a great party and I LOVE that photo of Snoopy!

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  12. You are the hostess with the mostest! The decorations are so cute, and all the food looks great.

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  13. Wow, everything looks amazing. I love the adorable touches with the book covers for the cupcakes and all the little name cards and labels.

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  14. I am IN LOVE with these party ideas!!!

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  15. Anonymous2:47 PM

    Hi...would you mind telling me how to print out the mini books? What a GREAT idea!!

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  16. I found your blog through a pinterest search.....Did you just copy and paste the covers onto the cardstock? I'm looking for ideas and think this would work.
    Thank you.
    preciousmoments2004 at gmail dot com

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