Hungry Caterpillar Baby Shower

Last May my friend Ashley and I hosted a baby shower for our good friend, Debbie. (Yes, that would be Dr. Debbie, a Supermom who contributes to our blog.) A few things about Debbie: her favorite color is green, she doesn’t eat meat, and she had quite the guest list.

So when it came time to pick a theme, Ashley and I thought basing it on the classic book Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle sounded fun — it would lend itself to the color green, a meatless menu and the flexibility to accommodate many guests.

hungry caterpillar party decor

To introduce the theme in the invitations we mimicked the art from Eric Carle’s book, complete with holes. Invitations were stuffed into craft envelopes with coordinating address labels then addressed by Ashley. (I love her handwriting!)

hungry caterpillar baby shower party invitation

To appropriately pull off the food theme, we centered the shower around brunch — hot waffles with numerous toppings representing many of the colors and foods the hungry caterpillar ate.

Although hot waffles could sound complicated, they were fairly easy to pull off, especially since the party was open-house style, so not everyone needed a waffle at the same time. We collected several waffle makers from our friends (We all have the same one!), and set them up on my kitchen island. We made fresh waffle batter throughout the party on an adjacent counter in my Kitchen Aid as needed. Mixing waffle batter takes just moments, and we left the ingredients out so we could easily access them. As waffles were done, we put them on a platter on our bar for the taking. Small coordinating signs invited guests to help themselves to hot waffles!

hungry caterpillar baby shower party waffle bar

We set up a topping station that included homemade maple syrup, sweet blueberry topping (that is delicious enough to pour over ice cream for dessert), caramel banana topping, peanut butter topping (her favorite), fresh diced strawberries, whipped cream, crushed walnuts and more. Just about every guest divided her waffle into sections to try each of the toppings.

hungry caterpillar baby shower party food

hungry caterpillar party food signs

Other colorful snacks were sprinkled throughout the party. We had fruit-shaped gumballs, colorful Trix swirls and fruit candies in all of the key conversations areas. It really was a feast!

Also in the main seating areas we created a conversation starter tree. I typed up questions pertaining to Debbie’s pregnancy and kids, printed them out on green paper, cut them in the shape of a leaf then strung them from metal trees. While we didn’t play any official games, I find conversation starter questions at showers are a great way to add to the décor and for guests to interact.

very hungry caterpillar party game

We picked up some Eric Carle fabric at a local quilting store and paired it with solid green fabrics to make many yards of bunting to string throughout the party rooms. Bunting is such a fun and easy way to add a lot of color.

hungry caterpillar baby shower decor

The bunting fabric scraps did not go to waste! I appliquéd a onesie that we hung with other coordinating baby clothes to serve as décor and gifts for the new baby. The mini clothespins were embellished with knotted ribbon scraps.

hungry caterpillar party baby onesie

hungry caterpillar party clothesline

I also appliquéd a matching hand towel for the restroom.

hungry caterpillar baby shower party

Many of the guests commented on the fun restroom-door sign:

hungry caterpillar party sign

Ashley used Rachel Ray’s directions to make colorful topiaries for even more pops of color throughout the serving and conversation areas. We love these topiaries because they offer height and can be made in any color.

very hungry caterpillar party rachel ray topiaries

In the entry way we had a child-friendly board book version of Hungry Caterpillar for guests to sign, a few munchies and more coordinating bunting. Also I found this adorable Hungry Caterpillar Pull Toy for just $15 on Amazon.com.

hungry caterpillar baby shower party book

To make sure everything coordinated just right, we even made a caterpillar gift record list.

very hungry caterpillar baby shower gift list

For the favor we used Debbie’s favorite candy, Peanut Butter M&M’s, to make a caterpillar. We simply stuffed the M&M’s into these clear, self-sealing baggies and topped it with a green pipe cleaner twisted to look like caterpillar antennas.

caterpillar party favors m&m's

Aimée

Contributor at Paging Supermom
Aimée was a co-founder of Paging Supermom. Although she dreams in pink, she wouldn’t trade her two energetic boys for anything. Between using The Force on surrounding battle droids and flying to infinity and beyond, Aimée enjoys squeezing in some personal creative time. With a background in advertising, marketing and design, she is proud to stay home raising her boys.

64 thoughts on “Hungry Caterpillar Baby Shower”

  1. Yay! This is one of my favorite parties we’ve ever done (and there sure have been a lot of them!!) So glad that you posted it!!

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    • I made the invitation and food signs in Adobe Illustrator. Bettijo came over a night or two before the party and we had fun making all the message signs together–also in Illustrator.

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  2. I found your blog via a friend and have been hooked from day 1. I am always checking in to see what new and creative things you are up to. This is over the top cute! I would love to do something along these lines as well… any chance of you posting (or selling) your printables?!!!

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  3. This is one of the cutest baby shower themes I have ever seen! I loved the Hungary Caterpillar book growing up! I love all the little details too like the holes in the fruit and the circle pattern on the flags. Very nicely done!

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  4. are those bags you linked the exact bags you used to make the caterpillar party favors? They look so wide in comparison to the finished product

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    • Yes, those are the exact bags. The picture on the store’s site is of a different sized bag, but if you look at dimensions specified for that link, you’ll notice the bags are 1″x8″. I’ve always had excellent experiences when purchasing supplies from Clear Bags–yet it can be confusing that each product doesn’t have it’s own image.

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  5. This was THE BEST shower I’ve ever attended with the cutest invitations and amazing attention to detail. Every single thing was perfect. I was so honored that you and Ashley went to so much work–FOR ME!! I couldn’t ask for better friends. :)

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  6. Love your ideas! Do you have a list of the icebreaker questions? Did you keep them theme oriented or just normal icebreaker ideas?

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    • Great question! I did keep the questions theme oriented. Most of the questions were about our guest of honor and the others were about favorite foods and children’s stories. Perhaps questions we used would make a useful follow-up post?

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  7. That would make a great post! Do you think you could do it by next week? I’m planning two showers on the 16th. If not, could you maybe send them to me in a private message? That would fabulous!

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  8. Thanks for the link to ClearBags for the M&M caterpillar favor! I’m going to use this for a party favor next month. Did you do anything fun with the remaining 1×8 bags?

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    • I’ve used the extra clear bags numerous times!! They look especially cute filled with pastel colored skittles in the spring, red and green M&Ms at Christmas and so forth. I’ve also put pens in them to package with homemade stationery… The options truly are endless. Hope that helps!

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  9. I tried to order the bags as well, I Love the idea of the M&M caterpillar, but regular shipping was $17 for bags that are $5…kind of defeats the purpose of finding a cheap party favor…any ideas on this?

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    • I’ve used the bags for many occassions now, so I feel like I received good value. However, I did read from another’s reader’s comment that you can purchase smaller quantities of these bags from the Stampin’ Up site. Good luck!

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  10. just wondering where you got you image for the cocoon? i want to make a sign for the bathroom just like yours, its for my daughters first birthday!

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  11. Hi, I love your baby shower idea! Its adorable. Im trying to do the same for my nephew’s first bday! can you tell me where i can find the bags for the M&M caterpillars?

    Thanks!!! :)

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  12. I am planning a Very Hungry Caterpillar party for my daughter’s first birthday. I love the Caterpillars to Go idea! However, I’m having a very hard time finding the clear baggies? Can you please tell me where you found those?

    Thanks!

    Lisa

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    • Well, I’m so sorry – I just see where you gave the web address right above my post. Do you have the size of the baggies? Thanks and sorry I did not read that first!

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      • Hi Lisa. The bags are 1×8″. The link above is for the bags–the picture they show just isn’t the same dimensions, so it can be confusing. Good luck with your party! Such a cute theme for your daughter’s first Birthday!

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  13. I am so impressed with everything you made for this baby shower! I am actually using almost everything for my first grandbaby’s shower too in April.

    Did you draw the fruit or did you find a template for it somewhere? We are having a brunch, but still having a lot of what the caterpillar ate. I thought those were so cute.

    Thank you again!

    Reply
    • Congrats on your first grand baby!! I drew all the images in Adobe Illustrator. We’re not able to offer printables for them at this time… But be sure to check back, as that could change! Good luck with the shower!!

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  14. i love this post. i have done my first sons baby shower bedroom and now his first birthday party in hungry caterpillar. i was wondering where you found the plastic fruit for the hurricane center piece? i am having the hardest time finding it.

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  15. i love the shower you guys did. i also love your blog. i have done my own baby shower, nursery, and now my sons first birthday in hungry caterpillar. i was wondering where you got the plastic fruit for the center pieces. i am having a hard time finding them. please help.

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  16. the fruit (for center pieces)looks like the candy containers you can get. ive seen them in gas stations,and dollar tree. they have pixie stix type sugar in them!!!

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  17. I am trying to glue paper shreds to styrofoam balls for the topiaries and am having a tough time. What type of glue did you use?

    Thank you so much – this site has been a Godsend :)

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  18. I love your ideas!! I am using a bunch for an upcoming shower. How did you attach the antenna’s to the caterpillars?

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    • The baggies that I used are fold-over adhesive, so I slipped the pipe cleaner through the unsealed edge. I then twisted the pipe cleaner around itself a couple times to hold in place. Last, I bent the pipe cleaners into antenna shape. Hope that helps! Be sure to let us know how your party goes!

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  19. I love all your adorable ideas! I’m doing this theme for my son’s first birthday party. How did you make the bunting?

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  20. Hi Aimee! This party was just adorable!! Doing this for my sons first birthday! Was wondering if you remembered the exact size of the clear bags you used for the m & m catepillar take home treats? Thanks!

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  21. Hi! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog.
    Is it difficult to set up your own blog?
    I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Many thanks

    Reply
  22. Super cute!! I wanted to use your caterpillar favor idea. Except I’m having trouble finding those clear bags you used. When I click the link the page no longer exists. Please help. Thanks so much!

    Lindsay

    Reply
  23. I love the little conversation starter that you put on the table but wherever did you find a little twig branch holder ??

    Reply

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