Tag: baby shower

Congrats! It’s a….watermelon? {Watermelon Baby Carriage} #babyshower ideas

Kim

Last summer, I helped throw my sister a baby shower. It was so much fun, and I did a post sharing the punch recipe and the party favors. My plan was to share a bunch of other things…and per usual, life got in the way. Well, better late than never right?!

One of my favorite things was this watermelon baby carriage. I was so proud of myself for actually pulling it off! Granted, there are much more intricate ones online, but I love my creepy grapefruit baby and it’s simple watermelon carriage. It looks cute on the food table, and it can be used for a boy or girl, and with pretty much any theme!
This was our food table, with a side table to the far right (not pictured) with meatballs, and we had some candy that matched our color scheme (pink/green/white) sitting around throughout.
Since we had the shower in the summer, watermelon was in season, as well as most of the other fruits used, which was a money saver. You can use any combination of fruits you like or have available.

Watermelon Baby Carriage

  • 1 watermelon (any size, and make it easy on yourself and get a seedless one!)
  • 1 grapefruit, size will depend on the size of the watermelon. It’s going to become the baby’s head, so think about how much space you want it to take up. Note: You can also use an orange, if you need something smaller than a grapefruit
  • 1 pink or blue pacifier
  • grapes/blueberries or other small fruit to make “eyes” and “nose”
  • toothpicks
  • assorted fruit to fill “carriage”, again the amounts will depend on the size of the watermelon.
To prepare-
  1. Place watermelon on a flat surface (on top of newspaper or towels to catch the juice). If needed, cut a small slice of rind off the bottom to help it sit flat.
  2. Use a marker (or visualize) a line down the middle of the watermelon horizontally. Vertically, you will draw a line that is not quite centered…at about 1/3 or a little more of the watermelon.  Using a sharp knife, cut from the top vertical line, down to the center horizontal line. This is easier than it sounds…just take a look at a pic and cut accordingly. (I didn’t measure anything, and I just freehanded my lines. No perfectionism here! If your lines aren’t perfectly straight, it’s okay. If needed, you can go back and neaten/trim them up.)
  3. After you have cut out the top quarter of the watermelon, scoop out all the fruit. I used a melon baller, so my pieces looked nice and were ready to add back into the watermelon.
  4. Add some of the watermelon and assorted fruit to the bottom and back of the watermelon. Add whole grapefruit in center. Place fruit around grapefruit until “carriage” is full.
  5. Use 2 pieces of fruit to make eyes – I used a grape, cut in half. Place toothpick into grapefruit, where you want the eyes to go…leave enough of the toothpick sticking out to secure the eyes in place. Do the same for the nose…I used a blueberry for this. Make a small slit in the grapefruit for the mouth. Insert pacifier.
Congrats! You have a watermelon baby. This is just a basic one, if you have creativity and artistic ability, you can get as fancy as you want. I’ve seen some with scalloped edges, a handle for the carriage, wheels, etc.
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Makin’ it Mo’Betta

White Chocolate Popcorn {Party Favors}

Kim

Having your guests have a little something to take home at the end of a party is a fun thing to do. I, of course, like for it to be something edible. Everyone likes food right? If they are friends with me, the answer to that is yes. Because seriously, who wants to hang out with someone who doesn’t like to eat? Don’t answer that. You people out there who just “forget to eat”…I have issues with you. I’m kidding. Sort of. 

For my sister’s baby shower, I made white chocolate popcorn with pink, green, and white M&M candies.
It looked cute bagged up, and it tastes good. We placed a framed sign on the table with the favors that said ‘Ready to pop’. My cousin made it and it was very cute (it was also done in pink and green), but somehow I didn’t get a picture. That’s the downside to hosting a party, it’s hard to get as many pics!
The popcorn was tied with pink and white curling ribbon and I found little strollers, pacifiers and baby blocks at a dollar store (The Dollar Tree), so we tied those to each bag. It’s similar to the Birthday Cake Batter Popcorn party favors I did for my daughter’s 10th bday party.

White Chocolate Candy Popcorn

*The amounts are going to vary depending on how much you want to make. We made 25 favor bags, and I am guessing it was about 2 cups per bag, maybe a little more. The recipe is for one ‘batch’ and I doubled it.
 
12 cups popped popcorn (1/2 cup unpopped kernels)
1 (24 oz) package of white almond bark or white chocolate chips, melted
*sea salt (optional)
desired candy or sprinkles
  • In a large bowl, pour the melted chocolate or almond bark over the prepared popcorn.
  • Stir to mix.
  • Spread chocolate covered popcorn out on wax paper.
  • *Sprinkle with sea salt if desired (this is not needed if using salted microwave popcorn. I used plain popcorn from my air popper) You can also skip the salt all together, but I like the sweet-salty combo.
  • Add candy to popcorn BEFORE CHOCOLATE HARDENS. Lightly press candy down onto the popcorn. (You can mix the candy in with the chocolate, but then it gets covered in white chocolate so it’s not as pretty. I like to add it on the tops, you just have to work quickly before the chocolate hardens.)
  • Once chocolate/bark is set, break apart and place in bags.
This simple recipe can be adapted to pretty much any party or theme. Just change up the candy used, add sprinkles, etc. I don’t recommend making it more than 24 hours in advance because the chocolate coating causes the popcorn to get soft…it’s still good however!
If looking for a good party punch, you can check out this post.
If looking for more baby shower ideas, you can check out my .
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Makin’ it Mo’Betta

Sparkling Pineapple-Lime Punch {and Baby Shower Beverages}

Kim

Anyone who knows me knows that my sister is having her first baby very soon *squeal* and they also know that I recently gave her a baby shower. The colors for the shower were white, pink and green. As I was perusing Pinterest for ideas, I saw this punch recipe. The vivid green caught my attention and I thought it would look good on the beverage table with the pink lemonade we were serving.

A couple of things….first, those are mint leaves! For a baby shower, I probably should have removed the leaves, or really muddled them better. It kinda looks like my ducks are swimming in some very realistic pond water. (However, it gave me the idea that this punch would be awesome at Halloween. Take out the fruit and ducks, add in some creepy frogs/eyeballs etc…perfect!)
Other than the floating mint leaves/lily pads (haha) the punch was a pretty color and the best part – it was very good! Several people commented on it (and no one said it looked like pond water – except my middle child…which comes as no surprise to me. Who said honesty is the best policy? Oh yeah, that was me. *sigh*) It reminded me a little of a mojito, and you could easily add in some rum to make an adult, non-baby-on-board, beverage!
So – pretty color, tastes great, and EASY to make – that makes it a keeper in my book!

Sparkling Pineapple-Lime Punch

1 bunch fresh mint, stems removed

2 packs Kool-Aid Lemon-Lime Flavor Unsweetened Drink Mix

2 qt. (8 cups) pineapple juice, chilled

1 (2 L) bottle of carbonated lemon-lime soda, chilled (7-Up, Sprite, etc)

1 lemon, cut lengthwise in half, then sliced crosswise (I just quartered mine…oops)

1 lime, sliced

  • Muddle mint with the dry Kool-Aid. This can be done in the punch bowl or in a separate bowl using anything with a flat bottom or with a wooden spoon.
  • Once mint and Kool Aid are muddled together, pour in the chilled pineapple juice. Stir until Kool Aid is dissolved.
  • Add lemon, lime and 2 L soda just before serving.

Note: I made an ice ring with about a half quart of the pineapple juice, along with some whole mint leaves. This is optional, but helps keep the punch cold without watering it down.

 Recipe Source: 

The green punch, aka ‘green juice’ as my sister referred to it, was served in a punch bowl I’ve had forevah. The pink lemonade, with slices of lime, was served in a glass drink dispenser that I picked up at TJ Maxx or Marshall’s relatively cheap. A tip about the the drink dispensers with the spout at the bottom – they either have to sit on the edge of the table/counter or they need to be on some type of stand. An inverted cake plate works great if your dispenser doesn’t come with a stand! We also had water bottles available…

The labels were a free printable from . We just cut them out and used packing tape to tape them on. The tape also helps keep them from ripping. If your water bottles are going to be in ice, or are cold and going to ‘sweat’, you may want to consider laminating them first. Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat.

* Pinterest Board if interested*

I may be linking up at any of the following – (Monday) , , , , ,  (Tuesday) , , , ,,, , , (Wednesday) , , , , ,, ,  (Thursday) ,, ,  (Friday) , , , , , ,, , ,, , (Saturday) , 

© copyright 2013 – All rights reserved

Makin’ it Mo’Betta