Start by searching Pinterest for your shower theme. I was super surprised by how many woodland themed showers have already taken place! Who knew!? If you are planning a surprise shower make sure your board is set to "secret"! I didn't want our expectant mama peeking at the plans! I was able to find SO many fun, easy, and CHEAP ideas using Pinterest! 

Narrow down your Pinterest board of ideas to what you can actually accomplish. I narrowed mine down to some key food ideas, games, a painting activity, and decor. It does not make sense to keep a bunch of over-the-top Pinterest ideas on your board - at least for me, that's super overwhelming. Start big, pinning anything that interests you, then make cuts based on what's realistic.

I am list obsessed. My go-to list organization is folding a piece of computer paper into quadrants - this forces my list to stay organized, which helps ME to stay organized. My list for the shower had these categories To Buy (sub categories: food, thank you gifts, other), Painting, Decor/Other. (I was able to have a volunteer take care of the games for the shower - so that did not make the list!)

Keep your list in an easily accessible place so that you don't forget about it! Before you buy anything double check your house, your mom's house, your friend's house, etc. for items you may already have access to. For items that you do need to purchase - slow and steady. Each time you hit the grocery store choose 1 or 2 items on your list to purchase. This is helpful for us because it's less spending all at once, it's less stressful, and it keeps us making decisions. For me, I find that the first things to get done on my to-do lists are the things I am most excited about. So if the event is upon us and we haven't made certain purchases, I ask myself "Is this important?" If it is, we make a last second trip to the store, but usually it's not and it ends up getting cut.