lo's little pumpkin
Recently, two of my girlfriends threw my very first baby shower. If you know me, you know I love theme parties, Read about that here in our Gender Reveal, and this party would be no exception.
I'm a big pumpkin fan - I live for Everything pumpkin (even managing pumpkin decorations at my wedding). "Lo's Little Pumpkin" seemed the perfect theme, given the timing and allowing me to repurpose my fall decor, I call that a win!
Choosing a theme is the easy part - location and guest list are the toughest. We decided to host this shower in my home which is centrally located and (I also love throwing my own parties, as I mentioned previously, ha!). We planned a small gathering of our sorority sisters to celebrate Calvin. By keeping the party small, it allowed me to really sit down and talk with friends that I haven’t seen in awhile and enjoy the company of everyone.
Not being a big "shower games" kind of person; I would much rather involve everyone in "activities". In keeping with the theme, we painted mini pumpkins for everyone to take home with them! Low mess (as opposed to carving) and a fun way for us to spend time together. We also did a diaper raffle and the standard "guess how many xxx are in this to win". (for the record, there were 218 pumpkins in the jar)
For the menu, we kept it simple. I made Queen Bee Chili, altering the recipe a little, to be more crock pot friendly. My girlfriends brought the sides (and chili toppings) and made an amazing apple cider punch. Our dinner, was simple, easy to make and very tasty! To make my chili recipe- crockpot friendly, brown the meat and onions together in a skillet, draining the liquid , and placing all ingredients into a crockpot, cook on LOW for 8 hours (or on HIGH 4 hours). Being able to put together an already easy chili recipe in a crockpot and forget it, makes a truly outstanding meal!
I enjoy baking almost as much as cooking, so I whipped up a cream cheese poundcake to share for dessert. This is my signature dessert and you will know why, if you try it out! Full disclosure: I did alter my recipe a little bit to make it a "pumpkin poundcake" for this party. I didn't love it. We all have baking "flops" sometimes! I will share the recipe I KNOW will give you a great outcome!
GO TO Cream Cheese Poundcake
Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
3 cups of granulated sugar
1.5 cups butter, softened
1 stick of cream cheese, softened
6 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla
Directions:
Cream butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer. Beat until light and fluffy.
Add sugar , a 1/2 cup at a time, mix on high. Mixture should still be fluffy and light.
Add eggs to batter, one at a time. Mix after each addition.
Add flour to batter, 1 cup at a time.
Pour 1 tbsp of vanilla into batter.
Pour batter into a pre-greased bundt pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 1.5 hours.
I wore an easy t-shirt dress from Old Navy to accentuate the bump, themed halloween socks (from my mama), and THE cutest mama-to-be pin (Etsy) that my sorority sisters bought for me to wear, as the honoree!!
We had a fantastic time catching up and celebrating Calvin, who is already surrounded by many wonderful friends that love him dearly!
xoxolauren