You know how there are some people who are just natural entertainers? Like they just know how to put together a centerpiece or intuitively decorate for the holidays? I'm just not one of those people. I know what I like when I see something put together on Pinterest, but I'm not one of those people who can visualize it in her mind and bring it to life. But I want to be. It's actually one of my New Year's Resolutions this year - to focus on taking the time and dedicating the energy to learning about how to better entertain. It was the driving force behind the simple cheese board post I did last month.

Anyway, this past month a friend had a baby sprinkle (a sprinkle is a lower-key gathering to shower a pregnant woman with love and a couple of gifts, without all the bells and whistles of a big shower for a new mom-to-be), and I offered to do the decor. It was just going to be a few of us at a restaurant, but I wanted to make it special and put together a cute tablescape.

Planning Process and Inspiration

I started on Pinterest and just searched for baby shower tablescapes. Our guest of honor has a boho chic with a twist of glam sort of vibe, so I wanted the decor to fall into that category. She's having a girl, but I wanted to keep the colors neutral and fresh.

I loved the idea of doing succulents on the table, and I definitely wanted to have a little bit of gold in there somewhere like you see in the second pic above.

Shopping

Once I had a clearer vision of what I wanted, I made a list and went to Michael's and Jo-ann's Fabrics. You guys. I've never been to either one of those stores (I'm telling you, I have zero craft background!) and you should've seen me. I swear I walked around like a deer in headlights like, 'What is this magical crafty world I've been missing out on?!' I spent a solid two hours in each store just going from aisle to aisle - I cannot believe the stuff they have available! I can see you guys just laughing at me now - I know, I know - I've been living under a rock!

From Michael's and Jo-ann's I bought:

matte gold fabric for the tablecloth
cream lace fabric as a runner
gold mason jars
bud vases
mini mason jars and vases
mini wooden rounds
large toothpicks
letter stamps and ink pad
mason jar labels (can't find them online, but here's a chalkboard version!)

From Etsy, I bought this tassel banner thing.

I borrowed a wooden cake stand from my friend who'd used it at her son's birthday party a few weeks prior (pro tip: She got it off a Wedding Resale Group on Facebook for $10! Genius to look there!)

I bought flowers from Trader Joe's (inexpensive and decent selection!).

I bought mini succulents and a cactus from Lowe's.

I’d never been to the restaurant we were going to, I bought a good amount of stuff just in case the table was massive.

Practicing

A week before the sprinkle, I set everything up at home and practiced making the flower arrangements just to be sure it would all look somewhat cohesive. Back when I got married, I did my own flowers, so I had a little bit of experience from that. Basically I just started with the longest pieces first (eucalyptus) and then go in a circle, adding each different type of flower. One trick I learned was to just let the flower fall however it wants to fall - don't try to manipulate it to point in a different direction because it just looks odd.

Putting it All Together

Like I said, it was just a few of us, and the table turned out to be a regular sized table, so I didn't use everything I bought but I thought it'd be better to have too much on hand and not use it than have too little and have it fall short. I did two larger flower arrangements in the gold mason jars. I wanted to be sure they weren't too high so you could still see the person across from you at the table.

With this sort of decor, I feel like it could've been any celebration - birthday, engagement, whatever, so I wanted to have something that was a nod to the baby on the way. We made these little labels using the letter stamps to spell out Watch Me Grow. The toughest part was getting each letter to line up. It basically was impossible to do, but I kind of love how it turned out sort of crooked.

It was cute, right?! I loved the look of the macaroons and cake bites my friend brought for the cake stand.

I love a good gift basket! I don't feel like I'm great at picking out gifts, but I think you can't go wrong with a basket because with so many little things inside there's surely one or two that the recipient will love (haha, that's what I tell myself, anyway!). I got the basket at Target, lined it with tissue paper, and put in a bunch of products Lauren recommended I get that she loved herself:

Earth Mama products: Nipple butter, Milkmaid Tea, and Deodorants specially formulated for pregnant women
Baby wipes and natural sanitizing wipes
Monthly stickers (you put them on a onesie and snap a pic as just a way to keep track of how your little one grows each month)
The tiniest shoes
A couple pieces from this cute Etsy shop
This newborn set, only mine came with the same hat as is shown here it is in pink - do you just die over that hat?!)

It was such a nice gathering, and I really loved the process of making a vision come together for this tablescape. Martha better watch out!

Mare you a natural entertainer? Any tips for me?!