Safari Baby Shower Photos

   I thought I'd start with the baby cake pops I made.  I saw the idea on Pinterest.  Unfortunately, they came out a little too brown.  I told my guests they had jaundice and had to be under the sun lamp.  The directions told me to mix three different colors of chocolate disks, but not the amounts.  I needed two bags of white, maybe a quarter bag of brown, and one bag of pink to have made the right color of baby skin.  I used candy eyes and pink fondant for the cheeks.  I bought a candy necklace for the pacifiers.  I rolled fondant for the tiny noses and the ball on the pacifier. 
    The bibs (previous post here) had different baby animals on each one.  I punched a hole in the top of each circle and taped the bib to the back of the stick.  I wanted a curl on the top of each head, so I used a chocolate chip mini bit.  I pulled cellophane bags over each baby and tied them under the chins with ribbon.  One box of cake mix made 30 pops.  
                                
    My husband cut a 24" x 7.5"  1/2" board for me.  We drilled 30 holes two and a half inches apart, starting 1" from the left edge.  We made three rows.  I hot glued round wooden balls that were flat on the top to the four corners.  It was perfect.

I used this trough for Emily's wedding.  I used it this time to greet Michelle's friends and family.  I filled it with blue cellophane and a gator to welcome everyone.

I set up a drink station in my sunroom.  I emptied 24 Starbucks Frappacino bottles.  I took off the labels with my embossing gun and olive oil.  My best friend  Karen, the future grandmother, removed the residual stickiness with acetone.  We tied name tags with twine around each bottle.  These were their favors, along with an acrylic straw and a cute bag of trail mix.
I had citrus punch (pineapple, orange juice, and gingerale) in the jar to the giraffe's right.  Another friend brought a similar container with Sangria in it.  I made up the road signs with wood from Michael's.  Karen cut the bases and points on the boards with her scroll saw.  I painted everything and hot glued everything together.  I used the arrow boards to trace the patterns onto blackboard contact paper from Michael's.  I ordered chalk pens that don't smear or run when wet for the labels.  

You can see my cooler boat under the table with water bottles and small sodas.  The bottles are to the left on the smaller table.  They helped us know who was who with the name tags on them.

I had previously posted that I was building a diaper jeep.  After making the motorcycle (previous post), I just had to make two more wheels.  I used the piece of foam core as the base to the jeep.  I used a thin 1" strip of foam core, scored at the corners, to make the windshield.  I hot glued a gallon sized baggie for the "glass" then covered raw edges with ribbon.  I padded the front bumper and back bumper with diapers and covered everything with a baby blanket that I taped to the bottom of the board.  The back is higher to make a back seat.  There two more receiving blankets folded to make seats.  I bought two plastic covered bibs for the bumpers.  I folded a third  receiving blanket into a box to hold the book, "Frog and Lion are Friends."  The monkey had a teething ring as a steering wheel.  "Where is the lion," you are asking.  Why he was in the wreath on the fireplace.  

  Karen and I saw the tail pipe in an automotive store.  My husband cut it in to two pieces for us.  I found these ceramic pots on sale at Lowe's.  We planted the metal pipe (which twists and turns) into the posts with cement.  I bought two green umbrellas and cut them to look like leaves.  We had a monkey hanging from each one.  Since it was a sit down luncheon, I had 16 people in the dining room and six people in the kitchen.  You can see from the photos that there is a large opening between the two rooms, so the guests in the kitchen are not cut off from the party.  
   I couldn't afford 25 chargers, so I used left over bamboo fencing from the tiki bar I made (previous post) to make cross table runners.  I used white plates with bamboo boats I found online.  Each white cloth napkin was tied with the woven napkin rings with a different animal on each tag. (See previous post).  When we took the photo, my other best friend Patty was still making the flower pot centerpieces.  I used the small silver pots from Erin's wedding. (previous post here)

Our safari monkey was in the corner of the sunroom with a handful of blue balloons.

 Here is the welcoming committee in the cubby in my front hall.  I made a paper mache safari hat for the old man with his gun that normally sits in the bottom cubby who guards my house.

   After lunch, we played Safari Roulette (previous post here).  We put 20 pennies for each guest in cute little pouches.  So that guests wouldn't get confused, they each had three circles with their names printed on them.  The ipad spinner worked great.

We also played "Advice Match" where they were given 36 boxes to match problems with answers by color coordinating the boxes.  The prizes of cookies in a jar and spa in a jar, along with the hand scrubs, went over well (previous post here). 

    I don't own a lot of silver.  But after watching a friend's sister polish all of hers for a "Sip and See" (the new mom brings the baby to a party for everyone to have drinks and see the baby), I wanted just a few pieces at the baby shower.  I did not own a rectangular tray, so I got this one on Etsy.com.  We served Oreo cheesecakes.  You can get the recipe here
  I bought two 12 cup cheese cake pans at Sur La Table online.  They have disks in the bottom of each one.  Once you've baked your cheesecakes and they've cooled, you just push up the disks from the bottom--and out pop the cakes.  You spray the pans with oil and flour product first.  My friend Patty baked them for me.  They were smaller than the ones you see in the picture above.  She said she would ignore the directions and fill the cups all the way to the top next time.  She used chocolate cool whip for the topping.  I didn't even know they made chocolate cool whip.  But...there wasn't a single one left.
  I also served the chunky monkey cookies I'd baked as bars.  This was the recipe I put in the jars as prizes. You can get the recipe here.

My pig had so much fun at the office Margarita party, that she wanted to come to the baby shower.  She is standing next to the dessert's sign.  Her tag says, "I'm a big pig. You can be a big pig, too.

I have a few more photos Patty took, but as she is a new grandmother also (previous post Monkey Ballerina), it might take her a few days to send me the photos.  I'll post them when they arrive.
  Below are the images you can print out 8.5" x 11" for the advice game.  I did NOT let the guests scribble.  They had to carefully color each box.  They found this game challenging.

Have fun,
Jani