Texas Hill Country Themed Shower

 

I’ve mentioned in previous posts the numerous showers my friends and I end up involved with for our children and now grandchildren.  We’ve rotated over the years having and/or helping with countless wedding showers, the weddings themselves, the baby showers, etc.

Our most recent couple’s shower was last weekend for my sweet friend Connie’s son, Ryley and his fiancé, Ashley.  As sweet as they are beautiful  – we were so excited to throw them their big bash.  After a pow-wow between the hostesses we decided on a Texas Hill Country theme.  I found these invitations with the Texas bluebonnets online – perfect for our theme – but, when they came in I thought the simple white card looked a bit lackluster.  So I decided to add the check craft paper and attach it with this red raffia ribbon through holes punched at the top.  It cost pennies per card to add and gave them a little more ooomph and personality.

Originally we were going to have it at my house in June so we could utilize our back yard to accommodate guests, but when the wedding suddenly got moved up to May because of the venue’s remodeling issues we had to scramble a bit and move the shower up to March for their college spring break. With a March shower and unpredictable weather we I decided it best to make a change to my friend Susan’s house where we could accommodate as many guests as needed regardless of whether or not the weather cooperated.   This is the circular drive to her front walkway and front door.

And since the weather clearly chose NOT to cooperate it’s a good thing we did. It poured down rain most of the day and most of the evening.

Since I was the one who originally wanted to have it at my house I decided it was only right for me to go ahead and do not only the invitations, but the decorating as well. I wasn’t about to dump all that on Susan after asking to switch it to her house. Besides – it was something I really wanted to do for my sweet friend and her sweet kiddo’s. 

Soooooo……..

To start with I brought my own metal garden cross from home for the front porch planter and draped it with a sign that says “Faith Family Friends” I got from Hobby Lobby – half price of course. And I made these fun letter signs (above) with their initials and some other things from Hobby Lobby.

The initial signs came like this and they were on sale, too, of course.  But, they weren’t quite big enough to make the impact I wanted so I purchased two picture frames they had on their 80% clearance for $2.00 each – pink and white girlie frames – and covered them with this cowhide fabric I also got at Hobby Lobby (using my online 40% coupon).

I wrapped each frame with the fabric and stapled it onto the back.

(The tag says $9.99, but they were really $1.99!)

I added picture hangers to the back so I could tie them on the wreath holders with twine. 

I screwed in a couple of screws to the front so I could hang the letters right onto the plaque from the picture hangers attached to the back of the metal signs.   This way they can keep them on the plaques and hang them like I did…..

Or prop them up on a table or dresser with the easel like this.…or remove them from the tin plaques and hang them on their wall.

But, for the shower I hung them with the twine bows from some wreath holders I had.  Cute, don’t you think?

Next it was the main dessert table.

I started with more cow hide fabric.

Then I started layering with more fabric – faux leather I had on hand – and all the Hill Country accessories I could muster up.

 

This leather luggage was from my client, Amy.

I helped decorate her house a dozen or so years ago in the “Old Worldish” style so prevalent back then and now she is going Asian contemporary and has no need for them anymore.  So when I was at her house accessorizing for the new look I asked if I could borrow her old look for my shower.  Thankfully she was happy to oblige.

I got these baskets at CCA for .50 cents a piece…

And, these cool “Hill Country” accessories like the frame and the longhorn from good old Hobby Lobby half price as always….

Brought stuff of mine from my own house…

Added the amazing Texas cake that Susan baked and decorated herself. (I know….can you believe it?!)

We used the leather wine carrier for our “Message In A Bottle”.  With the pens and small note cards (shown below) guests were asked to write the young couple a note – could be advice, a scripture, a poem, a joke….anything they wanted to say to them.  At the end of the shower it was corked up and the couple is to save it till they return from their honeymoon to read them.

We bought these potted flowers at Callaway’s Nursery for color – and to look sort of like hill country wild flowers.

We added twigs, river rock, twine to look like rope, a cross and candlesticks I had in my own stash.

And these vases filled with tree branches.  (They’re actually fake branches I got at – where else – Hobby Lobby.)

And ended up with a fun Hill Country themed dessert table.

Next was the beverage section.

I found a great website for labels called www.myownlabels.com where you can customize your own labels for wine….

Susan actually found this particular design which we decided looked the most Hill Country-esque.

Perfect for our wine bottles….

And these monogram caps for the beer bottles..

And these labels for the water bottles…

On the back of the water bottle labels I was able to write their “story” for a little personal touch.  (Unfortunately none of the “old people” could even read it without their glasses!  And, most didn’t have their glasses with them.  Too funny!) Diane and Susan got together and put all these labels and monogram tops on everything.

We brought out these big metal tubs and I added the twine and twigs for the rustic touch.  Even the hubbies pitched in to help.  Susan made some to die for Sangria we kept on ice in pitchers in one of the metal tubs.  It was so good hardly anyone drank the bottled wine so now we have a ton of Ryley and Ashley wine bottles left over!

I put a hill country accessory and name card by each dish so everyone would know exactly what they were eating.  These hill country accessories are actually drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby.

They fit perfectly here on the island where the buffet was.

And of course we had our “chips, dips and other stuff” section that Diane set up.

It was a great turn out in spite of the ridiculous weather.

Lots of mingling, food and fun.

And a fun, little game.

If any of you have ever played the left-right game you know it’s one of those games that even game-haters can enjoy.   I discovered the left-right game theme at Christmastime and thought it would be fun to incorporate it here.  So I wrote a lighthearted, fun, little love story called “The Hill Country Honey’s” about Ryley and Ashley with lots of the words left and right sprinkled throughout the story. We had everyone stand in a circle then we passed out several gift bags to various guests in the crowd.  As I read the story the gift bags were passed left or right each time the word was said throughout the story until it’s finished.  The guests holding the gift bags at the end of the story got to give them to the wedding couple and each one received a prize – a bag with wine to take home, themselves.

Ryley and Ashley (yeah, that cute young couple in the middle) seemed very pleased with the outcome.  How cute are they?

My hubby, Doug, and I relaxing and having a great time.

This is our little group of old, very special friends (our group nickname is the “goddesses” – you may have seen them on previous blog posts). Connie, the mother of the groom is standing to my left – the rest of us were the hostesses.   The four of us have teamed up many, many times for each other’s kids various showers.  This time it was her turn.   She was a grateful, happy mother-of-the groom.

Thanks goes out to Susan, far right, for letting me switch it to her place!  Thankfully she’s always happy to open up her amazing home and it worked out beautifully for the large crowd and the un-cooperating weather . (I recently did a post on her home. You can check it out here. ) I’ve decided that’s why God gives you friends with big houses…..so you have a place for all the big parties!

And little did we know that this cute bride-to-be was getter sick throughout the evening and had to go straight to the hospital immediately afterwards with 104 degree fever!  She was quite the trooper and appeared to be having a great time for someone who ended up with the flu!

Fortunately she is all better, back to planning her big day and no one else at the shower got sick!

Happy Decorating!