In just a few short weeks I'm going to have a niece or nephew and my little miss is going to have her very first cousin! We are beyond excited for the newest member of our extended family to arrive. I assisted hosting a lovely low key 'high tea' for my sister-in-law at the Stamford Grand Glenelg here in SA (click
here for a link to the High Tea menu - if you're an Adelaidian I highly recommend it as a special treat!)
Here's a list of a few ideas to inspire anyone planning a baby shower for a loved one. Our theme was gender neutral with polka dots!
1. Invitations
I LOVE love love
Vistaprint for all things invitations, birth announcements, thank you cards, Christmas cards... If you haven't heard of them check it out!
Etsy is another good resource for personalised invitations and stationery. Often an Etsy seller will email you an electronic invitation and you print them yourself. It can be a cheaper way to go than Vistaprint.
2. Book Instead of a Card
A popular idea at the moment is to request that guests bring a book instead of a card to baby showers (there really would only be a few dollars price difference and a book can be kept and treasured much longer than a card). And of course it's a great way to set up your own little library and plant the seed for a future love of reading. There are various little poems that you can include in your invitation to politely express this request. Here's a few ideas (did not write these myself so not taking any credit- all found on
Pinterest).
One small request that won't be too hard,
Please bring a book instead of a card.
Old or brand new is just fine
The inside cover is a perfect place to sign.
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One small request that won't be too hard,
Please bring a book instead of a card.
Whether 'Cat in the Hat' or 'Old Mother Hubbard',
Please write a note inside the cover
Your book will be treasured,
Be it pre-loved or brand new
And each time (baby) reads it,
He/she'll be reminded of you
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One small thing we'd like to request,
Please bring a book for (baby), one you like best.
We're starting a library, so books we'll be needing
Lets get (baby) on a journey of reading.
A book that you love should be the one that you choose
Please write inside a message from you
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You get the idea!
3. Gifts for Guests
Just like at a wedding, I think it's lovely to come away with something after a special event. At my baby shower my friends and family received macarons in little noodle boxes. For my sister-in-law, I bought the smallest baby bottles I could find, filled them with mini M&Ms and attached a name tag (these doubled as place settings for the table). A pretty standard game at baby showers is "Guess the lollies in the baby bottle" and my original idea was for guests to guess how many M&Ms were in their own baby bottles but this would have been too time consuming for me! So we just guessed the mother-to-be's bottle.
My sister-in-law also made DIY bake your own cookies in a jar. The idea is that you fill a jar with the dry ingredients needed to bake a batch of cookies and attach a cute little recipe card.
It really depends on the number of guests you are having as to which types of gifts will be appropriate and affordable. It's also nice to have prizes for winners of the games, and extra practical things for the mother-to-be (nappies, wipes, bibs etc).
4. Quizzes and Games
Quizzes are quite popular for hens nights, but they're a nice little idea for baby showers also. There's several ways to go here... (I had a great time coming up with these little rhymes for each game)
- How well do you know the mother-to-be?
- Mum or Dad? (guess whether the statement is true for the mum or the dad eg Who's middle name begins with J?)
- Nursery Rhyme Quiz (see below)
We also asked the mother-to-be to "Guess the baby photo". All you need to do is inform guests that they need to bring a baby photo of themselves. We simply used blu tack to stick them all to poster paper (the small numbers in circles below labelled each photo). Be sure to remember to nominate someone to record the answers as people arrive and hand in their photo.
5. Guess the date, weight, gender etc...
I did the guess the gender a little differently for my sister-in-law. One idea was for guests to wear pink or blue clothing to show their prediction, but I chose an easier 'peg' option so the people simply attached a blue or pink peg to their outfit. The mother-to-be had a photo with all the pinks and then all the blues!
6. Something Sentimental
It worked out perfectly at the recent baby shower I hosted that there were 12 guests, and obviously 12 months in a year. So a special little idea I came up with was for each guest to write a message for the mother-to-be to open each month of her baby's first year.
Another idea I've seen is for guests to write a humorous message on a nappy for mother/father-to-be to read during late night nappy changes!
If you'd like any of these document files emailed to you - feel free to comment with your email address below and I'll gladly share them.
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I've also hosted a "Baby Sprinkle" for a friend who's having her second bub - I love the idea of a "Baby Sprinkle" because it's nice to still celebrate the upcoming arrival of a new little person, but after one baby you usually have most of the things you'll need. Hence we 'sprinkle' with little gifts, rather than going over the top with another 'shower'. I've blogged about it too!
Another important upcoming celebration is my little one's first birthday! 1 week to go and I'll have a one-year-old!
Stay tuned!
Lauren
