Disclosure: This Pink and Gold Baby Shower and Strawberry Shortcake Skewers recipe has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SeeHowFreshWorks #CollectiveBias
Celebrate a Mom to be with a Pink and Gold Baby Shower! Check out all my party tips and menu ideas, including the recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Skewers!
I love hosting gatherings especially for special occasions, so when I was recently asked to help host a baby shower for a close friend who who was excited to welcome a baby girl into the next generation, I had to host an all girl pink and gold baby shower in her honor!
When I think of a baby shower for a little girl, floral prints, and the colors pink, gold and silver, come to mind so of course that was the inspiration for this baby shower.
I’ve thrown many baby showers in my day, and I love asking the Mom to be what she plans to decorate the nursery in. I use the ideas and plans she shares about the nursery as inspiration for the baby shower. Hosting a baby shower inspired by these nursery ideas, is not only a wonderful way to show thoughtfulness and attention to detail, I aim to create decorations that could then be gifted to the new Mom and used in the nursery (like the custom art work shown above).
See all the beautiful pink and gold baby shower décor, menu suggestions and party planning tips below!
The Décor:
Like I said, the main theme of the baby shower was pink and gold, but I also wanted to incorporate flowers into the décor as well. To start, I created a pink, gold, white and silver backdrop for the snack table. I used assorted colored and textured ribbon, tulle, lace, etc. and tied it around a thick piece of ribbon/string, allowing the ribbon to hang down about 2-3 feet. I then created tulle pom poms and safety pinned them along the top of the ribbon backdrop to cover where I tied the ribbon to the string. I used several thumb tacks to adhere the ribbon backdrop to the wall behind the snack table.
Other décor included a pink and gold themed diaper cake with flower and bow accents, fresh pink and white flowers displayed in a frosted pink vase and a custom piece of artwork, using floral scrapbook paper, a wooden letter and a white frame, that I will gift the Mom to be for the nursery.
The menu:
For me, when I host baby showers I like to serve brunch foods and/or light bites. This easier and more affordable to prep and serve than a full meal, and also makes it easy if you are hosting the baby shower with friends, as each host can bring a dish or two.
For my Pink and Gold Baby Shower I served raspberry lemonade, mini Spinach Mushroom Frittata, Rainbow Fruit Salad, mixed nuts, mini powdered donuts, a vegetable tray, pinwheels, bowtie pasta salad and my Strawberry Shortcake Skewers (recipe below).
Since I entertain often, I have several “go to” party dishes that I like to serve, however, I always try to change up how I serve these items. Like fruit and veggie trays are awesome for entertaining, but doing fruit kabobs or a fruit salad is a fun way to change up that basic fruit tray. I also like to create mini versions of favorite dishes, like the mini Spinach Mushroom Frittata, which I created using a muffin tin.
The Entertainment:
I’m not a big fan of baby shower games; and since most guests don’t care for them either, I usually just stick to socializing and opening gifts. However, there are a few activities that I have done over the years that have been a big hit with baby shower attendees. One of my friends is a big crafter, so for her we did onesie/bib decorating as the game/activity.
Another thing I have done, is used scrapbook paper and stickers (again, going along with the nursery/baby shower theme) to create 4×6-inch cards and asked guests to write down tips, words of encouragement, funny jokes/Mom stories, etc. I then slipped these into a little photo album and gave it to the new Mom at the end of the shower, telling her to read the book during those tired late night feedings.
For this pink and gold baby shower, since this was baby number two and since the Mom to be had already had a shower at work, she requested that we have a “storybook” shower. Just like a “diaper shower” where you ask guests to “stock the Mom to be with diapers and wipes” a “storybook shower”, is where you ask guests to bring a favorite children’s book in lieu of other gifts.
A storybook shower is a great idea for a Mom who is having their second baby or if the new Mom already had one or two showers and may already have a lot of baby things. Since this family loves to read, the hope is that the books they are gifted are geared towards little girls since she already has a lot of little boy books.
Keeping with the “storybook” theme, for the baby shower activity, I printed a blank ABC “book” and had each guest pick a letter, draw a picture and sign their name/leave a note on their letter/book page. I then slipped these into a binder with page protectors and had a custom alphabet book for the new baby.
Helpful Tips and Information:
Planning a large party or baby shower can be a lot of hard work on the party host, so here are some helpful tips:
-Don’t feel like you have to host the shower alone. See if another friend or family member would be willing to co-host. This not only helps with the workload but also helps divide the cost of hosting the shower among a few friends.
If you don’t know many of the other guests, ask the Mom-to-be if any of the party guests have asked to help or offered to throw a baby shower themselves and coordinate hosting the party with them.
-Don’t wait until the last minute to grocery shop. I learned this early on when I started hosting parties and events. Not only is it stressful to wait to the last minute to grocery shop/prep all the food, you may not have time to run back to the store if needed.
Unfortunately the bad part of shopping early, is that sometimes if you shop too early, you run the risk of your fresh produce going bad. That’s why I was happy to discover Rubbermaid® FreshWorks™ while shopping at Kroger for my baby shower groceries and supplies. Rubbermaid® FreshWorks™ uses a patented FreshVent™ Technology and Crisp Tray™ that elevates produce away from moisture and promotes proper airflow, to help keep produce fresher longer.
These Rubbermaid® FreshWorks™ containers come in a variety of sizes, perfect for all kinds of fresh produce (ie: strawberries, mushrooms, grapes, lettuce, blueberries, etc.), and are used to store whole, unwashed fruit and vegetables. Not only are these containers great for keeping my produce fresh and looking beautiful for my pink and gold baby shower, I’ve been using them to help keep my everyday groceries fresher for longer periods of time (confession: I’m the queen of over buying fresh produce and letting it go bad in the refrigerator before I can use it, but not anymore!).
-Don’t feel like everything has to be homemade. Sometimes using store bought cake (like in my Strawberry Shortcake Skewers below), sandwich platters or fruit and veggie trays, are not that much more expensive than buying everything and making it all yourself, and buying pre-made can save a lot of time and energy.
Do you love to entertain? What are your best party planning tips? Please share in the comments below!
Strawberry Shortcake Skewers
These Strawberry Shortcake Skewers are a fun and cute way to serve a classic southern dessert!
Ingredients
- Strawberry Shortcake Skewers:
- 1 loaf homemade or store-bought pound cake
- 1-2 (16-ounce) containers fresh strawberries, , washed
- 20-25 short wooden skewers
- --
- Marshmallow Whipped Cream Dip:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (6-ounce) jar marshmallow cream
Instructions
- To make Strawberry Shortcake Skewers: Cut pound cake into bite sized cubes. Set aside.
- Slice stems off of strawberries.
- Thread one piece of pound cake onto a wooden skewer. Then add a whole strawberry to the skewer. Repeat threading process until each skewers has 2-3 pieces of pound cake and strawberries and all the fruit and pound cake have been used.
- To make Marshmallow Whipped Cream Dip: Chill a large metal or glass bowl and wire whisk in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Using the chilled hand-held whisk or an electric mixer, whip heavy cream and vanilla until it begins to thicken. Continue to whip cream until soft peaks begin to form. Use caution and do not over mix.
- Fold marshmallow mixture into the whipped cream, being careful not to over mix.
- Serve Strawberry Shortcake Skewers with Marshmallow Whipped Cream Dip.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
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