Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

Archive for the ‘Baby Shower’ Category

Baby showers are some of the most joy filled occasions. You can have them just about anywhere you like. If you’re getting ready to start planning a baby shower for a friend, consider lots of options before deciding where to host it.

Many baby showers are held at someone’s home. This could be the home of the mother of the guest of honor or her mother in law. Proud Grammas to be often want to host a shower and will offer their houses. That’s one place to start.

If you don’t have the room at your own home, consider having it out at a local coffee house or tea room. A coffeehouse is a great atmosphere because it’s casual and low key and you can often make yourselves comfortable in a small section of the room. You won’t have catered fare, but if you want to have coffee and pastries without having to pay a rental fee or serve an expensive restaurant meal, this may be the place for you. Just be sure to check it out with the coffee house’s manager. You may even find they’ll make you a special dessert or throw in a little something extra for you.

A tea house is ideal if you can find one. They are rare in some areas and plentiful in others. If you are fortunate enough to live near one, set up your date and you practically have the whole party done for you. The atmosphere at a tea house is cozy and the food is bite sized. Depending on the tea house, you can also order more of a family style lunch or bigger sandwiches. They may even have a full menu you can choose from with heartier fare, but most ladies enjoy sipping tea with small cakes and finger sandwiches. Center your baby shower theme around whatever you are having there to work with.

If none of these options work for you, check out a local community center or historical site. Community centers are there for you, the community, to use. Many charge nothing or just a nominal donation fee. Many historical museums have rooms for the public to use. Aquariums and zoos do as well. You can set everything up and then enjoy the museum or aquatic or animal life too.

Many other venues exist that don’t charge a high fee, if anything at all. Having a baby shower at a restaurant during a non-busy time can almost ensure you the place to yourselves. Have it on a Wednesday afternoon or on a Friday at 11:00. If guests can’t take the time off, choose a weekday time right after work when the restaurant will still be less crowded rather than a Saturday or Sunday.

There’s no limit to the ideas you can come up with when you really start thinking. Don’t forget about beach side clambakes or outdoor parks if your climate allows for it. Set up the feast on picnic tables and play Frisbee and bring all the kids. Don't forget the baby shower favors! It can be a fun day that includes everyone.

For other ideas, ask recent moms at the park or playground where their baby showers were held. You may just hear of a place you never knew existed. It’s worth it to ask for word of mouth recommendations. You never know what may turn up.

Related Articles:

• How To Plan A Co-ed or Couples Baby Shower
• Fun Baby Shower Decoration Ideas
• Cheap Baby Shower Games

There is no one single “perfect” baby shower centerpiece, just as there is no one single perfect mother.  Mothers are unique, and what makes them perfect is how well they know their babies and their ability to take care of their needs.  If you are having trouble deciding on a baby shower centerpiece for a friend or family member, take a cue from all the great mothers out there.  Know her, and try to take care of her needs.  Luckily, it is fairly easy to anticipate the needs of an expecting mother!  Here are some ideas so your centerpiece will be perfect.

• Dig into a diaper cake.  It’s cuter than it sounds.  Instead of flour and sugar, this cake is made from rolled up diapers (cloth is excellent, but disposable works too). These are formed into tiers, and then adorned with baby care items, such as small toys, pacifiers, bibs, bottles, socks, hats, mitts, and more.  You can find instructions all over the internet to help you make the diaper cake.  The best part is that it is easy and practical.  Mom can use everything on the cake.  And no calories either.
• Along similar lines, you could make a baby sock rose bouquet.  Again, you can find the easy instructions online, but really, it is very similar to just folding socks as you would after doing laundry.  You place them on floral wire, and wind green floral tape around the wire to make it look like a stem.  You can place these in a bouquet with other flowers for a very cute, usable, centerpiece.
• String a clothesline across the room where you wish the focal point to be.  From here, hang little onesies, shirts, dresses, pajamas, hats, and other baby clothing with wooden clothespins.  Use diapers to spell out “Baby Shower,” “Baby,” or the baby’s name if possible, and hang these in the center or in an alternating pattern with the clothes.
• Find a small galvanized steel tub, which are available at Amazon and other vendors, and fill it about one-third to half full with water.  Add cute rubber duckies, and maybe a pink, blue, yellow, or light green ribbon around the tub, and you have a very simple, thoroughly adorable, centerpiece.  And mom can use the duckies again.

So far, these have all been budget-friendly, usable baby shower centerpiece ideas.  These are great for practical moms, as well as those who haven’t had time to shop yet!  But if the mother whom you are honoring already has most of her essentials, it is time to move away from the practical.  And what better place to move on to than food?

An edible flower cookie bouquet is a gorgeous – and delicious – centerpiece.  You can order one or you can make your own using pineapple, grapes, strawberries, and melon.  Add some chocolate, and you have a stunning centerpiece that will be a huge hit with all of the guests.

Even if mom is watching what she eats, every woman needs to indulge every once in a while, and what better time than at her baby shower?  If you want to win her heart, get a chocolate fountain.  These make incredible centerpieces because not only do they offer warm, flowing chocolate, they are actually very attractive.  You can make the presentation even prettier by arranging strawberries, cherries, pretzels, marshmallows, pineapple, biscotti, cake squares, and other goodies around the fountain.  You can purchase a fountain or rent one.

The centerpiece can set the tone for the baby shower.  Know what the guest of honor likes and you'll make the perfect decision every time.

Related Articles:

1. Personalized Baby Shower Favor Ideas
2. Bottle Themed Baby Shower
3. Baby Showers A-Z

Does a mom-to-be have a little pumpkin on the way? You can celebrate with a Halloween or little pumpkin baby shower. There’s so much color and décor readily available at the Halloween season that all you have to do is bring it in.

First off, have pumpkins galore. You can bring in little pumpkin gourds and set them at everyone’s place or make a cornucopia of pumpkins, gourds, and dried corn. To make it baby-themed, place it all in a baby doll carriage or a toy wooden crib as the centerpiece.

Decorate little pumpkins with baby bonnets. Get a bunch of bonnets either as doll clothes or for real babies. You can find these cheaply at discount stores or thrift stores. Place them on top of pumpkins and decorate with baby faces. You can do this with markers or paint.

Another idea is to send out baby shower invitations that have a pumpkin theme. You can make adorable pumpkins out of orange felt and print out your details on the back using computer paper. You can write the theme, “Help welcome Jane’s little pumpkin” or something like that.

Ask everyone to bring a pumpkin themed food for the little pumpkin-to-be. You can have guests bring pumpkin pie, little pumpkin muffins, or decorated cupcakes that look like pumpkins. If you’d rather handle all the food yourself, ask everyone to bring baby food jars of orange foods like carrots and squash. They’ll look cute all stacked together in a big plastic pumpkin.

You can get as spooky or as cute as you want with this theme. You can go with spiders and witches and ghoulish foods, or you can just use Halloween as a jumping off point for color schemes and ideas.

Go with pumpkin orange and black streamers and table toppers and then decide how funky you want to get with the rest of the décor. You can do a cauldron with punch in it and fun “baby finger” appetizers made of bread dough.

Really, the Halloween theme can be anything you would like it to be. You can create a baby shower towel cake with all orange towels tied with black ribbon. You can burn harvest candles and have cinnamon cider mulling.

For baby shower favors, you could do little scented pumpkin candles, lotions, or soaps. You could also bake each guest a plate of pumpkin muffins or bread.

You can sit around telling “scary” baby stories…like how mom will be up all night, never get a chance to shower, and never be able to just run into the grocery store alone again. Ask seasoned mothers to come up with advice to combat these “terrifying” things. It will be really fun and amusing.

Everyone can also come in costume and that will add to the merriment. If you’re having your shower on Halloween, it’s even more fun. If you want, you can hand out masks or costume hats when guests arrive if you don’t want to ask them to invest in their own costumes. Or ask everyone to dress up as a pregnant woman just for fun. It will add to the levity of the festivities.

Make your Halloween shower a day to remember for the mom-to-be by adding lovely touches she won’t soon be likely to forget.

Want more? Try this article for more Halloween Baby Shower Ideas.

Baby diaper wreaths are so adorable. If you’ve never seen one, you’re in for a lovely surprise. When complete, a baby wreath is a circle of diapers with embellishments such as baby toys and pacifiers that serves as a door hanging or baby shower decoration. The mom can actually take it apart and use the diapers or just leave it up as a fun decoration. They’re so easy to make. Surprise a new mom with one as her next baby shower gift!

First, think about a theme. Then you can collect everything you need based on that theme. Some good ones are rubber duckies, Pooh, Hello Kitty, baby dolls, teddy bears, bunnies, monkeys, zoo animals, Mickey and Minnie, all rattles, trains, cars, puppies, and kittens. Think up your own theme and then plan to get ribbon and toys to coordinate with it. If there are twins coming, why not do two of everything on the wreath? It will look darling.

Here’s what you’ll need to complete one wreath:

• About 20 disposable diapers. You can use cloth diapers but it really is easiest to make this wreath with disposables. The folds in them are easy to maneuver and secure.
• A wire wreath form. You can find them at the craft or hobby store. An 18” frame works best but you can go smaller or larger if you like.
• Ribbon in the color of the baby shower’s theme. Or choose any happy baby friendly color and style. Just make sure the ribbon is sturdy.
• Toys such as rubber duckies, pacifiers, and rattles. You can also use small bottles of baby lotion or powder.
• One bigger toy to serve as the top decoration on the wreath.
• One big bow

To assemble the wreath, clear a space and lay the wreath form down on a table. Take a diaper and place it over the wreath form with the tab sides facing down. Secure it with a small length of ribbon around the middle. Do this for all the rest of the diapers around the form. Every bit of the form should be covered by diapers, so if you find you have gaps add a few more diapers.

Next, add the embellishments. Tie on the toys so that they are evenly spaced around the wreath. Use ribbon to secure them. Add the bow to either the top or the bottom of the wreath. Secure it using either a twist tie or a length of ribbon.

For the final touch, add the large toy. This will be the focal point of the wreath. Secure it to the wreath with ribbon. Stuffed toys and other cute animals look nice to complete the wreath.

The beauty of this gift is that the new mom can really use it. Every time she reaches for one of the diapers, she’ll thank you all over again. New moms go through at least seven or eight diapers a day, so don’t worry if someone else brings a diaper wreath to the shower too. It will definitely be appreciated. To really top it off, bring a baby diaper cake as well!

Diaper wreaths are perfect to bring to the hospital when visiting baby for the first time. They also make nice hanging decorations for the baby shower. Or, the new mom can hang it on her door as a nursery decoration.

Related Articles:

Personalized Baby Shower Favor Ideas

Baby Shower Diaper Cakes - A Gift And Centerpiece All Rolled Into One!

Baby showers have traditionally been exclusively female affairs where moms and expectant moms and girlfriends get to talk about the upcoming event, ask questions, get advice, and ooh and aww over cute baby items.  Today, though, more men are being invited to showers, and why not?  It's great for dads to get involved – and they don't even have to play silly baby shower games or wear curly ribbon corsages.  This is a time to celebrate dad too, and you can do it with a homemade baby shower boutonniere.

There are boutonnieres that you can make for dad that will match the mom's corsage:  the baby sock flower works well here, as does a simple boutonniere made from a single flower, such as a lily.  A single stem with an elegant green leaf very elegant as well.  While in keeping with the baby theme, they are not so girly that he will feel uncomfortable!

For the baby sock boutonniere, you will need:

• A pair of baby socks. White is great, as is pink or blue
• Cloth-covered floral wire
• Green floral tape
• Small artificial flowers (silk is a good choice)
• Hot glue gun
• Large safety pin or diaper pin

Lay the socks perfectly flat and begin rolling firmly from the toe.  When you get to the leg part of the sock, unfurl the top and fold it over the body of the “rose.”  Use a length of your floral wire and bend it in half.  Twist the ends together, while leaving the closed end in a U shape.  Push the closed end into the socks.  With floral tape, wrap the steam and the bottom third of the sock rose.  Arrange the artificial flowers around the rose and hot glue the boutonniere onto a safety or diaper pin.

If you have a baby shower theme – such as garden, teddy bears, zoo animals, or something of the like – you can find a simple pin for dad that matches the theme.  Wearing a cute elephant or bumblebee pin isn't so bad!  And he can pin it on the diaper bag when the shower is over.

You can find sites that make lapel ribbons (such as those that are worn by those supporting a particular cause).  You can find these in baby blue, pink, mint green, lilac, and other baby colors, and you can choose to have them printed.  You can write the date of the shower, the parents' names, and/or the baby's name or a cute message for the family.  Men can wear these on their lapels or pockets, and it gives them a nice – and not too feminine – reminder of his child's shower.  These typically cost less than $1 each and will also make nice favors for the guests.

Another idea is to find a large safety pin or diaper pink and affix a ribbon to it – similar to those that children win at science fairs and the link. Write “Dad” or a cute saying on the ribbon with a gold fabric pen, and pin it on dad. It is completely simple – so simple, he won't mind a bit.  Another idea is to make or buy a miniature fabric tie and hot glue it to a safety pin. Use blue fabric for a boy and pink for a girl.  Again, you could use a fabric pen to write “Daddy.”

You could also help dad embrace the silly fun that is a baby shower.  Get him a “manly” baby toy that is designed to hang on a car seat or stroller.  Infantino's Dice, Dice Baby includes two fuzzy, multi-colored, multi-textural dice tied to a loop.  You can simply slip a safety pin through the loop and pin to dad's shirt.  The baby can use them, and who doesn't like fuzzy dice?

Many men still feel like they are invading when it comes to baby showers, so go easy on them.  If they aren't up to a ribbon and rattle boutonniere, be kind and give them a simple ribbon printed with their child's name on it or a cute lion button.  If they're willing, though, go all out and get out the curling ribbon and your imagination.

More Baby Shower Ideas:

• How To Plan A Co-ed or Couples Baby Shower
• Personalized Baby Shower Favor Ideas
• Baby Shower Theme Ideas