Circle Garland Baby Shower

Do you remember the Circle Garland invitation I posted a while back? Well here is the lovely baby shower that goes with it!

Circle Garland Front Door

I wanted something to deck out the front door, and the night before I was still at a loss when Superdad suggested I make one very long garland that could be hung from ceiling to floor just in front of the door. It was even his idea that it be off to the side like that — isn’t he a genius? We taped it to the ceiling and to the cement, then tucked the extra strings under the doormat. I must say I love how this little detail turned out, and it’s fun that right when guests arrived at the party they were reminded of the invitation.

So I had already created a dozen of the circle garlands that I demoed on the Martha Stewart show in January. (In case you’re wondering: Yes, I’m using them all the time now, and No I’m not sick of them yet). I think you’re really going to agree that when used in mass at this party they had a BIG impact!

Brunch Table

Here is the brunch table I had setup for the shower, and there are the 12 garlands hung evenly spaced over my kitchen nook’s bay window.

Circle Garland Table Backdrop

I was just giddy about how festive they looked, and it really is even more impressive when you consider that I got all that WOW! with less than $10 worth of cardstock.

Circle Garland Backdrop Close-up

I’ve posted the directions for making these garlands in the past, but here is a quick review:

For each garland cut out 11, 4-inch circles (using this handy dandy Martha Stewart Large Circle Cutter). Load matching thread into a sewing machine. Pull out an extra long tail of thread (so you’ll have some to hang the banner) then using a long, straight stitch feed the circles into the sewing machine one at a time. To space out the circles, let the machine run a few stitches before feeding the next one. After the last circle is in, finish by pulling out another long tail then clip the threads. Obviously you can make this garland as long or as short as you need by using more circles or varying the size of the circles themselves.

Yogurt Parfait Bar

Since we were doing a mid-morning brunch shower, we had a fruit and yogurt parfait bar with lots of fun toppings.

Granola

This French Almond Granola is a favorite at our house. We buy it at the local farmer’s market, but believe me I *wish* I had a good granola recipe — I’ve tried many but haven’t struck on that perfect one yet.

Candied Pecans

I candied some pecans and this is what my kids kept sneaking off the table as I was setting up. They sound so impressive but are surprisingly easy to make:

Candied Pecans Recipe
:: 1-1/2 cups raw pecans (chopped, if desired)
:: 1/2 cup sugar
:: 2 tablespoons butter (do not substitute margarine)
:: 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
:: pinch of salt and pepper
:: 1 teaspoon vanilla

If you’re making these as a finger food for snacking, it’s best to leave the nuts whole, but for a topping, I like to lightly chop them so they’re about half size. In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the sugar and stir for 30-60 seconds, until the sugar granules begin to melt. Add the chopped nuts and spices then mix well. Pour in the vanilla and blend. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 3 minutes more as sugar coating begins o brown. Remove from heat and let cool. The only tough part is keeping your family’s fingers from snitching away the whole batch!

Roses and Lemonade

Parfaits, croissants, yogurt and French berry lemonade… I think I must have been subconsciously sticking to a French theme, but I didn’t realize it until the day of the party as I was putting it all the food out together.

Roses Closeup

It was a lot harder than I had anticipated to track down pink flowers the night before the party. The only ones the right color that I could find were not long stem but garden roses, which have multiple buds on each stem. The good news was I got a lot more rose buds for the price, but the bad news — they were harder to arrange in a nice tight clump like I’d envisioned. Given how inexperienced I am with flower arranging, I think they turned out beautifully.

Yummy Pastries

Is there anything more wonderful than piles of delicious pastries??

Delicious Muffins

Want the the recipe for these yummy muffins? Truth be told — they’re from a box! Since throwing a party is stressful enough, I figured why not allow myself to use boxed mixes so I wouldn’t have to stress about whether things would turn out just right. I dressed up the blueberry muffin mix with a homemade brown sugar and oatmeal streusel (the cinnamon mix came with it’s own wonderful topping).

Fruit Pizza

This delicious sugar cookie crust topped with cream cheese frosting and a bunch of cut-up fruit is one of my favorite treats of all time. It is the party’s honorary mama-to-be’s specialty, and she was sweet enough to bring a couple to the shower for us all to enjoy!

Tie Dye Clothesline

Keeping with the circle theme, I tie-dyed gray and fuchsia onesies with a bulls-eye pattern to make a fun clothesline.

Glittered Clothespins

Aren’t those glittered clothespins fun? A little white school glue and sprinkle of silver glitter the night before was all it took.

Adorable Mama-To-Be

And here is the adorable Mother to Be!

Circle Decoupage Magnet Party Favors

I decoupaged magnets to make a simple and inexpensive party favor. Here’s what you need:

Circle Magnet Party Favors

:: 12×12-sheet printed scrapbook paper (Mine is an out-of-print pattern from my stash)
:: 1-inch circle paper punch
:: 1-inch round glass tiles (I got mine at a craft store but here are similar ones)
:: Decoupage glue
:: Paint brush (I like to use the throw-away foam kind for decoupaging)
:: Magnets
:: Glue gun
:: Removable glue dots
:: Our free printable card template

Using the circle paper punch, cut out as many circles from the patterned paper as you need magnets. Apply a thin layer of the decoupage glue to the top (pretty side) of the paper cutout. Press firmly onto the flat side of the glass tile. Smooth out any air bubbles. Apply another thin layer of glue to the back side of the paper to seal it to the glass tile. (If you’re not familiar with decoupage, it will be comforting to you to know at this point that the white glue is going to dry clear). Let dry — I left mine overnight but if you’re in a hurry consult the decoupage glue’s package for drying times.

After the decorated tiles are dry, use a glue gun to adhere the magnet to the back of the tile. Print our free “thanks for coming around” template on cardstock and cut out. Use removable glue dots to stick a magnet onto each card. You can give the cards just like that or for a more finished effect you can package the card up in a clear baggie.

Modge Podge Magnet Party Favors

Bettijo Bridges

Administrator at Paging Supermom
Bettijo is the founder and designer of Paging Supermom where she shares creative ideas for family fun. Known for practical and kid-friendly activities, free printables and holiday entertainment. Bettijo was a guest on the Martha Stewart Show and has frequently appeared on local TV. Her work has also been featured in national magazines including Real Simple, O, Redbook, Parents, Family Circle, and Health. She enjoys art, retro-modern design, photography and making new things. Mom of 4 kids.

14 thoughts on “Circle Garland Baby Shower”

  1. The circle garland looks amazing grouped together. What a beautiful backdrop for the food table. I’m most excited about your Candied Pecan recipe though. You make the BEST, and now I have the recipe. I’m so making some tonight!!

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  2. I love it all! What an easy but classy, modern look. I love the tie dye shirts, the arranging, party favors. You throw the best parties!

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  3. Beautiful shower! I’m new to your blog and absolutely love your ideas. Any chance of getting the fruit dessert recipe? It looks amazing.

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    • I don’t have it myself — I’ll have to see if I can get it from the cute Mama who made it. I do know that she uses a refrigerated, pre-packaged sugar cookie dough, homemade cream cheese frosting and then cuts up various fruits into cubes to top. So I guess it’s really just the frosting we need the recipe for…

      Reply
  4. I’m wondering how these garlands would look hanging in a variety of pastel colors cut into ovals instead of circles (hoping to look like easter eggs) for my Easter brunch. hmmmm. will have to try to see. Thanks for inspiration!

    Reply
    • I think that would be darling! If it were me I’d use the pastel colors and still just cut as circles — for a couple reasons. (1) You can still use the circle cutter which cuts prep time by more than half — cutting out enough ovals by hand could take a while and it would be hard to find a paper punch big enough. If you have access to a die-cut machine that could work. Plus hung in mass the circles will still have an Easter/Eggy feel that would still be great. (2) The other reason is that if you make them in pastel colored circles and do just one color per strand then you could save them and use for another party later — by keeping the colors separate you could say recycle all the yellow into another party that the other pastel colors wouldn’t be quite right for. I hope I’m making sense? I know it seems like I’m a perfectionist, and I am a little, but I also try to think of the easiest/ most-efficient way to accomplish my desired result.

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  5. Thanks for the great idea! I am planning a pink polka dot party for my almost 1 year old. I was going to do something similar, but this seems much easier! Did you use card stock or regular paper? I’ve never sewn on paper before and wasn’t sure which would be best. Thanks!

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