Fun Party

I had the privilege to be on a journey along side a good friend adopting from China. While we are anxiously awaiting her arrival to her new home, I spent some time trying to distract her family with a wonderful shower!

The food and cake and decorations turned out lovely! Almost as lovely as this group of women I love. <3

 Scrumptious! Look at that cake!

We had a little book to write a prayer for Hannah. My hope is that she will look back on this when she is older and know how cherished she is.

 Me and the oldest made this fun banner at the last minute. We used purple yarn, ripped fabric leftover from another project and scrapbook paper.

 My daughter hand-stitched the little owls. Aren't they cute?!

 The paper lanterns topped off the look I was going for. What is a Chinese adoption party without pink paper lanterns? (That's Hannah's mom pictured)

I spent hours (easily more than a dozen - probably more) on centerpieces that I hot glued by hand (calluses on my left thumb - ouch). I found a tutorial here. I went exploring with my kids and they helped me to find all the branches I needed at a nearby park. The lovely containers pictured is one I bought at a friends thrift store that funds programs for special needs young adults. One is a dressing pourer (is that a word?) and the other is a Manischewitz Grape Juice bottle (who knew?)! The pretty glasses were filled with pink glass beads, of course! This one is the one I started with but once I realized that this single centerpiece wouldn't fill the big house we had the party at, it snowballed into 4. Once I carried them into the house, they dwarfed and I was glad I didn't just make one dinky one. I guess they filled up our house more than the host's house. It was a labor of love.

 Me and my girls.

 My daughter was a lovely helper handing the gifts to be opened.

And, not to be outdone. This is the final masterpiece of the party. The story is here.

I just love a good party.