Last Sunday, we hosted a baby shower for our dear friends Megumi and John, who are expecting a baby girl around Christmas next month! It was my first time planning and preparing a shower, but it was a lot of fun to put together! (I did realize how much work goes into them, though, and awakened within me a deeper appreciation for all the effort friends have put into the brial shower and baby showers they threw for me in the past.) I’m glad that we had this opportunity to gather together as friends to celebrate this new life and welcome Megumi and John’s beautiful baby girl into our lives!
Megumi is a big fan of Studio Ghibli films, especially Totoro, so I created a Totoro-themed calendar for the guests to guess when the baby would arrive.
And what is a shower without some delicious food? As baking is more of my forte than cooking, I made the desserts — cupcakes and sugar cookies!
This was my first time making sugar cookies with royal icing, but they turned out decent, thanks to some awesome tips from my dear friend and sugar cookie guru, Miss Megumi Kaminaga (different Megumi from the one we hosted this shower for). Thank you Mamagumi, and hope I’ve made you proud!
For the main course, we had a Korean platter, with bulgogi, japchae, and dumplings. Thank you for cooking everything, Kayo!
And a special thanks goes to Ann Helen for the delicious salad (not pictured) and the veggies, hummus, and homemade guacamole!
We also planned some fun games to play during the baby shower. The first was the Dirty Diaper game, in which we melted chocolates within these “diapers” and the guests had to guess what type of chocolate each diaper contained. (i.e. Butterfinger, Crunch, Mr. Goodbar, etc…)
The next game was the baby food guessing game. I soaked the labels off of baby food jars and the guests had to pass them around and guess what type of food each jar contained, from smell and (if they were brave enough) taste.
The last game we played was the classic “Guess the Mommy’s Belly Size” game, where we measured out tape to however length it was around Megumi’s baby bump.
After the games, we went onto an activity of decorating onesies for Megumi and John’s baby! I’d seen variations of this where people used fabric paint, but I thought it would be a lot less messy and perhaps look nicer if we cut out fabric and attached them to the onesies with iron-on adhesive and peel-n-stick adhesive. Even the guys got into it and created some great custom clothing for baby!
The results were spectacular! Look at how cute everyone’s onesies turned out! I was so impressed! 😀
We had John and Megumi each pick their favorite designs out of all the great onesies everyone created. It was not an easy decision!
Finally, it was time to open presents! There were such cute goodies for their baby girl…
Special thanks go Kayo, who cooked for the shower and MC-ed the games! I couldn’t have done it all without all the help from her, Kaz, and Ann Helen.
Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to the baby shower — I think it was a great success! 🙂 Congratulations to Megumi and John — we can’t wait to meet your sweet baby girl!
November 18, 2011 @ 8:29 am
SO PROUD!!! This baby shower looks AMAZING Misono! And can I just say I LOVE the totoro calendar!!!! the little cutouts are adorable!!! Now the only question I have was – how did you get a cookie cutter for the totoro shape? LOL. you are AWESOME!
November 19, 2011 @ 4:48 pm
Thank you, Megumi! 🙂 The Totoro calendar was very much based off of your handiwork on the lovely calendar you made for me! 🙂
We made the Totoro cookie cutter from a large circle cookie cutter, following the tutorial here. It’s a really great way to make your own custom cookie cutters! 🙂
November 18, 2011 @ 2:09 pm
holy cow… I love the totoro theme!! the calendar, cookies, favors… everything is so cute!! how did you cut out the letters and the totoro shapes for the calendar so perfectly?
November 19, 2011 @ 4:50 pm
Thanks Kristina! 🙂
I have a Xyron cutter, which is essentially like a printer with a blade that cuts out whatever shapes I create on my computer… it’s awesome and made it so much easier to cut out the shapes for the calendar.
November 18, 2011 @ 3:50 pm
What a great idea w/ the onesies!!! Planning a baby shower for a friend in a couple months and I might just steal your idea!!!! =p
November 19, 2011 @ 4:51 pm
Isn’t it a great idea? I was inspired by some similar ideas on craft blogs, and thought it would be fun to incorporate into this shower! You should totally do it too for your friend! 😀
November 19, 2011 @ 7:39 am
Another possible christmas baby? Yaaaay!
November 19, 2011 @ 4:52 pm
I know; exciting! The due date is apparently December 28, but I’m rooting for her to be a little early so she can be a Christmas baby (like us!). 😛
November 19, 2011 @ 12:15 pm
Great job. Looks like everything turned out wonderfully. I love those blue Totoro cookies!
November 19, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
Thanks Hyo! It was really fun to put together, and I loved seeing it all come together nicely. I had to do a good amount of research and practice to make the Totoro cookies; I’m glad you like them! 🙂
November 19, 2011 @ 9:40 pm
Misono, you astound me. From one mother to another, how did you have time to do all this?! Everything you create has such care and detail put into it, you are so amazing at baking, art, and design! Wow, very impressed! Good job!
November 21, 2011 @ 5:58 pm
You’re too sweet, Mie! Thanks so much for the compliments! I got a lot of help from friends and from Dan in putting it all together! 🙂
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