A Galactic Baby Shower

When my cousin Leah and her husband Ted announced they were expecting a baby, we were so thrilled. They are going to be the BEST parents! I also joked with Leah that she got pregnant as a gift to me, so I could plan and throw her a shower. I had soooo much fun putting together her baby shower, but I must give massive props to my mom and aunts Terry and Lynn, who were shower co-hosts. They handled all of the food, plus some other details like tables, linens, and chairs. We made a good team because they are all great at food and cooking, and I am…not. But I am great at all that other party stuff. Go team!

The theme of Leah and Ted’s nursery is Star Wars, so I told Leah I was going to throw her a “Classy Star Wars” shower. I’m pretty sure she thought I was joking, but she quickly learned I meant it when she received her copy of the invitation (ordered from Minted).

Totally Classy Star Wars, right?

We had forty people at the shower, so we cleared out the front room of our house and put five tables in there. It was a little snug, but it worked!

Yes…I had giant Star Wars stickers up on the wall. They were the most in-your-face Star Wars thing I did. Everything else was smaller touches, like:

…Star Wars figures on the mantle:

…Star Wars candy melts on the mini-cupcakes:

…and Star Wars-themed toys and diaper cake centerpieces on the tables:

We had Leah’s guests put their gifts in the crib:

At each place setting, we had an “advice for the new parents card,” which I gathered at the end of the shower and put into an album for Leah to take home.

After everyone ate…

…it was time to play a couple games. I wanted to do something different, since we’ve all played the same baby shower games a million times. The first game I put together was “If They Mated.” I found a website where if you upload two photos, it will create a baby based on the images. I paired Leah and Ted with four celebrities each, then put all of the baby faces onto a sheet that I printed and put on each table:

As you can see, the images are really hard to guess (and a little creepy), so Mike and I put together clues for each celebrity:

1. This is Leah and one of her favorite NBA stars (Steph Curry)
2. This is Leah and a current Presidential Candidate (Donald Trump)
3. This is Leah and one of her movie star crushes, who is famous for a legendary action film franchise. (Daniel Craig)
4. This is Leah and an actor who has been voted Britain’s sexiest man. (Idris Elba)
5. This is Ted and one of the most powerful women in America. (Hillary CLinton)
6. This is Ted and a former Academy Award winner for Best Actress. (Julia Roberts)
7. This is Ted and a multi-hyphenate performer currently starring in two primetime shows. (Jennifer Lopez)
8. This is Ted and the star of one of TV’s most popular dramas. (Kerry Washington)

The tiebreaker is Leah and Ted, together! One of Leah’s friends got six right, I was very impressed.

The second game we played was Jeopardy!

I channeled my inner Alex Trebek and put together five questions in each category. I asked things like, “In the movie Dirty Dancing, this is Baby’s real first name.” and “Babies born in this month weigh the most.” The guests played as teams, and I put service bells on each table so they could ring in when they had an answer. They all got totally into it, it was really hilarious.

While the adults played, the kids at the shower used fabric markers to decorate white onesies for the baby.

It took Leah almost an hour to open all of her presents, but now they are SET and all ready for their new little guy to arrive.

Handmade by Leah’s amazing friend Dani.

I wish this came in adult sizes

When everyone left, they received a light saber lip balm.

In all, it was a fantastic day celebrating Leah, Ted (who showed up at the end of the shower), and their baby boy. I loved seeing the smiles on their faces, and seeing the love that is just waiting to greet their son. He’s already so lucky.