Cute & Easy DIY Alligator Initial Door Hanger

When my sister had her baby last year, I made her an alligator initial door hanger to hang on her hospital door.  Since she was having a boy, I didn't want to make anything too frilly or froo-froo. I wanted to keep it simple but still cute.

The baby nursery was the inspiration for the shower I had thrown her last year. You can see the alligator baby shower by clicking here.  I created the door hanger to match her nursery theme-Pottery Barn Alligator Madras.  

List of Supplies:

-White monogram letter (from Michaels)

-Painted wooden alligator cut-out (from Hobby Lobby)

-Navy blue, black and bright blue acrylic paint (I mixed the colors to get the right shade of navy blue)

-Paintbrush

-Pencil

-Ruler

-Ribbon (about 1 yard)

-Scissors

-Hot glue 

Step 1:

Using a ruler and pencil, measure and lightly mark the spacing for the stripes. I drew 8 lines about 1 1/2" in width. I extended the lines to the sides of the letter.

Step 2:

 Paint the stripes starting with the top stripe in navy and skipping every other stripe. Although the letter was thin, I painted the sides to extend the stripes on the side view. Allow paint to dry.

Step 3:

Find where you want to place alligator cut-out then hot glue in place.  Allow glue to dry completely.

Step 4:

Measure ribbon to make a bow for hanger and allow for extra ribbon to be glued to the back of the letter. Cut ribbon to desired length. Tie a bow in the center of the ribbon and glue ribbon to the back side of the letter.  Allow glue to dry.

Step 5:

Hang your new oh-so-cute monogram initial on a nursery door or child's bedroom wall! 

It's also a perfect and easy DIY gift to make for a new baby for the hospital door hanger. This could even be used to decorate a front door if you're having an alligator themed party!

Keeping it simple yet still cute, you can make this too! 

Pickles and Ice Cream Baby Shower

Are you craving for a cute and unique baby shower idea? A pickles and ice cream baby shower theme will surely satisfy those cravings!

A few years ago, my best friend Brandi was pregnant with her baby girl and I wanted to host a baby shower that was not-your-typical shower theme. So I decided that a pickles and ice cream baby shower would be unique, sweet and oh-so cute! 

Pickles and Ice Cream Invitation

I believe a great party starts with a great invitation. I really enjoy making handmade invitations for events that I'm hosting.  They can really give your guests a sneak peak of what to expect from your party.  I used my Cricut to make the ice cream cutouts. The pickles were freehanded and cut out with jagged scissors. I used an embossing tool to add the bumps on the pickle and also the lines on the waffle cone. For the sprinkles, I punched out several tiny dots with a border hole puncher. Finishing it off with a jeweled red cherry on top! The invitation wording was designed on my computer with the phrase:

"Pickles and Ice Cream for the mom-to-be...not quite as tasty for you and me"

Sign-in Table

One of the other hostesses, Amanda, created these beautiful sign-in scrapbook pages. It's always nice to have a guestbook or sign-in page for guests. Then you can give the guest of honor this memento from the party to show who attended their special day. 

Jar of Pickles-If you're in a pickle...

Many baby showers that I've attended have guests fill out a piece of paper with advice for the mother-to-be.  So we came up with a cute way to have guests give advice to the parents-to-be. A pickle jar that said "When you're in a pickle..." 

Milkshake Flowers

Fresh flowers are always a special touch to decorate an event. So I made these milkshake floral arrangements using fresh carnations. I used milkshake glasses and stuffed them with colored tissue to cover the green oasis foam. Be sure to pre-soak the foam in water so the flowers stay fresh throughout the party. 

Sandwiches, Pickles, & Ice Cream Bar

The menu for the party was also all about pickles and ice cream too. Deli sandwich platters were displayed with pickles galore! For dessert, we had an ice cream sundae bar with lots of different toppings for the guests to pile on and go crazy! 

Sweet Decorations

For decorations, I made these giant ice cream cones and pickles that coordinated with the invitations I had made. They really dressed up the kitchen island where we had the ice cream toppings set out. I've seen ideas for ice cream cone balloons which would have been a cute idea for this party theme. 

Ice Cream Favors and Favor Sign

We gave ice cream shaped jelly bean dispensers for the party favors. They were already pre-filled with ice cream flavored jelly beans. I attached a little thank you sign to each favor. 

As you know, I love to make matching favor signs to display on the table. Here's what the sign displayed:

"Ice cream is sweet, Pickles are sour...Thank you for coming to our baby shower!"

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

All the hostesses helped make these adorable homemade ice cream cone cupcakes. Be sure to not overfill the batter or else the batter will overflow when it's baking. I personally think the ones that overflowed were quite cute; they looked like melted ice cream! 

Fabric Rag Wreath-Hospital Wreath

As my gift for the baby, I made a fabric rag wreath for the hospital door. I placed  the wreath on the front door as decoration for the party. To make the wreath, I took different fabric and ribbon in coordinating colors and cut them into strips. I tied them on a wire wreath form until the wreath was full. I attached the glitter monogram initial to the wreath and strands of ribbon to hang down.  I used glitter chip board letter stickers to spell out the baby's name.  

During my pregnancies I craved spicy hot wings all the time. I never had weird pregnancy cravings like pickles and ice cream, but I'm sure someone out there loves it. Brandi wasn't a fan of pickles and ice cream and none of the guests dared to try it in their sundaes. Why ruin a good thing? 

**Thank you to the other lovely hostesses (Amanda, Cyndi and Christi) who helped make this shower so sweet and special!**

Next time you are planning a baby shower, consider a pickles and ice cream theme! This theme could also be used for a baby boy shower as well! It's sweet, adorable, and fun way to treat your guests!