Teacups and Glitter

Even as a child I cherished my Beatrix Potter collection. Most small children would draw or scribble in their books, but not me. I kept mine neatly on my bookshelf, far away from my two brothers. They sat immaculate in their dust jackets and presentation box.

The classic story The Tale of Peter Rabbit was my absolute favourite. So when asked, I jumped at the chance of styling an adorable Peter Rabbit baby shower!

The bunny-hopping theme led me to take a nostalgic look back at my childhood as I remembered cherishing my storybooks. I just knew that I wanted to style the baby shower based on the traditional artwork of Beatrix Potter rather than the computer-animated film.

I used a cute welcome sign from Adorn My Wall to greet guests as they arrived. The classic print and pale blue wooden frame set the tone of the shower.

The baby shower was held in a large conservatory at The Diplomat Hotel – a stunning room with modern white gloss floor tiles and large windows overlooking the hotel gardens.

Part of the room featured beautiful exposed brickwork, giving it some rustic character. The room was neutral and had plenty of light. It is what I look for when choosing a venue. I do not want the room to clash with the theme – so busy wallpaper and patterned carpet are out!

I used a pale blue and white colour palette to create a traditional, sweet style for a baby boy shower.

I wanted to bring the outdoors indoors, so to create this I chose green and brown decor pieces to give a rustic countryside feel. I used the same props throughout each game station by using log slices, pinecones, artificial flowers, dried nutshells, bark, and leafy green foliage.

Welcome Drinks

I tied the room together by hanging gingham and floral patterned fabric bunting. Blodau Elli arranged the fresh floral displays on the welcome table and dining table where guests sat.

For the welcome drink; guests sipped on light blue lemonade served in vintage mason jars.

I styled the jars with blue and white gingham ribbon, a Peter Rabbit label which you can download for FREE below, and finished with a stripy paper straw.

I used lemonade and added some blue food colouring to create the drink. Just add a small amount of colouring at a time.

Wishing Tree

I knew I wanted to include a keepsake activity so instead of the age-old tradition of a guest book, I decided on a fun alternative.

I created a table top version of Mr. McGregor’s garden using a Wishing Tree instead of a guest book. The miniature garden was decorated with a plant pot, garden tools, trees, a wheelbarrow, foliage, carrots, pine cones and dried nutshells.

I placed tags into a miniature wooden wheelbarrow for people to capture their memories, advice and messages.

The framed instructions asked guests to write their well wishes onto tags and hang them onto branches of the twig tree. Download a FREE copy of the poster below.

I was lucky enough to come across a piece of metal wall art in a local charity shop. It had three trees attached to a wooden fence – a perfect backdrop for the garden! I hand-painted the metal and stained the wood to match the theme.

I completed Mr. McGregor’s garden by making my very own Peter Rabbit scarecrow, a nod to the classic story.

If you want to make your own Peter Rabbit scarecrow, I have written a step-by-step guide on how to do this. It is easy, with no sewing involved!

Dessert Table

Natacha Yummy Cakes created a mouth-watering two-tier cake with matching cupcakes. The traditional design complemented the theme perfectly. 

Two balloon towers stood on either side of the dessert table.  

To decorate the dessert table, I stacked a set of three storage suitcases with a Peter Rabbit design, one on top of another. I placed a vintage water jug full of garden flowers on top of a white cake stand and put this in the corner of the table.

I positioned a wood effect rabbit figure on top of a white cake stand, and I tied a blue ribbon around its neck. I added artificial grass, foliage, pinecones, nuts, and bark.

I filled a hurricane vase full of leafy carrots and tied a blue ribbon into a bow around the glass, I placed this onto a large log slice. I tried to create three different levels of height to add interest.

What’s In The Bag?

This game looks great as a party decoration too! For this game I sealed blue letters onto brown craft bags spelling out the word Baby Shower. I accessorised the paper bags with pastel blue tissue and blue ribbon.

I placed baby-related pictures inside each bag. The aim of the game was to guess what item was inside according to the letter on the front. 

As an example:

B – Bottle, A – Activity Play Mat, B – Bib, Y – Yellow Duck

S – Stroller, H – High Chair, O – Oil, W – Walker, E – Ear Thermometer, R – Rattle

To link the game to the party décor, I used a wooden crate to hold the answer sheets and a blue plant pot to hold the pens. I decorated with a plush Peter Rabbit toy, pinecones, flowers and leaves.

Download a FREE copy of the answer sheets here.

Celebrity Babies

I varnished an empty wooden frame and wrapped a floral garland around it to give a rustic effect. I attached hooks and string to resemble a garden clothes line.

I printed out pictures of celebrities as babies or young children and hung them up with miniature clothes pegs. Guests had to guess who each celebrity child was.

You can download these A3 sheets of celebrity babies as children. All you need to do is print and cut out the images.

Similar to the previous game, I accessorised it to link with the baby shower décor. I used a wooden crate to hold the answer sheets and a blue plant pot to hold the pens. I positioned a wood effect rabbit statue onto a log slice with carrots and pinecones.

Download a FREE copy of the answer sheets here.

You can personalise this game by asking your guests to bring a photograph of themselves as a baby instead of using celebrity babies. I should mention that this works great with family or work colleagues but it can be difficult to play if your guests don’t know each other.

Vintage Ladder

I wanted the vintage ladder to be the main feature in the room.

I had already painted the ladder in white chalk paint; it gave a rustic effect and fitted in well with the theme. 

I stained 3D letters that spelled out the word Boy. In hindsight, I think I would have preferred to colour the letters in a pastel blue rather than the wood effect.

I added a leafy garland to one side of the steps, and filled different size jars with carrots.

I had never realised before, but buying carrots full of their leafy greens was extremely difficult! I decided to add parsley to the top of the carrots, making it look no different 🙂

I placed a wicker picnic basket, wooden crate, water jug, watering can, and some plant pots next to the ladder to set up a garden scene. I completed the look by styling with garden tools, pebbles, and different types of foliage. 

Photo Booth

As already mentioned, the room had some beautiful exposed brickwork. I used this to my advantage, as the wall became the backdrop to a vintage-style photo booth.

The gingham fabric bunting, wicker picnic basket, and chalkboard sign created a vintage look. 

I filled the basket with blue and white props as I like things colour coordinated. I hate to see a mixture of random props that have no link to the theme or colour scheme. So the items inside the hamper were either blue or white, or they were baby related in some way such as giant bottle, dummy, baby bib, and so on.

I like things to visually flow. Especially where people will be taking selfies!

Sweet Cart

Talking about visually flowing; this includes the sweet table. If you use a separate company it can be a risk if they don’t quite get your vision. 

Sweet Things seemed to grasp the theme perfectly! They tailored the sweets, pom poms, and paper bags to the colour scheme and even matched the blue and white gingham canopy to the theme.

Beatrix Potter traditional artwork used in the bunting and the poster helped the sweet cart synchronise with the rest of the room.

Bow Tie Station

An arts and crafts station is always popular at a baby shower. As a fun activity for guests, I created a dickie bow-tie making station.

To prevent overcrowding, I sat four seats around the table. I tried to minimise the chaos due to the hot glue guns, scissors, and sewing kits hanging around.  

I used miniature wooden wheelbarrows to display fat quarters of fabric.

I set out a variety of colour coordinated buttons and other embellishments for guests to decorate with.

I happened to come across bunny-shaped teabag holders on sale for a bargain price of 30p each. They were ideal for holding small crocodile clips. 

I placed a white empty frame onto a wooden easel. Similar to the Celebrity Babies frame; I assembled some garden clothes lines with hooks and twine. I hung a leafy garland along the top to give an outdoorsy effect.

Guests hung their finished dickie bow ties to the washing line using miniature clothes pegs.

Afternoon Tea

At the centre of the dining table was a hot air balloon display created by CJ’s Balloons. It added height to the room and looked amazing. A plush Peter Rabbit toy sat inside the wicker basket. 

Vintage crockery and Peter Rabbit themed napkins were at each place setting. Each guest had a dainty teacup to enjoy specialty tea or freshly brewed filter coffee.  

Guests nibbled on a classic afternoon tea hosted by the hotel. They enjoyed a selection of homemade sandwiches, including cucumber and cream cheese, home-cooked ham with English mustard, and egg mayonnaise with cress. 

There was plenty of cake and pastries to choose from, including custard slices and chocolate brownies. It finished with my favourite; warm scones with clotted cream and jam.

Party Favours

Lucky winners of the games took home a themed party bag filled with chocolate, baby pins, a Peter Rabbit keyring, and some travel size baby oil.

I always think it is great to send your guests home with a thank you gift that matches your theme and something they will use. For me, having such a sweet tooth usually means SWEETS!

Guests took home delicious Peter Rabbit sweet cones. They matched the colour scheme and the traditional artwork used throughout. You can download the sweet cone labels for FREE below.

Party favours are the last things your guests will remember as they leave your baby shower, so put in effort to choose the right gift to thank them for attending.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it on your socials and subscribe below to receive the best party inspo from Teacups and Glitter.