Baby Shower for Paisley

I threw a small baby shower for my friend Paisley on Saturday.  It was her third baby, but first girl so I figured she NEEDED to have some girly things!  We made it a super small party with only about 10-12 people coming.  I went very light on decorations (only using things I already had) and I did a do it yourself salad bar!  My sister in law Alisa gave me the idea and I LOVED it!  It was so perfect!  I went to Winco and grabbed up anything from the bulk bins that I thought would make a good topping. We already have lettuce and spinach in our home all the time and I just had to add a few more veggies and we were set!  I also had some plain pasta too.  I made 3 dressings, BBQ Ranch, Oriental, and Italian.   The Oriental was a big hit, if you want to try it it's super easy and only 4 ingredients - Mayo, Honey, Sesame Oil and Rice Wine Vinegar.  Here's the link to where I found it. http://saorganics.com/applebees-oriental-salad/      I just realized looking back at it that it also calls for mustard, I didn't put any in because I'm not a big mustard fan and it's delicious without it!!

 I was able to prep and cut up all the vegetables, make the dressing and pasta's all the day before.  All I had to do was set everything out!  I even had gotten my dishes out and put sticky notes in them with all my topping so I knew I had a place for everything!

At the last minute I got the idea to put the dressings into squeeze bottles and it might just be my new favorite thing!  Seriously try it!   I had these laying around and hadn't used them much, but they are perfect for dressing.  You are really able to squeeze such a thin line that you can put all over your salad and get good coverage!  And it's not messy! 

The best part was is that all the leftovers are things we would actually eat and are mostly healthy!  I have stuff for salads for days and can mix it up!

I also did an Italian Soda bar.  I LOVE Italian Soda's and already had the syrups and cream and since we had the Soda Stream I didn't even have to buy soda!

See, super simple - not my usual all out party, but it was still very nice!

I wasn't in the mood for doing cupcakes or other extensive desserts, so I made cookie dough earlier in the week, portioned it out and froze it.  Then just popped them in the oven that morning (the ONLY thing I had to cook!) and put them in these little treat bags.  It was perfect - people took one as they were leaving (or some as they came in!)  and I wasn't left with an overabundance of treats laying around!

This was seriously one of my favorite menu's for a party and I KNOW I will be using it again!  Everyone really loved it it was so easy!