Parenting & New Baby Advice Blog

Posts Tagged ‘baby shower crafts’

Here’s an idea you can use whether you want to create a personalized baby gift to give at a baby shower or if you want to include a fun craft-making session as part of a baby shower. You can decorate onesies. Onesies are those cute little baby bodysuits that snap at the bottom. You can find them at any discount store.

What you’ll need to create a decorative and personalized onesie is the following:

• A package of soft onesies (found at discount stores in the baby section)
• Fabric markers (found at craft stores)
• Iron on paper (found at craft or office supply stores)
• Baby designs (find clip art online)
• Scissors
• Pressing cloth or towel
• Computer and printer
• Iron

If you’re going to include this craft session as part of a baby shower, set up a station and include all the materials already prepared so your guests can get right to the fun.

Before the shower, find clip art of baby-themed designs or cartoons online. Type in “baby clip art” and you’ll find a number of free designs pop up. You can choose from rocking horses, bottles, pacifiers, teddy bears and more. If you know the theme the mom to be has chosen for her nursery, try to find designs that relate to it. If she’s going with an ocean theme, you could do starfish or boats or seashells.

You’re going to want to cut and paste the designs into a Word document on your computer. Simply right click on the design to save it onto your computer. Then paste it into your document. If you’re challenged on the computer, ask a tech savvy friend to help out. Chances are they’ll know how to do this easily. Once you’ve arranged all your designs in a Word document, you’re going to print them on Iron-On paper.

Insert the Iron-On paper into your computer. Be sure you face it the correct way according to the manufacturer’s directions inside the package. You should try a test run before you use the actual paper to make sure everything is aligned the way you want it. Go ahead and print your designs onto the Iron-On paper.

Cut out the individual designs and arrange them on your craft table where the guests will be making the onesie baby gifts. You’ll also want to place the fabric markers, iron, and other supplies there.

When guests arrive, you can let them help themselves to the supplies to make a onesie of their choice. All the guest have to do is iron the decal onto the onesie. (Protect the table surface with a towel or pressing cloth.) Then guests can write with fabric markers either the baby’s name or “with love from Gramma.”

Note that sequins, beads and other tiny objects should not be used as they can come loose and baby could swallow them. Also, do not use 3D puff paint for this project as it tends to dry scratchy and may not be the best surface for baby to cuddle up against.

Guests will love joining in on this project and the resulting onesies will be a delight for the mom to be.

If you are doing this project as a gift for a baby shower you will be attending, you can roll your finished onesies into a bouquet and tie them together with string. Present them as a bouquet with your gift card.

What exactly is this thing called a diaper cake that everyone’s been talking about? It’s actually a very cute idea for a baby shower centerpiece or gift for the expectant mom at her baby shower. It’s a tiered “cake” made entirely out of rolled diapers. You can add as many tiers as you like to make it the center of attention or as few as you like to make it a simple gift. It’s great to bring to the hospital when you first meet the new baby or to give whenever a new baby is born. Here’s how to do it.

To start off you’ll need one large bottle of baby shampoo or lotion. This will be the base for your cake. You’ll need another small one, about 4oz. for the top tier. Then, you’ll need about sixty diapers for a standard three-tiered cake. You can choose to use either cloth diapers or disposables. Check with the new mom to see what she’s planning on using if you can. Select ribbon for the outsides of the cake that matches the shower décor. Gather up enough rubber bands to tie each diaper. Then, you’ll need some small baby supplies like travel sized powder, lotion, tiny thermometer, etc. These are for the outside to decorate the cake.

First, plan to arrange the cake on some sort of platter or disposable cake plate. Clear your area and start rolling up diapers. It’s easiest to do with disposable diapers because they’re already half folded. But if you are using cloth, just fold the diaper in half and then in half again and start to roll. Secure with a rubber band. Continue on for all sixty diapers.

To assemble, place the large bottle of shampoo or lotion in the center of the cake plate. Start adding the rolled diapers until you have on circle of diapers around the bottle. Secure the tier with wide ribbon tightly. Now, add the next tier. Do the same thing around the top of the bottle. Encircle it with the rolled diapers and secure with wide ribbon. For the third tier, place the small bottle of shampoo on top of the second tier. Use the rest of the diapers to create a small tip tier. Tie tightly with ribbon.

Use the extra supplies you have purchased to make a cute topper. A rubber ducky works well. Add the rest of the supplies by tying with ribbon onto the cake all around it. You can omit this last step if you like your cake the way it is. You can also sprinkle on baby-themed confetti that comes in the shape of ducks and baby bottles. You can find it at a craft store.

That’s it! Your cake is set to go. Present it to the hostess  and she may want to use it as a baby shower centerpiece. Or, just put it alongside the other gifts on the gift table. New moms love the gift of a diaper cake because as they disassemble it, they can use the diapers every day. It’s a gift that keeps on giving. Vary the sizes of the diapers if you like as moms tend to get more newborn diapers at their baby showers and then have to run out to the store as baby grows for the larger sizes.