Once upon a time a beautiful mother decided it was time to add another sweet “Little One” to her darling family of 5.  “What a little nose she’ll have.  What little ears she’ll have.  What little eyes she’ll have.  But what big hearts she’ll fill.”

Inspired by the classic fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, we set out to help our friend and mother-to-be ,Vivian, celebrate and welcome her new “little one” by hosting a baby shower in her honor.  Vivian has been busy decorating baby Samantha’s nursery in vintage Little Red Riding Hood since the moment she found out she was expecting a girl, so we knew this shower theme would be perfect.

Anders Ruff beautifully adapted & customized their Little Red Riding Hood invitation to fit our theme, including a baby registry enclosure card.  Isn’t Little Red Riding Hood just precious?  I love the faux bois background & the darling woodland details.  Of course guests were invited to the “Woods”to join in the celebration, but not without some special advice!  “What a great sweet tooth you should bring!  The better to eat all the tiny desserts with!”

Because of rainy Washington weather, we brought the ‘outside’,  in,  creating a small piece of the forest right in the living room.  The main dessert area was flanked with large artificial trees.  Tall vessels were filled with pinecones & long willowy branches.  Accents of moss, wood, pinecones and berries were used throughout.  Lots of natural elements like bird nests, bundled sticks, large and small apple baskets and such were used to add interest to the display.

We wanted Little Red Riding Hood to have a strong presence at the shower.  Anders Ruff enlarged the sweet image of Little Red for printing (we printed it at Costco in the 16×20 size for less than $6) and spray painted a gorgeous IKEA frame in a coordinating brown ‘woodsy’ color.

Lovely whimsical images of Little Red, squirrels, mushrooms & woodland flowers (from the Anders Ruff Little Red Riding/Woodland themed printable collection) added an extra measure of cuteness to  our custom bunting, cupcake toppers, favor tags & food labels.

Scrumptious mini desserts from Celebrity Cake Studio were scattered throughout our woodland style tablescape on bark edged wood rounds.  Guests had a hard time deciding on their favorite.  Was it the petit fours, the mini berry tarts, the eclairs or mini cupcakes?

Beautiful and equally delicious gourmet chocolate covered caramel apples hand-dipped & customized to coordinate with the feel and colors of the shower were shipped in from Amanda at Pretzels Pleaze.  (If you’ve ever wondered if caramel apples will still taste good when shipped, I’m here to tell you that these were to-die-for.  Guests were amazed!)

Custom cookies are always a treasured take home favor as well as a fun way to tie in the decor with the desserts.  Rollin’ in Dough designed these beautiful cookies to coordinate with Anders Ruff‘s printable designs.  Aren’t they stunning?

Additional palate pleasers filled footed bowls and cake stands.  Custom candy bar wrappers designed by Anders Ruff brightened up Hershey bars.  And, mini Anders Ruff circle labels dressed up raspberry lime yogurt parfaits.

There were chocolate dipped strawberries, cranberry-orange scones & chocolate Lindt Truffle cupcakes with the most beautiful & intricately detailed fondant work by Sachiko of Mimi Cafe Union NYC.

If the cupcakes weren’t adorable enough, the detail on her cake topper was enough to have guests talking for hours.  I highly recommend Mimi Cafe Union NYC!  In addition to the beautiful Little Red cake topper, Andies Specialty Sweets sent the most exquisite chocolate toadstools, edible sugar ferns & lady bugs which I used to detail our chocolate cake.  (We were hoping the chocolate shavings on the cake helped it look ‘woodland’ style with the sugar ferns and toadstools growing out of the wood!)

The beverage table was decorated with additional outdoor elements.  Pinecones and berries helped bring in that “woodsy” feel and also provide a pop of color. Party cups were decorated with 2″ circle logos from the Anders Ruff printable party collection, and a sweet little printable paper bunting was hung.

Wooden utensils are all the rage.  We loved these from Whimsical Printables’ supply shop.

In addition to our low-cal berry limade punch, water bottles were dressed up with coordinating labels from Anders Ruff & darling red striped straws from Smidge & Pinch.  I love the “little one” party flag detailing on the straws.

Guests were able to leave some “Sweet Little Wishes” for the mom-to-be.  Using the adorable hang tags created by Anders Ruff, each guest wrote a personal note and hung it to the tree branches using clothes pins.

Our mom-to-be was spoiled with several precious coordinating Little Red Riding Hood custom clothing and accessory items, inspired by Anders Ruff‘s printable package.

How sweet are the custom items designed by Hang to Dry Applique and sewn by Sweet Stuff Creations & Stinky D (inspired by Anders Ruff‘s printables)?  The attention to detail is incredible!  Notice the cute ruffle bum on the onesie.  So sweet!  The darling toadstool headband pictured above and also below with the uniquely cute bunting headband were hand-crafted by the talented Giddy Up & Grow.

Michele of Sweet Threads Clothing Company designed two gorgeous onesies which she hand-stitched for our little momma.  How cute is the little squirrel?  The vintage Little Red Riding Hood fabric used is also adorable.  Birdie Baby Boutique created a custom headband to coordinate with the onesies.  Isn’t it perfect?  Such darling fabric and cute detailing.  I love how each designer approached the theme and their designs in a unique way.  Vivian will have several adorable wardrobe options for her little Samantha.

A Little Red Riding Hood party would not be complete without a basket full of goodies.  Each guest was given one of these darling mini baskets from Whimsical Printables‘ shop, embellished with gingham fabric, a cute little Anders Ruff  “thank you” tag & filled to the brim with gummy berries & watermelons from Oh! Nuts.

Guests had a great time celebrating this beautiful mother to be.  …  And they all lived happily ever after.

Credits & Sources:

Event Styling:  Jen Carver, Banner Events
Printable Graphics & Invitation:  Anders Ruff Custom Designs
Invitation here
Printable Graphic package here
Photography:  Andrea Pasion Photography

Gourmet mini-desserts (petit fours, mini eclairs, mini cupcakes, berry tarts): Celebrity Cake Studio
Candy:  Oh! Nuts
Gourmet chocolate toadstools, edible sugar ferns & ladybugs: Andies Specialty Sweets
3-D fondant Little Red Riding Hood cake topper & cupcake toppers:  Mimi Cafe Union NYC
Custom gourmet Little Red Riding Hood cookies (squirrels, LRRH & mushrooms): Rollin’ in Dough
Gourmet chocolate covered caramel apples:  Pretzels Pleaze
Custom headband:  Birdie Baby Boutique
Custom Little Red Riding Hood onesie, sleeper dress & burpcloth:  Hang to Dry Applique  and  Sweet Stuff Creations & Stinky D
Custom onesies (squirrel & vintage LRRH fabric):  Sweet Threads Clothing Company
Custom headbands (bunting & toadstool):  Giddy Up & Grow
Favor baskets & wooden forks:  Whimsical Printables
Polka dot balloons, striped straws, cupcake liners:  Smidge & Pinch