Baby showers are joyous occasions and don’t have to be generic or boring.   I always like to think about the honoree’s taste and style, as well as the baby’s room decor.    The honoree of this shower had an older son who was just moving out of the vintage western-themed nursery to make way for baby sister.  So I went with a vintage shower theme that heaped on some old-fashioned girliness.

Of course, I love all things vintage.  So hosting a vintage baby shower is the most natural thing in the world for me to do.  I already have so many of the props, it’s simply about styling it imaginatively and adding some flowers and food.

Who says you need a tablecloth?  I started with a white chenille bedspread as a tablecloth.  I used my white hobnail dinner plates (I have about 50 of them) and stacked them at the end of the table.  I have lots of pretty ceramic serving platters that I keep on display in my kitchen on a plate rail above my cabinets, so I pulled out the pastel ones (pinks, greens, yellows) to display the food.

I also used my collection of vintage baby planters out of the nursery to set the vintage theme.  These can be found at yard sales in older neighborhoods, estate sales, and antique malls.  They can range in cost from $1 to $15, depending on the age and character of the pieces.

They can hold small floral arrangements (that was their original use, afterall!), or they can hold utensils or napkins for the party.   I always like to elevate a few items in a tablescape – in this case, I placed a vintage planter and a vintage baby card on top of a crystal cakestand.  You could also use a small stack of vintage children’s books in the appropriate colors.

A few other vintage baby cards and some pink fabric flower petals sprinkled the tabletop.  Again, I used a glass cakestand to elevate a ceramic plate of baby animal cookies (ducks, bunnies, horsies) and another vintage card.  See how I used little wooden plate stands to support the cards?

Since this was a 10:00 a.m. party, the food was brunch-themed.  The mom-to-be was diabetic, so we skipped the typical cake or petit fours.  I’ve never like petit fours, anyway.  So the only sweet was the shortbread cookies.   A dear friend shared this cookie recipe with me.  It is one of my absolute favorites (and everyone else’s, too!).

Jane’s Shortbread Cookies

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

Beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes.  Add egg yolks/vanilla.  Combine flour and salt, gradually adding to the mixture.  If you want color, add food coloring to the dough – no icing is needed.   Cover and freeze for 30+ minutes.  Roll out dough on parchment paper, flouring your rolling pin and cookie cutters well.  Bake the cut-out cookies at 350 degrees on parchment for 10 1/2 minutes.

The other foods were sausage balls, hashbrown casserole, fruit salad served in a glass footed trifle bowl from Southern Living at Home, and a spinach egg casserole.

This is the drink table, where we served strawberry lemonade.  I used a pink and white striped laminated tablecloth to avoid staining a white tablecloth.  I had a vintage Mother’s Day framed card that I propped in another wooden plate stand.

Happy Mom-to-Be of sweet Josie!

Using what you love, or what someone else loves,  is the best way to style a party.  The preparation is as fun as the actual party.  And if you’re going to host a party, you might as well have fun doing it!

.