Sweet Peas Baby Shower

The mom-to-be's got more than one pea in the pod, so a fabulous, thoughtful baby-fest is in order to help her stockpile the essentials. A vibrant orange-and-green "Sweet Peas" shower with a contemporary spin is perfect for celebrating the birth of two or more babies.

Personalize this custom invitation by clicking on the name of the mama-to-be and party details to edit. Then print on a color printer using 5x7 photo paper and mail in A7 size envelopes.

One thoughtful touch: We've added a line to this invite asking guests to bring a package of newborn diapers with them to the shower -- twins can go through as many as 20 a day! If you decide you don't need this touch, just delete the text from the invitation.
 

This cute, colorful idea brings the two-tone palette together perfectly.

What You'll Need
1 clear square vase, medium-size
1 small glass or sturdy plastic vase or cup that fits inside larger vase
Green jelly beans
Orange zinnias, gerberas, dahlias, or other flowers in your color palette
Floral frog

Step 1
Place the small cup inside the medium vase and fill the gap between the two with jelly beans.

Step 2
Add water to the cup, and arrange the flowers inside. You might need to use a floral frog to hold them up.

Flowers courtesy of:

Serve a dish that's subtly accented with the party's star veggie, like this light, yummy pasta dish featuring ricotta and peas. Round out the meal with a fresh green salad.

Pasta with Ricotta and Peas
Makes: 6 servings

Let your guests have fun guessing who's a twin! Create a long list of celebrities -- include some who are twins and some who aren't -- and pass it around to guests. Ask them to place a check mark next to the celebrities they think are twins. (There's Mary-Kate and Ashley, sure -- but some surprising others include Ashton Kutcher, Alanis Morissette, and Scarlett Johansson. Do a little Internet research to create your complete list.)

When everyone's done, ask guests to pass their list off to the person to their left. Let guests "grade" each other's papers while you read off the answers and sprinkle in some twin trivia. (Did you know that Michael J. Fox, Elvis Costello, and Denzel Washington are all fathers of twins?) The guests who gets the most correct wins a prize.

Decorate the party space with multiple sets of cute, brightly colored onesies, like this cheeky pair that say "I'm the favorite." Using baby hangers or clothespins and yarn, hang them up on walls and display them throughout the space -- when it's time to go, send them home with the mom-to-be.
 

Circular soaps look like little peas when wrapped with a green baby washcloth. Make these favors yourself, or keep things simple and buy them already finished.

What You'll Need
Green baby washcloth (a regular one works too)
Three small round glycerin soaps per favor
Ribbon

Step 1
Lay the baby washcloth flat, then fold two of the sides in about 2 inches (you may have to fold in farther if you're using a regular-sized washcloth)

Step 2
Place soaps in a neat row inside, then wrap the folded edges up and around the soaps to look like a pod.

Step 3
Tie the ends with orange or green ribbon and add bright orange gift tags that read "Thanks for coming to our sweet peas shower." Display the favors in rows on a mod orange tray or a white tray lined with orange paper.

Jennifer Sbranti is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of HostessWithTheMostess.com, and author of the HWTM Daily Blog.

Copyright © 2008 Meredith Corporation.

Add these tunes to your iPod for the party: