For the first time ever, I co-hosted a baby shower. I can safely say that at first I had no idea what I was doing, but once my friend and I started talking the inspiration began to flow. Before we knew it, we had the perfect plan.

The shower was for our super pregnant friend Judith, who happens to be a fellow writer and bookworm. So what would be more perfect than a baby book themed shower?

To be honest, I was a little nervous about the date of the party; because of scheduling conflicts the shower was just 6 days before her due date. All we could do was hope for the best (and that a little Lysol would get amniotic fluid right out).

So, first came the bunting. We printed out images of children’s book covers, cut them up into triangles and hung them up with string. We hung the bunting up in a few places around the apartment, including the bathroom, living room and kitchen, alongside some posters with famous quotes from children’s books (my personal favourites were from Roald Dahl, J. M. Barrie, Dr. Seuss, C.S. Lewis, E.B. White and Robert Munsch). We also put a few of the quotes into picture frames for tables and counters.

Next, we made sure all the food was on theme. We searched for children’s books that had any “foodie” potential. After coming up with a pretty extensive menu, we printed out little cards to place next to the food.

As an activity we put out some blank bookmarks with pencil crayons and markers, then asked people to write down advice for the mom-to-be.

And then we ended off the party with these adorable (and super cheap) party favours: gummy worms in a bag marked “book worms.”

Judith loved it. It was a perfect day, made even more perfect by her not giving birth on my couch. However, it was a close call; she had a boy just 33 hours after the shower. Phew. I mean, congrats!