I organized a farmer’s market themed baby shower

let’s talk about it!

I threw my sister in law a baby shower this October, and to be honest I’m very proud of the final result and would like to talk about it further.

Here’s how I did it without breaking the bank and without sacrificing my vision.

Picking the theme: I settled on the theme pretty quickly while scrolling through pinterest, as I was drawn to the imagery of produce and greenery as decor. I would describe the theme I ultimately picked as “Farmer’s market / Locally grown”.

I had the feeling of kismet when picking this theme because my local csa had just sent out an email about fall veggie/fruit share sign ups. I also wanted to avoid creating too much waste, which gave my brain a fun limit to work within.

The stuff I was able to get local / re-use:

Cardboard baskets for produce were 100% from the folks at my local farmers market, who gave me a huge pile for 4 bucks.
Decor pieces like: Collapsable crate (lent to me by the csa), cardboard produce boxes (free from costco), plants and pumpkins (from my local farmers market), picnic basket (from a family member), sun flower runner rug (from my kitchen). 50% of the tablecloths were fabric or actual table cloths I already owned. Wooden accents like the charcuterie boards (I own a lot and surprisingly get a lot of use out of them). Yarn details like the stems of my faux pumpkin patch, flower vases were huge empty tomato sauce cans with gorgeous designs.
90% of veggies and fruits on the ‘farmer’s stand’ were from either the Thursday/Sunday farmers markets in my area. I would say 10% was from Trader Joes / Costco.
Paper decorations: butcher paper (I already had for gift wrapping and home projects), all print outs including all garlands (I’m a canva warrior with a really good printer and a tendency to hoard nice paper)
Other things I made myself / crafted: Fondant veggies for the top of the cake,

some reflections

It was important to me that the theme work for the lifestyle and values of myself and my family, and I’m glad to report that most of the decor was consumed/taken home by guests. Anything that wasn’t consumed was recycled, or is reusable, but I’ll report back about the couple of items I did decide to invest in for future Auntie duties (electric balloon pump + foldable backdrop arch + sweet baby boy cake topper + paper lanterns). I hope this post can serve as inspo for someone out there also hoping to throw a thoughtful baby shower – and if you do use any of my ideas please let me know how it goes!