Generations Of Treasures

Kitchen Shower Part 3

The decor for the party was inexpensive. We made sixty-five tissue paper pom-poms in pastel colors from Dollar Tree for about $20.00. If you buy them pre cut and folded they are $2.00 to $5.00 each! It took my niece Lauren and I, and later my daughter Mary Kate, the better part of a day to make them. They were hung in all the gathering spaces and over our two buffets.

The centerpieces were made in an old enamelware colander, and two adorable pink vintage canisters I found at a yard sale a few weeks before the shower. I also made smaller arrangements in teacups to fill in the center of the table.

The tablecloths were all battenburg and came mostly from my mom's huge collection of tablecloths.

I mix matched the place settings because I didn't have twenty four of one set. I found the floral plates over ten years ago at St. Vincent De Paul's. I think the huge box of dishes was $20.00. The pink depression glass plates were my grandmother's and the French pink glass plates are the plates I offered on my blog last summer. Somewhere packed in my mother's garage is another set that I bought for her when I was ten.  The goldware was bought at Ross for my mom and dad's fiftieth wedding anniversary. I love having so many sets and prefer them to disposable utensils. The $100.00 investment ten years ago has saved me at least that much on plasticware! The napkins were made using $6.00 worth of fabric from Jo-Ann's. Our favor was a set of Dollar Store measuring cups and spoons with a recipe for a happy marriage attached. My wonderful husband did a beautiful job on the cards. 

When it came to staging the drink area I was stumped. Some vintage washtubs for the coolers would have been nice but I didn't have any. The answer came when my dad showed up with some vintage suitcases he wanted me to list. I thought they would be adorable packed with lacy things for the honeymoon! I lined the suitcases first with plastic bags to protect them from water damage then found Dollar Tree washbins that when cut down, fit the suitcases perfectly. We pre-cooled the drinks then set them on the ice right before the party. An iron changing table with a vintage look was covered with a tablecloth and served as our bar.

On the buffet I knew I wanted a dress form in an apron that I would then give to my
niece as a gift. My vintage dress form didn't look right with the color scheme so I painted a Danskin half-mannequin lime green and used her instead.

The apron was a labor of love. Between the towels I made and the apron I am all ruffled out! The apron was made from a white queen sized sheet I picked up at Goodwill on half price day for $3.00. I had a basic apron pattern that I shortened to give the apron a flirty party dress feel and then added seventeen rows of ruffles. I love the way it turned out and Kristin did too. She wore it all day. 

The cake plates for the buffet and desert buffet were made from Dollar Tree platters and yard sale candle holders. I sprayed them before hot gluing them together. My other favorite prop was my grandma's mixer. Once olive green, it is now perfectly pink and held a huge bowl of potato salad.

 

We had a lovely brunch of ham, mini frittatas, green been casserole, cinnamon french toast casserole, potato salad, fresh vegetables, and rolls. I was finally able to break out the chocolate fountain Kristin gave me last year for the dessert buffet. 

 It was a wonderful day for a wonderful girl.

The happy couple