Anyone ever done a scrapbooking baby shower?

[Wendy]

I'm considering doing this for a friend and was wondering if anyone had tried this before. My CM consultant was telling me about it. Basically, she comes out to the shower with all her supplies and all the guests each make a page to go in the baby's scrapbook. I'm seeing this as taking the place of cheezy baby shower games. That way, once the baby comes, all she would have to do is plop the pictures into the pages.

My friend that I'm having the shower for loves to scrapbook but doesn't have a lot of time to do it. She's so far behind, so I'm thinking this would be great for her to have a big portion of her baby album done ahead of time.

A couple of problems I see with it, though. Obviously, the pictures have not been taken yet. How hard is it going to be to make pages without pictures? I'm envisioning pages for the moments right after birth, pictures of the OB holding the baby, first bath, baby meets the dog, baby with grandparents, etc. Do ya'll think this is doable without the pictures being taken yet?

My second concern is I don't want the guests to come to the shower and feel they're there on a shopping trip and have to buy CM products. The way it works, is if people buy things then the person the shower is for gets hostess credit. But, I think it would be kind of tacky to invite someone to a baby shower, expect them to bring a gift, and them have the feel obligated to buy something from the CM consultant.

So, any thoughts? Anyone ever tried this? What do you think would work or not work? Thanks!!! I need all the input I can get!

 

[grover]

OMG- We just had a similar discussion at work yesterday! A co-worker was invited to a wedding shower / pampered chef party. The idea was that the bride wanted pampered chef products however she felt the way they pulled it off it was tacky as the hostess was pushing the stuff so she felt that she had to buy her friend a gift and buy herself stuff so the host would her bonus or whatever so it cost her twice as much. She felt it would have been better if the hostess was not pushy and if eveyone ordered their stuff and the brides gift in private so there would be no pressure to spend a certain amount. I personally think a scrapping bridal shower would be great but how about without a cm?? One idea might be to collect 5 or 10 dollars from each guest and go purchase the supplies yourself to make a page and with any $$ left over you could buy her extra supplies to work with. You could have each guest do a "my wish for the baby" page where they write something nice and sentimental for or about mom and the baby. I think people will have more fun without the pressure or expectation that they buy stuff! Some people may also want to just give the traditional gift and they may like to have that option
Just my opinion!
Grover

 

[Spinning]

This must be the new thing. We were talking about it too. Our CM consultant did it for an anniversary party and for a shower. The way she did it didn't sound bad or pushy but I wasn't there. For the baby shower All of it was done way before the the guest of honor arrived and then the CMC left. The anniversary all the guest got a number and a time to be at the station to make the page. I didn't pick up on the pressure to buy anything else. I figured she charged a fee and then kept track of what was used to create the pages.
If I were doing it I would have the baby book made by the closest of friends. And would probably talk to everyone before hand to make sure all were interested in doing it. Then with the Mom to be's best friends put it together with the Consultant basically have a seperate shower.Or just have a CM party with this as the outcome, a book for the bride, mom to be etc.. I know that is more work but it would take the pressure off of people who don't scrap or even what to scrap the stuff.
But wow what a wonderful book to have! Just add photos!

 

[bananiem]

I think a lot of it depends on the mother and how she scraps, if she does. I could see if I had gotten one when my kids were babies I wouldn't have DARED cut a photo!! But she might also be one of those ultra picky "I have my way of doing it and it's the only way" (like that lady Spinning encountered. )
I have done this for my SIL. A friend had all the out of state people make a 2 page spread and then she put it together. I did a very generic one with the baby's name across the top on pretty paper. Some people did ones for first zoo trip, the farm, etc. Come to think of it I think I did one for Meeting the Cousins too.
Like I said, I think it can be a great gift for the right Mom.

 

[JCarangal]

I have 2 similar situations ...

First, as my gift to my sil's baby shower I made her a book for her twin girls. The first 2-4 pages were just generic pink pages. The rest of the book was "calendar" pages. The right side was a calendar set up for each month (I started with November since that is when the girls were due). On the left side were 4 photo mats. Both pages were embellished to coordinate according to the season. My sil didn't scrap, so I tried to make it real easy on her. The calendar was set up so she could add notes (weight, first words, etc.) The photo mats were all cut to 4.5x6.5 so she could add her 4x6 photos without cropping. It was a big hit.

Secondly, as a suprise bridal shower for my sister tomorrow, my girlfriends and I each made a layout for her bridal book (first dance, toast, cake cutting, longest married couple dance, etc.). We are going to surprise her tomorrow with the completed layouts and a basket of scrapping goodies. Then, the whole group of us are going to scrap together.

I agree with everyone else, it can be done in a non-pushy way. I think it is a great idea (and a personal idea that is from the heart).

Good luck!
JenC

 

[Wendy]

Thanks guys! Y'all all have some great ideas. Grover, I think I may just take your idea about buying the supplies myself and doing it without the CM consultant there. I already have the whole CM cutting system, tons of paper, adhesive, pens, stencils, you name it. Really, the only things I'd need to buy would be the album, some baby stickers and die cuts, and some cute baby paper. I think that's doable!

The girl I'm having the shower for is my best friend from wayyyy back. She's actually flying in from another state where she lives now, but she grew up here. None of her family will be here except her twin sister. She has stayed in very close contact with many of her friends from TX. Most all of us scrapbook, so that won't be a problem. Actually, the only ones that don't scrapbook that will be at the shower will be my mil and my sister and they'll just have to deal with it. LOL!

She's not usually real picky about the way she scraps, just happy to get something done. That's why I'm thinking this might be a good idea for her shower. I think between her sister and me we could get a pretty good album put together for her.

Any other thoughts?

 

[bananiem]

I think it sounds like you have a great plan in the works! Let us know how the Mom-to-be likes it.
I also remembered that my SIL asked everybody to sign the pages they did, just in the corner, not taking up a lot of space but years from now Lainey will know who did those pages for her. I think that's a good idea to add.

 

[Spinning]

Sounds like a plan. I do know CM have a beautiful baby book, if I was caught up with all my other stuff I would do my children's baby pics in it....but I am dreaming because I will never catch up!
Let us know how it turns out! I think it is a great idea!

 

[dizfamily]

I'm a CMC and haven't done a baby shower *yet* but have thought about how I would do it. And here's my idea. I'd have a sentiments album and snap pack that the guests could put together at the shower and then the album would be given to the mom-to-be. This could be the gift from the hostess. Then I would also do a "wish list" from the mom-to-be ahead of time. The hostess could put on the invitation that she is "registered with Jane Doe, CMC, and also at Babies R Us" (or wherever). Then there would be no sales pitch at all involved at the actual shower. And guests could get CM products that the mom-to-be has "registered" for in advance as a gift or a gift elsewhere, whichever they choose.