Camping Baby Shower

A friend and I just hosted a Camping Themed Baby Shower. I know its not traditional, but she's an outdoors girl expecting her third little boy. What could be more perfect?

I had a great time pulling together things we already had around the house and finding fun outdoorsy accessories. The trick to working on a budget is thinking outside the box.

I hit a 80% clearance at Michael's and picked up some adorable rustic decorations.

I'm really proud of these letter blocks that I made out of wood I found in our garage and some scrap booking paper. Kevin cut the wood into "rustic" pieces. I sanded them, cut decorative papers to fit then added some stickers and glue. About a half hour project with great results! I may add a few more embellishments if I find anything interesting around the house. I made them two-sided: one side is outdoorsy to go with my theme, the other is more babyish for his nursery if she wants to use them to decorate.

You know I love a theme so I couldn't help myself. I made some camping themed desserts - Smores brownies and a super easy campfire cake that doesn't require any baking - just assembly.

I do NOT like baby shower games. Sorry, guys, no adult should have to eat baby food or pass around a diaper filled with pretend chocolate poop. This might be funny when you're ten; at my age its just weird.  So, I pressed for a group craft instead. We decided to decorate onesies. Of course you can scribble all over them with puffy fabric paint and they will be cute. The parents may never put the baby in them, but that's beside the point.

If you want to try to make onesies the kid might actually wear here are two simple systems. I've included photos of my demonstrations projects. I promise, they took no actual artistic talent - just some time and a little patience. For detailed DIY instructions on either project just google "decorate a onesie" (that's what I did!) You can apply the same techniques to T-shirts, etc.

 Fabric Appliqué Process

• draw a simple design on cardboard (I used an old cereal box)
• cut your template out
• trace template onto the fabric
• cut out the design
• apply permanent fabric glue to back of the design (I used Aleene's Fabric Fusion)
• stick it to the onesie
• let dry completely overnight 

Freezer Paper Stencil

• cut out a stencil from freezer paper using an exacto knife
• iron it onto a onesie (takes about 1 min. with dry heat)
• dab on fabric paint using a brush
• let dry completely overnight
  
  



The finished product!

I did get a little over-the-top cute with my camping concept. I named the craft center "Camp Wannamaka Onesie." I made tiny tents from scrap burlap and folded cardboard for table decorations. I used small evergreen trees to create "woods." Okay, I confess - I have my tacky days.