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I had so much fun planning this shower…finally a baby shower for my sister! Yay! I came across the “In Full Bloom” shower when I was looking for ideas and loved the idea of a French inspired theme…mostly because Anne’s friend, Melissa, lives in France and was helping me plan the shower. Perfect. We used lots of ideas from the In Full Bloom shower and then Melissa added her own “French” touches. I really wanted to have the shower in my backyard, but the crazy Kansas heat (especially this summer) crushed that idea. We thought that we might not have anyone show up if we planned it at 6am in order for the weather to be tolerable. And it would have probably still been too hot! 🙂 In my dream world I would live somewhere where I could have outdoor parties anytime of year. No heat and no bugs. That would be awesome.

This is the front of the invitation.

We had a crepe bar set up in the kitchen and French music playing in the background.

Crepes and coffee were served when guests first arrived.

Melissa made the crepes just like she does in France. This is how you properly fold and serve them. You unfold them to add your toppings and then fold them back up to eat. Rolling them is an American thing. I never knew that!

The toppings were all written on the chalkboard: nutella, butter, sugar, powdered sugar, and jam.

We played the true/false game and a friend of Anne’s gave a little devotional and then we ate again! Melissa said it was very appropriate to eat a lot at a French party…so we did!

My mom made most of the food. I was so thankful for that. She made these delicious baquette sandwiches and wrapped them with parchment paper and washi tape. They tasted as good as they look…and they were cute too!

We also served pasta salad, chips and fruit.

The bunting around the table was borrowed from another pretty party.

Lots of sunflowers…they are my sister’s favorite.

Coconut creme and mocha chocolate cupcakes made by my “neighbor” Kerry. They were SO good. There were a few extras and I ate them all.

The favors were little ivy plants wrapped in burlap and tied with yarn. I loved having them by the door when you walked in.

Molly made the merci/thank you tags. Aren’t they so cute? She used a Silhouette machine to make them and now I seriously want one. Crafters envy for sure. Molly made all of the signs for the crepe bar and the food table too. Each sign was written in French and English (thanks to Melissa’s translations!).

My pretty pregnant sister is on the right with her sweet friends Molly (left) and Melissa (center).

After we ate Anne started opening her gifts. Oh, and that cute bébé bunting was made by Molly too!

We were packed in my living room…I seriously ran out of chairs! The more the merrier, right?

My niece Ellie helped open Anne’s gifts. She would model or hold up the baby item after Anne opened it. A little mama. She was so cute.

Anne, my mom, and my grandma. All excited for baby Chester to arrive…Chester is baby’s nickname. 🙂

Anne and her mother-in-law. She is super excited because baby Chester is her FIRST grandchild!

It was such an honor to be able to host this shower for you Anne. I am blessed to have a sister like you and I can’t wait to see you as a mama. You will be holding your little one soon!

Twenty-three days {or less} until I am an auntie again. Hooray!

I thought I’d share this fun and simple game we played at my sister’s baby shower. It was a French “bebe” shower, so we incorporated the French theme into our game too. I hosted the shower along with two of my sister’s sweet friends. I was so thankful for them! One of her friends actually lives in France…hence the French theme. It was so great to have her French input.

Vrai/Faux Game

For the game, each guest was given a card that read vrai (true) on one side and faux (false) on the opposite side. As we were cutting out the cards (the night before the shower) we were wishing we had thought to buy sticks to glue to them. But we didn’t think of that…and we didn’t have enough time to go get some, so the guests just held up the card with their hand instead of by a stick. Next time I will add a stick!

Melissa (the friend from France) taught everyone how to say “true” and “false” in French and they practiced a few times. Then she read through facts about pregnancy and babies in France. Each guest had to decide if the fact was vrai (true) or faux (false) and hold up their card to show their answer. The guest with the most correct answers won. Here are a few of the facts that were read:

In France, after giving birth, you stay in the hospital a minimum of 3-4 days for a non-complications delivery. (TRUE)

In France, you get paid maternity leave and can stop working up to 3 months in advance. (TRUE)

In France, they do NOT promote demand feeding. (FALSE – they highly promote it.)

In France, it is very expensive to have a baby in a state hospital. (FALSE – free, and really inexpensive in a private hospital.)

 Throwing a baby shower originated in France and thus a common practice before the baby arrives (FALSE – definitely an American tradition. In France, many people come to the hospital and sometimes bring gifts for the mom and baby.)

I didn’t think to take any pictures during the actual game. Bummer. But here we are after the shower holding up our true/false cards…you get the picture. 🙂

I’m not a huge game person and I think it is hard to find fun shower games, but this one was perfect! What are your favorite shower games? I might need some ideas for the next one!

Check back tomorrow to see the rest of the shower!