origami baby.

Another baby shower!? I am overjoyed that more of my friends are having babies and can join the mom club for park hopping with E, and secretly dying of happiness to make more pretty things to celebrate! My friend Danielle is due this summer- look at that beautiful, pregnant glow! That baby girl is lucky to have such a pretty mama.

I teamed up with my friends Amanda and Erika to create an "origami themed" baby shower, as Danielle loves all things Japanese. It started with a few packs of square paper from the dollar section at Target, and took off from there! We pulled together a ton of ideas on this board. It was so much fun planning this party with these girls because they are so creative, and just as crazy and detail-oriented as I am!

Amanda made the best invitations, and I wish I had taken a picture of it! It was an origami heart, similar to this one, with a haiku of the party details written on the inside. Then we made 150 cranes, and I hung them in a couple of installations around the house with gold thread. I pulled some ideas from some Anthropologie windows and drew a little diagram, but it all sort of came together as I went. Sam helped me draw the "hello baby" sign with a calligraphy set from Daiso, a Japanese dollar store here in Berkeley. I used Martha Stewart's liquid gold to paint the tall vases (also from the dollar store), and the favor cups. And, the blossoms were cut from an empty lot near our house!

Amanda was the brains behind the beautiful food, and we had a lot of help from those who volunteered to bring things. She made that perfect cake- devil's food, with buttercream frosting and cocoa nibs. And, those rose cookies- lemon cookie, with cream cheese frosting. Then, we served edamame, potstickers, fruit, mochi balls, and the best California rolls (made by Erika). As favors, Amanda printed the "Thank You" bags, and had the best idea to put out a Pocky bar. The colors were so pretty!

This was so much fun for me. I have been dragging my feet around this messy house for a month now, just wishing it would unpack itself. It was great to have a deadline this weekend to get it done. We worked hard all week to finish most of the last few boxes and a few random fixer-up projects. Sam especially was a dream-husband this week. And, he spent most of the shower in the kitchen doing the dishes! What a guy. But, yeah- it really was so much fun to finally see the house clean, and to make something creative with my hands! Thank you girls for having fun and getting crafty with me!

Danielle, you are the most beautiful baby mama! We are so happy for the adventure you are about to begin. And, we can't wait to meet that baby girl. It was great to see how many love and support you! 

My favorite part of the day was when you went to open your first gift, stopped, smiled, and said "This is my baby shower..."