Baby Girl Owl Shower

So you've seen the baby boy shower that I attended for my friend Allison. It was beautiful and only got me more excited about  the baby girl shower for my friend Katie.  

Katie's only request was that I use this super cute pink and green invite she found online at Cutie Patootie Creations.(click the link to see the invite - I didn't take a picture!) 

I loved the invite too so I decided to create her shower around the invitation theme.  Who (pun intended) doesn't like some sweet pink and green owls?  And who doesn't go to Pinterest for all sorts of creation imagination!!!!

Here's the lovely mommy to be Katie.  She's such a sweet friend and I was so excited, along with a couple of other college friends, to be able to give her a shower to welcome baby Raylyn to this world. 

 So here' the shower for that little sweetie to be!

The decorations:

Outside to direct everyone to the correct house was our owl baby banner - 

It didn't last long after the shower started as it really started showering after the party started. 

Paper + Rain doesn't blend so well.  

For the hearth - A banner made from my Cricut and tied together with tulle and a laundry line with owls, onesies & bibs that I made for baby Raylyn.

 

 

All the ruffles are a result of me learning online how to make a ruffle.  I had no idea all I had to do was turn my thread tension up.  There is a GREAT tutorial at Super Mommy or Not.

 It was so easy.  The monster bib is from  Stubbornly Crafty which I frequent often for her tutorials and free patterns. 
Ladies - that is how I learned to sew - from the free patterns online.  These ladies are my sewing heros!

On to the party table - a green mason jar with pink and green daisies, bingo gifts, wishes for baby cards, bingo cards and an instruction sheet with owls.  

 

I made the Bingo Cards and Wishes for Baby in Microsoft Word and then converted them to PDF's.  I took them on my flash drive over to Office Depot and had them printed on a card stock.  Three of the wishes for baby were on each sheet and two bingos on each sheet.  I cut them at home with my paper cutter (they charge $.07 a cut - so I did it myself).  This made the bingo cards about $.30 each and the wishes for baby about $.20 each.  I uploaded all these pdf's to an earlier blog entry.  This way you can use them too. 

 

 All the owls were all cut on my Cricut using the Create a Critter cartridge (actually my friend Stacy's cartridge - then I went out and bought my own).  

The mason jars (with handle already attached) came from Old Time Pottery and they had several different colors.  

The daisies came from Joann's.  I used some in jars and the remaining ones we pulled from the stems and used as table decor (you'll see that further down). 

We also had a late night diaper table.

  We used Sharpies to write on the diapers.  I didn't realize how hard diapers were to write on.  I hope that Katie and Chris get a good laugh during those late night diaper changes.  

The metal owl on this table came from Old Time Pottery.  The fabric owl is one that I have made.  I love sewing these little owls.  It was one of my first sewing projects and still remains a favorite. 

The Food and Drinks

We kept it simple - tea, water, pink lemonade, cupcakes, chocolate dipped preztels & oreos, sausage balls, little wienies, & pasta salad - but delicious. 

 

The yummy cupcakes came from The Sweet Stash and The Cupcake Collection which are both in downtown Nashville and have phenomenal cupcakes.  The Sweet Stash's almond wedding cake are my all time favorite.  Teri and I made the rest of the food and it was tasty even if I say so myself.  

We had water, pink lemonade, and sweet tea out of pint mason jars.  My hubby drilled holes in the lids so that we could thread our drink straws in and not worry about knocking them over.  Bright green tags let us know who's drink was who's.  

The Photo Booth

Out on the back porch we set up a photo booth.  It's pretty easy to do with a few cut out props on bbq skewers, a cheap flat grey sheet from Walmart, my camera on a tripod and a camera remote.

We had too much fun.   

The Take Homes

I wanted everyone to have something to remember their time celebrating baby Raylyn so I thinned my hens and chicks to plant these baby pots of hens and chicks for everyone to take home.  

I hope that they grow well.

Thanks to my sweet friends Teri and Kristie for making this shower one that Katie will remember.  

They made food, took pictures, moved gifts, motivated game plan...and had crazy fun with me in the photo booth.  

Other than the photo booth pictures Kristie took all these wonderful pictures to show what fun we had.  

  

Last plug (but definitely not least)...that adorable chalk board that you keep seeing in all these pictures came from my friend Cari Deer Owl Designs.  I sent her a copy of the invitation and told her I needed a chalk board.  She had this made up in no time flat and it was perfect. 

Hope that you thought Katie's Owl Shower was a Hoot.  We did!

Stacey  

 

 

Stuffed Shells

On my way home from work on Friday I decided that I wanted to make Stuffed Shells. 

I have never made shells stuffed with anything.  

I've made plenty of lasagna and spaghetti but never tried to stuff shells.  

So I stopped into the local grocery and picked up what I thought I would need.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef (or turkey or chicken)

1 box Jumbo Shells (you won't use the whole box)**

1 small onion - chopped

1 tablespoon minced Garlic (if desired)

1  16 oz tub of ricotta cheese

1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese

1 29 oz jar of tomato sauce  

Italian seasoning

Salt

Pepper

I want to preface this with:

If you don't want to season your own sauce - just pick up your favorite spaghetti sauce and drop the Italian seasoning and tomato sauce from your list. 

You can use whatever shredded cheese makes you the happiest - I like mozzarella because it melts so good. 

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large skillet, brown your ground beef, onion, & garlic until done. 

While your beef mixture is cooking, boil water and cook your shells according to the package directions.   Let shells drain in a colander while you finish making your stuffing mixture.  

**We used about 25 shells and stuffed them very full.  Adjust the # of shells that you cook depending on how full you want them to be stuffed.** 

Drain grease from meat mixture. Salt and Pepper to taste.

To your meat mixture add all of the ricotta cheese and half of the mozzarella.  

Mix well.

If you are seasoning your own tomato sauce use a large bowl and combine your tomato sauce and Italian seasonings. 

 I have found that everybody likes their sauce differently so I leave the seasoning to you. 

In an ungreased 11*13 (do as I say - not as I do....my first pan was too little), spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom.  Just enough to use as a barrier. 

Next stuff your shells. 

 The jumbo shells were easy to open with one hand and then stuff using a tablespoon.  

   Lay your stuffed shells open side up in your casserole dish.  

When you have stuffed all you shells spoon the remaining sauce over the shells making sure to get some on each shell.  

 Pop these bad boys in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. 

Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on the shells and cook for about 10 more minutes or until cheese is good and bubbly. 

I wasn't sure at first how these would turn out but they ended up being very tasty. The hubby loved them.

We had left overs and I stored them in the fridge making sure to keep plenty of sauce.

These reheated nicely 2 nights later.    

Hope that you enjoy this easy Stuffed Shells recipe. 

I'd love to hear your comments!