A Safari Theme Baby Shower & a Free Printable!

I recently helped host a baby shower for one of my closest friends.  It took place in a gorgeously decorated house, so we didn’t have to go overboard with the decorations, but we had some fun playing with the Safari theme we chose.

For party favors I created little DIY Herb Kits, a project that came together pretty easily and for about $3 per favor. I know that’s not super cheap, but these days it’s nearly impossible to create a good (i.e useful and not crappy) party favor for less than 3 bucks.

DIY Herb Kit – Supplies Needed

• Mini Plant Pots
• Potting soil
• Plastic sandwich or other baggies
• Packets of herb seeds
• Glassine Seed Envelopes (or jewelry-sized ziploc baggies from the craft store)
• Plant Markers (or wooden craft sticks)

These little pots were on summer clearance at the craft store, marked down from $5 to $1.75, and I had a 15% off coupon that brought them down to less than $1.50 each.  I already had some biodegradable plastic baggies on hand from Nashville Wraps, and they came in handy to hold the soil.

How To Make DIY Herb Kit Party Favors

1.  Place a plastic bag inside the plant pot and fill it with soil, then close up the baggie with a twist tie or ribbon.  (A sandwich or Ziploc bag could also be used.)
2. Put a few seeds for each type of herb into the small glassine envelope, then seal it with a piece of pretty tape.  Put a label on the front, or write the names of the herbs and days to germination on a small piece of paper.  Tuck the mini seed packet into the pot.
3. Using a tongue depressor or plant marker, write the names of the herbs on one end.  Stick the plant marker into the pot too.
4. Insert the DIY Herb Pot into a larger plastic baggie, then tie with a ribbon and attach a little note, if you want to.

My friend had created a small thank-you note which I printed out and affixed to squares of safari-patterned scrapbook paper.

As for the decorations, the co-host ordered a safari decor kit with water bottle labels, banners, mini garlands, and some other items, but I still wanted to make a few decorations.  My easy fabric bunting method came in handy for a few triangular banners using safari-themed fabrics.

We set out the food in the kitchen, and boy did we have a feast. Better too much than too little at a party, right?

You do know about Jenn, the amazing food blogger at Peas and Crayons, right?  I made her infamous Spinach & Feta Quiche Cups.  They were a HUGE hit, and so easy and fun to make.  I love how the wontons make anything into an easy finger food.

For dessert, the co-host made cute safari cupcakes and I made strawberry shortcake shooters – a random experiment that I am now madly in love with.

I snagged some (supposedly) disposable shot glasses at the party store.  To fill them, I chopped both strawberries and pound cake into tiny cubes.  I layered pound cake, whipped cream, strawberries, and more whipped cream in the shot glasses.

We had to hone the skill of “throwing back” a strawberry shortcake shooter s that it all popped out and into your mouth, but once the skill was mastered they were a fun and easy way to enjoy a bite of dessert while mingling!

The beverage jars from my wedding rehearsal dinner came in handy for the shower.  I got the wooden elephant cutouts at the craft store and wrote the beverage names on them, then adhered them with tape. Nothing fancy.  Strawberry Lemonade (lemonade with slices of strawberry and lemon floating) and Mint Limeade (just toss fresh mint and lime slices into limeade) were the beverages on tap.

Free Safari Baby Shower Bingo Printable

The PDF file has bingo cards in blue, green, gray, and pink, and it prints two bingo cards per page.  I recommend printing it onto cardstock paper. The bingo squares will be blank, and you ask guests to fill in items they think the baby will receive.

I used PowerPoint to create this template, and for our shower I typed in items that I thought she’d receive.  It was a little time consuming to type them in, in a radomized fashion, on 15 or 20 pages, and I realized afterwards that I left some key items off.  That’s when I decided that it was better to leave the squares blank.

We used a bottle of champagne, a travel mug filled with candy, and some Save the Amazon chocolate bars as Baby Bingo prizes.

I feel like I should have some clever way of wrapping up this post, but I don’t – so imagine a stork flying off into the sunset.   As for the baby in waiting, he’s due any day now.  Fingers crossed for an easy arrival – his mom’s decided to do a natural birth.

As for the typical post-wedding question of when I’ll be attending my own baby shower . . . let me just say that we will *not* be decorating a nursery at The Borrowed Abode anytime soon.  🙂