Baby Shower Basics

So you have a friend who is expecting a bouncing baby bundle of joy?  Well here is some basic information to help get you started planning a fun celebration in their honor.

Who should host the baby shower?
Anyone that would like to can host a baby shower for the new baby, although it is generally not the mother or father throwing it for themselves.  Multiple showers are great, but please stress to anyone that is invited to more than one shower that their presence is welcome but a second gift is NOT expected.  Sometimes different groups of people in your life want to celebrate with you, and if they aren't all close to each other, only one shower just won't do.  

When should a shower take place?
The best time frame to throw a celebration like this is 1-2 months before the actual due date.  You don't want to wait too long because sometimes those little ones are anxious to come out before they are expected to!!  Another option is to have a "Welcome Baby" shower a few weeks after the child has been born.  This is a wonderful way to introduce your friends and family to the baby all at once.  

Do you only throw a shower for the firstborn?
 OF COURSE NOT!!  Every child is special, so it's perfectly acceptable (and should be encouraged) to celebrate each one.

If the siblings are close in age, the parents probably still have most of the older child's baby stuff.  If they really need nothing at all, let guests know to not bring gifts, or ask for donations for a charity to be donated in the baby's or family's name.  Or, how about a diaper shower?  Those are something that don't get handed down.  (Unless you are into cloth diapers.  I applaud that, but I wasn't quite that ambitious myself.)  You get to celebrate the new arrival with the people you care about, plus get to skip a lot of those late night diaper runs to the 24-hour store. 

What is expected of the host?
Mom (and maybe Dad) are to be treated as guests at this shower.  Do your best to make them just sit back and enjoy it.  You will be in charge of invitations (make sure to have the parents approve the list), planning the decorations, food, & activities, keeping track of who gives which gift for thank you note purposes, and cleaning up afterwards.  Make sure you greet each guest as they arrive and have a timeline planned out beforehand to keep the party flowing smoothly.  

If these things are not your strong suit, there are event planners out there (like, say, ME!!) that LOVE doing these type of events and have plenty of experience to make everything seem simple.     

Basic baby shower info covered.  I hope it was helpful.  Someday soon I will try to squeeze in a blog full of the fun stuff like games, decor, food...    

Animal Print Baby Shower

A fashionable baby girl deserves a very chic animal print shower!!  This particular baby shower was a co-ed celebration.  We picked a sports bar/restaurant with an upstairs party room so that the ladies could do the "girly" stuff, and the guys could play pool, video games, and poker, all while watching the ball game.  Everybody's happy!!

The gift table was covered with a zebra-print rug.  Glittery pink letters spelled out baby's name.  There was a huge mug for "Big Dad Cory" and a pretty tiara for Mommy Connie.

The guys' tables were set up with baby girl playing cards from Oriental Trading Company and pink cash and coins from Dollar Junction for poker playing.  Bubble gum or chocolate cigars make great favors for the fellas.

Upstairs the tables had floating safari duckies.  One table had a fountain in the center, which was a perfect place for these little guys to swim!!  The children at the party got to pick a "duckie" to take home with them.

I made these adorable baby bracelet wine glass charms for the ladies.  Here is a link to my tutorial blog:

http://eventsdee-signed.blogspot.com/2011/03/baby-shower-wine-glass-charms.html

The girls had their own games while the boys played downstairs.  Each received a book with a few baby games to fill out while we ate.  The pencils were personalized with baby Josie's full name and birth year. These cute animal print bags were filled with prizes for the game winners.  More "active" games were also played.  This super-cute corsage was one of the prizes.

After about an hour, we joined the boys downstairs to play onesie basketball, guys vs. gals.  

It got very loud and competitive, and sooooooo much fun!!  

                         

Cake was served while Mom and Dad opened gifts.  Personalized candy bars and little bags of animal crackers were passed out as favors.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words...

Wordless Wednesday !!

Baby Shower Wine Glass Charms

I believe a party always looks a little fancier if you can use real glassware.  At a recent baby shower, we had access to wine glasses, but only a limited number.  There would be no time during the party to re-wash them if we ran out or if people laid down their glass and forgot which was theirs.  


These adorable wine glass charms were my solution to this problem.

I lucked out finding the baby bracelet favors at a Dollar Tree store, and they already had the break in them for placing around the glass stem.  Next I needed to something for the name tags that wouldn't run if the drinks dripped. 

I wrote on the foam sheets with permanent marker, dripped water on them, and while not completely waterproof, it did take a LOT of water and rubbing with my finger before they even started to smudge.  Yay!!

At first, I just planned to outline the foam, but I accidentally colored too much, and it kind of resembled a bottle!!  This was a baby shower, so, cool.  Some of the best ideas start out as a mistake.

Next, using a dab of my trusty Quick Dry Tacky Glue on the back of the bracelet, I attached the foam. After writing the guest's name on the blank space, it's all done!!