As you may have seen in our post last Friday, I've volunteered to host a baby shower at our home this coming weekend. Well, in true Old Town Home fashion, I may have underestimated the time and detail needed to successfully pull off this project. In an effort to get back on track, the co-host and I set out this past weekend on an all-day shopping excursion to pick up the necessary party supplies and decor needed for next weekend's bash. The most surprising aspect of our trip? Discovering just how many hideous baby-themed supplies are out there for the picking, just lurking and waiting for someone with questionable taste to come along and snatch them up. We're talking armies of ugly and scary infant replicas. But let me back up to fill you in on how my guest room came to resemble a grocery and craft store explosion, along with a cat dragged in.

We started the morning with a strategy session over coffee, hashing out the final details of our menu, as well as finalizing dessert and favor options. Given we both love to cook and bake, this element of the party is really low stress and is something I'm quite looking forward to. One item in particular that I'm eagerly anticipating is a new Pinterest recipe for a hot appetizer using wonton wrappers. Wonton wrappers are a product I've always wanted to try, and this shower is the perfect excuse.

After finalizing the menu and finishing our coffee, we hopped in the car and started our long trek down Route 1 South, to a heavily congested, strip mall lined stretch that provided options for all of our shopping needs. We began the journey in the local Target, picking up various ingredients and supplies for menu items. We were hoping to strike gold in the decor department -- specifically looking for toddler sized rain boots to play off our rain shower theme -- but luck wasn't on our side. Must not be that "toddler Wellies" time of year, they're just not in season yet I guess.

Next up we hit Hancock Fabrics in search of a turquoise fabric that could work as a buffet runner. Sadly, nothing here fit the bill either. But as we paused with exasperation, I remembered that I have yards of burlap fabric in our hall closet, left over from December when our home was featured on the designer tour of homes. Perfect! Although not turquoise, the burlap, when overlayed on a crisp white tablecloth, will add a layer of texture and dimension to make the buffet more interesting.

With the fabric choices made for us, we headed over to The Party Store, and this was where the true horrors made themselves known. I suppose I went into this leg of the trip thinking we'd find cute napkins, fun accessories, or general inspiration for the party. Boy was I wrong. There was nearly an entire aisle devoted to all things baby, and what I discovered made me recoil in fear.