Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

Archive for June, 2010

When decorating for a train-themed baby shower you can go with bold, bright colors or more muted tones.  Since trains are a very popular birthday theme, it should be easy for you to find tableware and decorations that can also be used for your train baby shower.

Once you find train themed tableware that you like, I suggest accenting these pieces with single color balloons, streamers and/or napkins.  Pick an accent color from the design – score bonus points with the mother-to-be if you can use her favorite color!  Many of the train items I found online are appropriate for a baby boy or girl, but most train-themed showers I researched have been for a boy.

I believe that reading to babies makes them smarter from the time they are conceived, so I try to find ways to tie books in to a shower theme.  There are two perfect book selections for a choo choo train shower – The Little Engine that Could and Thomas the Train.  There are a number of Thomas books based on different themes (sharing, friendship, etc).  Purchase one of these books as a shower gift, use it as for decorating or take phrases out of the book as inspiration for a shower game.

If you want to go all out with your train theme, turn the food table into a food train!  Start with a blank tablecloth and draw tracks winding across the table.  Before sketching out the design, you may want to set up each tray to see how wide the tracks should be.  Use square or rectangular-shaped serving platters as the train cars.  Add Oreo cookies or Ritz crackers for the wheels on the cars, and link them together with licorice whips.  To make the display more realistic you can add an actual train engine at the front and a caboose at the end.  You can also decorate the tablecloth with phrases like “All Aboard” or “Thank You for riding [mother's name] Baby Train”.

If your shower will include guests that may not know each other, print some train-themed name tags and ask each person to fill one out when they arrive.  You can also create or purchase a choo choo train diaper cake that is filled with useful baby items for mom.  These diaper cakes make an amazing centerpiece and a useful gift for your guest of honor!

Our first home was close to the railroad tracks.  When I mean close, I mean that our backyard ended where the tracks began.  We were also near a railroad crossing, so the trains heading east would blow their whistles right in our backyard!  Thankfully our firstborn inherited my “heavy sleeper” gene so the early morning whistles never woke us up.  When my husband’s work asked us to choose a personal design for our baby’s blanket (a standard gift from his office), it was an easy choice – a choo choo train!  The blanket is still in his keepsake chest, a treasured reminder of his birth date and the home where he spent the first 2 years of his life.

Trains hold a special meaning to me – I especially love the old steam locomotives and colorful train cars.  Boys young and old love trains too – from Thomas the Train to The Little Engine That Could to the fancy Silver Bullet.  If you need some inspiration for a baby boy themed shower just start here!

Get your train shower rolling with a ticket-themed invitation like the one seen here.  You can create them yourself, or simply enter the information and order them from Personalized Party Invites.  Use phrases like “All Aboard the Baby Train”, “Chugging Along”, or “Choo Choo Baby”.  You can even ask guests to show their ticket for admittance, then give them a gift if they remember to do so.

For a fun themed shower game, line up guest chairs from front to back and have the guests ride the “baby train”.  Starting with the first person in line, ask each guest to name an item they would bring along (bib, pacifier, diapers, etc).   The next guest in line must repeat everything that was previously mentioned, then add an item of their own.  By the time you get to the caboose, there should be a long list of baby items.  If the last person in line can repeat everything that’s on the train, reward her with a prize!

Decorate for your shower with train themed partyware and choo choo party favors.  Select primary colors and use Thomas the Train decorations, which can easily be found at a local party store (look in the birthday aisle). Wind a train track or toy train around the food table, for even more fun have the train running on the track during the shower!

Help out your guest of honor by providing her with a list of all the passengers onboard her baby train.  Pass around a clipboard titled “Mom’s Baby Train Manifest” and ask guests to fill in their names and addresses so mom has them close at hand when writing thank you cards.  You can even provide the thank you cards for your guest of honor, there are a number of adorable train thank you cards online.

Wrap up the party with a big thank you to all who rode the guest of honor’s baby train!  Let them know there were some interesting stops along the way (games, gifts, food) and invite them to the next stop – baby’s arrival!

If you’re planning a baby shower on a budget, not only do we offer a wide selection of reasonably-priced shower favors, we also give you baby shower games for FREE!  Simply print one or two of your favorite games and enjoy!  The free games we offer are:

1. Name The Nursery Rhyme – We list 20 short phrases included in popular nursery rhymes.  You may think it’s easy to fill in the rest of the rhyme along with the title, but we’ve found a few that are pretty challenging.  Don’t worry, we also provide an answer key!
2. Baby Shower Word Jumble – 20 words associated with pregnancy and babies have been jumbled and it’s up to your guests to decipher them.  To make this game even tougher, put a time limit on it.  The person who comes up with the most correct answers in 5 minutes takes home the prize.  Again, we provide the answer key in case there are a couple tough jumbles.
3. Who Knows Mommy Best – See who knows the mother-to-be best by having guests answer questions like “What is mommy’s favorite color?” or “What is mommy’s shoe size?”  While guests work on their answers, have the mother-to-be fill in the correct answers.  You may be surprised at how much – or how little – guests know in a short time period!
4. Baby Shower Categories Game – Similar to Scattergories, this popular game can be played individually or as a team.  Guests must come up with words that start with a specific letter and that fit into a specific baby-related category such as Baby Boy Names, Baby Products, Baby Food Flavors or Items Found in a Diaper Bag.
5. Baby Shower Guest Discovery – A great ice-breaker, this game should be handed out to guests when they arrive.  As they mingle, they will try to find someone who shares their shoe size, who has gone on a blind date, etc.  The one who fills in the most answers wins!
6. Baby Shower Purse Game – One of my personal favorites, this game rewards the guest with the most “junk” in her purse!  The sheet is basically a checklist of items – mundane to eccentric.  Guests receive points based on how many items are in her purse.  One point items include keys, a pen and a credit card.  Guests can earn 20 points if they are carrying a spoon, socks, earrings or a jar of baby food.
7. Baby Animals Game – We’ve listed 25 adult animal names and your guests will have to fill in the baby name.  The animals start out easy (Cow/Calf), get a little more difficult (Goose/Gosling) and end up extremely challenging (Penguin/Fledgling).  The guest to score 25 out of 25 deserves a truly special prize!
8. Baby Shower Bingo – The last free game we offer is also our most popular.  The game set includes 25 different bingo cards along with 75 bingo names.  Simply cut the names apart and place them in a hat.  Draw out names one at a time, then wait for someone to shout “BABY BINGO”.  If you want to play more than one game, provide candies or diaper pins to cover the names as they are called.

The cupcakes pictured here are perfect for a Blooming Flower Baby Shower, but you don’t have to wait for a baby shower to make them!  The creative designs are so easy that they can be made for no reason at all.  The pretty cupcakes are fun to look at and delicious to eat!  Special thanks to my cousin Ashley – whose cupcake creations are an inspiration to me.  Some of her designs are shown here along with great homemade cupcake photos from Flickr.

The top left design is shared by Frostedbites on Flicker.  The cupcakes are covered with white frosting, then decorated with marshmallows that have been cut into petals.  The sticky inside of the marshmallow is perfect for catching colored sugar sprinkles, and a Pez inserted into the center of each cupcake completes the design.

The remaining 3 photos shown above are all cousin Ashley creations.  The top right photo shows cupcakes dipped in colored sugar and decorated with miniature candies such as jellybeans, mini M&M’s and colored candy sprinkles.  To get the teardrop shape, insert an M&M sideways into the frosting so only the edge shows.  The bottom left photo is by far my favorite because I love sunflowers!  The cupcakes were initially frosted with light green icing.  Ashley then used Oreos (regular and mini sized) to create the sunflower bases.  She used a petal tip and decorator’s bag to form the petals, and finished the flowers with red M&M ladybugs.  The leaves are gummy candy.  The bottom left photo shows miniature cupcakes, created for a very special birthday tea.  The mini cakes were frosted with a green base using a leaf tip for texture.  Ashley then cut out miniature gum paste flowers and dusted them with edible pearl dust to make them sparkly.  The dot in the center is a small candy bead.

1. The pink and white floral design shown above (far left) is a little more labor intensive than the other designs, but once you get the hang of using candy melts it’s a lot of fun!  The cupcakes seen here were made by mommy golightly, but check out bakerella’s blog to see how to make these neat cupcake toppers.
2. The orange and yellow flower cupcakes are easy to make, and perfect for anyone who loves licorice!  Here the bakers at Betty Crocker Recipes show us how to create brightly colored flowers using varying lengths of licorice sticks, some white icing and chocolate candy sprinkles.
3. The third design is another use of marshmallows for flower petals.  This time the cut side of the marshmallow is set on top the frosting, so the rounded portion is showing.  The center is made with colored M&M’s.  Kids of all ages can help with decorating these cupcakes, which are displayed by Us3Crew.
4. The fourth design (far right) is all in the placement.  The chocolate cupcakes are simply dipped in icing, then sprinkled with colored sugar and artfully arranged on a cake board.  The flower stem is a piece of green licorice, and the leaves are gummy candies.  This floral pattern was created and shared by lars hammar.
5. The sprouting flower design is another one of my favorites – the cupcakes are brought to life with the use of pretzel sticks, miniature flower-shaped cookies, M&M’s and gummy candy leaves.  The bakers at McCormick Kitchens will help you through the process on their Flickr page.
6. The final design I chose to spotlight shows yet another use of marshmallows for flower petals.  This time the marshmallows are simply cut in half, then placed around the cupcake in a circular pattern.  The center is again a colored M&M candy.  The hot pink frosting creates a dramatic background for the white flower.  These pretty cupcakes were made by hopskipjump.

As you can see by the designs shown here, it just takes a little creativity to make fun and tasty desserts for your Blooming Flower Baby Shower.  Virtually any type of sweet treat can be used for flower petals, leaves or stems.  Even if you’re a novice baker or decorator you will be able to make these beautiful cupcakes, and if you make any mistakes all you have to do is eat the evidence.  Happy Baking!

It’s always nice to send your shower guests home with a little favor to remember the special day.  I love personalized favors that are useful even after the event – like the mint tins shown here.  Our mint tins are all about choices – we offer two tins sizes, 6 tin colors, 8 filling options (breath mints, candy mints, sweet sour tarts, mint gum, candy ducks, bubblegum, sugar free cinnamon candy or sour apple candy) and your choice of personalized message on the label.  Priced as low as $2.50 apiece, these favors are a fun and functional option.

A great personalized favor that ties in perfectly with your Blooming Flower theme are our wildflower seed packets.  Filled with enough seeds to cover 20 square feet, these favors provide a beautiful living reminder of your shower.  The packets are also customized with label designs, colors your own shower message.

You can’t have blooming without a little buzzing, which makes our ceramic honey pot favors a fitting choice.  The beehive-shaped pot comes with a honeycomb stick for guests’ to drizzle honey over their favorite snack!

Flower cookies are a delicious favor option, you can package them in a simple plastic baggie that is tied with colorful curling ribbon and a flower-shaped tag thanking guests for attending.  Cupcakes are a tasty favor also, but they are more difficult for guests’ to transport so you may want to serve them as dessert instead.  Stay tuned for some easy and beautiful flower cupcakes!

When a baby girl is on the way, it’s fun to give the new mother frilly outfits to dress baby in!  It is also a great idea to provide bibs so mom can keep these beautiful new clothes clean during feedings.  Baby Gifts & Gift Baskets can help with both gift choices, we carry a wide selection of Bib and Clothing Gifts, many of which can be personalized.

If you would like to help decorate baby’s room, you’ll find an entire line of personalized baby furniture on our website.  We offer dozens of hand painted design options including our bright and colorful blooms and butterflies.  When my first son was born, my best friend gave him a piggy bank that still sits on top of his dresser.  You can purchase personalized child banks that come in all shapes and sizes, including a cash box, dinosaur, and blooming flower as shown here .

Other useful blooming flower baby gifts include a flower-themed diaper bag filled with diapers, wipes and diaper rash cream.  Many new mothers appreciate a gift to pamper her, so consider floral-scented bath oils, hand lotion or aromatherapy candles.  Although not necessarily tied into the blooming flower theme, gift cards for local restaurants are a lifesaver when a new baby takes up much of mom’s time, and gift certificates for a cleaning service are highly prized by new parents.

I may be corny, but my favorite part of a baby shower is game time!  Maybe it’s my competitive nature, or my love of winning prizes, but in any case I’m always first in line for game time.  Over the years I’ve played some fun shower games and even been inspired to create a few.  The ones listed below work perfectly for a flower-themed shower:

Flower Word Scramble – Scramble up the letters to popular flower names and have guests arrange them in the proper order.  The first one done (or the one with the most correct answers) wins a prize.  Excellent flower names for this game are gladiolus, daffodil and delphinium, but you’ll also want to include a few easier names like rose, daisy and tulip.

Guess That Flower – Visit a flower store or farmer’s market prior to the shower and gather a number of blooms.  Make sure you know the name of each flower, and put each flower in a different vase (baby bottles work well for vases in this case).  Number each flower and have guests write down the name – the person with the most correct answers wins.  A great prize for this game is to gather all of the flowers into a beautiful arrangement and present it to the winner.

How Many Petals – As mentioned in my previous post, ask your shower guests to estimate how many petals are contained in a certain bloom (daisies are perfect for this game).  Let mom pull the flower apart and the person with the closest estimate wins!  Present her with a floral-scented candle, bubble bath or hand lotion.

Flower Colors – Announce certain flower names and have each guest (including the mother-to-be) write down the first color that comes to mind (like red roses, white baby’s breath, yellow daisy, purple iris, etc).  See which guest has the highest number of matches to the new mom and reward that person with a suitable prize.

X Marks The Spot – Purchase personalized blooming lemonade packets and mark one of these packets with an X on the back.  Place the packets in a basket and make sure your guests select one (or two) as a take-home favor.  Before the shower ends, ask your guests to check the back of their packets, the person who holds the marked packet wins a prize!

Perfect for an outdoor or springtime party, your Blooming Flower Baby Shower can be a fun way to introduce the new baby girl to her new friends and family!  With a few simple and colorful decorations, exciting shower games and cute take-home favors, your guests – and especially the guest of honor – will have a great time.

Introduce shower guests to the theme with your blooming invitations.  Purchase themed invitations online or create your own by cutting daisy shapes out of construction paper.  Write shower information such as when, where and what time on each petal, then put the star of the show in the center of the bloom!  If your flowers are too large to fit in a standard envelope, fold the petals toward the center so your guests can watch the details “bloom” as they unfold the invitation.

Decorate your shower tables with large bouquets of colorful daisies.  Use these bouquets for a shower game where you ask guests to count the flowers in each bouquet or count the number of petals on a certain flower.  Sprinkle flower petals across a plain white tablecloth or use a different colored cloth for each table for a bright and cheery presentation.

When guests arrive at the shower, greet them with a large flower-shaped sign announcing “Welcome to (the new mother)’s Blooming Baby Shower”.  Make sure to have a corsage for the guest of honor and a refreshing beverage for her to relax with.  I recommend lemonade or a light fruit punch to keep with the theme.

Daisy cupcakes are a tasty and relatively easy dessert option for this type of shower theme.  Either decorate individual cupcakes with daisy designs or frost them in different colors and arrange in the shape of a flower.  I saw a really unique dessert idea at kraftfoods.com (see photo on right) and you could easily put your own unique spin on it.

As guests are getting ready to leave, bring out a basket of blooming shower favors so they will each have a memory of the special day.  Help mom pack up all of her baby gifts and send her home with a beautiful flower bouquet to keep her special theme alive as long as possible!