Any Unique Baby Shower Ideas?

[disney0210]

We are hosting a baby shower for our friend and would love any suggestions! Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[The_Princess's_Mommy]

Ok, this may sound gross, but hear me out. We did this for my best friend's shower, and it was a HUGE hit.

What you need: 5 different flavored candy bars, 5 diapers, and a microwave. Melt each bar separately in the microwave, and dump the melted bar into a diaper. You can do this in advance.

Then at the party, pass around the "poopy" diapers, and have each guest try to guess what kind of candy bar is in each. They look really gross, but it is soooo fun! Just make sure you don't have guests who are easily grossed out

 

[anewmac]

Are you looking for games, themes cakes??? what exactly LOL

I have a cute decorating/game. You take baby clothes and string them up on a clothes as guest walk into the party area. Once everyone is in you take it down then they have to remember what up there. So here they were thinking it was decoration and it ends up a game.

 

[Stacerita]

For a theme you can do a "coffee house" type of theme. Lots of desserts and coffee/tea and such. Very relaxed and mellow.

 

[missjessicaanne]

target. good deals.

 

[Princess Tink]

I did a 'tropical' theme for my bff a couple years ago. I wish I had pictures to share, but one of our other friends took the pictures then accidentally cleared her memory card. We had clear glasses with hibiscus (sp?) flowers, then had a bakery make the cake with the the same hibiscus flowers on the cake. We purchased a blow up palm tree, little 'wooden' looking tiki bowls, and tiki confetti from Party America. It was a blast. She used the decoration in her baby's room after the party was over. His room was decorated 'tropical like', with the bedding from Pottery Barn kids. It was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

 

[TwoGirlsandDisney]

We did a cute game that is perfect for outdoors. We took those little dixie cups and filled them like 3/4 with water and stuck one of those plastic babies you get at the craft stores into the cup and then froze them solid. Each guest gets one, and the first person to break the baby out of the ice wins. We called it "break your water". It was fun on a hot day.

We also cover the label on baby food jars and ask the guests/team to identify each one. We leave out the meat ones, and some yucky veggies.

It is also a great idea to ask each guest to bring a frozen meal. That way after the baby is born at least meals will be taken care of.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Games at any kind of shower makes me twitch...I hate them. I know, some people love 'em, but I avoid them at all costs! LOL

Anyway, for my sister we did a small family and friends shower at my house. The theme was sun, moon, stars. We didn't know if it was a boy or girl. I used this saying 'Sun and moon and stars above...shower good wishes to baby with love' on the cake. Made favors with an adorable tag tied onto a star shaped cookie cutter. We just did standard afternoon girls party fare; shrimp cocktail, spinach dip, veggies, cheese and crackers...that sort of thing and then cake and coffee.

For mine we knew I was having a boy and the whole thing was themed about tiny little baby feet, blue of course! It was adorable!

 

[littlelulu33]

For mine they included a poem in the invite that was really cute about bring a book instead of a card. I still have the poem if you need it.

 

[DawnAK]

My mom and best friend threw a lovely baby shower for me. Since I am a bit of an older first time mom (35), we didn't want any games that would make any of our guest have to do anything whacky like drink from a baby bottle, eat baby food, etc. I could just picture my 80yr old grandma drinking from a baby bottle! LOL. And, I preferred not to have melted candy bar poop in diapers being circulated (my one request at my shower) among guests.

The games my hostesses came up with were simple but still fun. One was to show a tray full of baby items for about a minute or so. Then cover up the tray and see who could remember the most items on the tray. This is an inexpensive game since you can use baby items that you may already have or borrow them from a friend. Or, you can buy them new and give them to the mommy to be as a gift.

Another game played was Price is Right (baby style). Hostess purchased 4-5 baby items of different prices, showed each item and had guests right down what they thought the price was...closest without going over of the most items won. Again, not too pricey of a game. You will want to keep the receipt to reference the prices, then you can always return the items to the store (is that bad??). Among items we had were baby tylenol, baby thermometer, jar of baby food...can't remember others.

Final game played was baby BINGO. I thought this was a good idea to keep guests entertained and active during gift opening. I had a rather large group of women and many gifts to open. Here is how you play: Make a grid with the same amount of squares as a Bingo card. Hand one to each guest, before gifts are opened have the guest fill in the squares with items she thinks may be received as gifts (booties, socks, lotions, sleeper, car seat, etc). Of course, they get a "freebie" knowing what they brought! As the momma to be opens her gifts they cover that square...first one with a bingo wins. (be sure to have a couple small prizes in case of a tie).

And, finally...my favorite useful idea as the mommy to be...
My hostesses made a beautful gift basket as a drawing prize. On the back of the invitations they made a note that there would be a drawing and in order to enter the guest could bring either a package of wipes or diapers. For each package brought they could enter their name in the drawing for a gift basket. I have to say...I ended up with so many diapers and wipes, it filled up two laundry baskets! I didn't buy diapers for 3 months or wipes for the first year!! Of course, I ended up exchanging some of the brands for the brand we chose, but it was also a great way to test out different brands to see which we preferred.

Hope some of these ideas are useful to you. I loves my shower and the ideas my hostesses came up with. We did a Sunday brunch with quiche, fruit tarts, smoked salmon, punch, etc.

good luck with your shower!

Dawn

 

[Mom of three]

Here are a couple off the top of my head from experience:

Get a couple packages of onsies and some puffy paint. Have each guest decorate one for the new baby and then string them on a clothes line to dry. Have the Mom to be pick out her favorite...that person wins a prize.

As guests arrive, have them fill out a card with either a tip on being a new mommy/best memory together/well wishes, then take a picture with each guest and the new Mommy. Put together a scrap book (if your into that) or have each guest put together a scrapbook page to include their card and photo.

I too, loathe baby shower/bridal shower games.

 

[jls886]

A sorority sister of mine just had a baby shower. The sorority sisters attending decided we were all going to give Harper, the baby, one of our favorite baby/childrens books and write her a little note on the inside cover. Then, when she is older, she can read our notes. I gave her "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and just told her I hoped she has as much fun reading it as I did. I know Johanna, the mom, thought it was really special to get all of the books from her friends.

 

[FarmDisney]

We did this game at my sister-in-law's baby shower. We strung up two clothes lines. We had a basket full of little baby clothes - onesies, socks, little outfits, and a blanket. Each "contestant" had to hold a baby doll in one arm, "talk" on a telephone (we used little play phones) and hang up the laundry. The first one done won a prize. It was a huge hit! And of course, all the little baby clothes went to the new momma.

My cousin and I were big fans of mad libs when we were kids. At her shower, I made up a mad lib about her preganancy and delivery. It was hilarious.

Have fun!

 

[Bren's Mom]

That clothesline game sounds cute, even though I'm not normally a game liker! LOL

And these plates, etc would go great with that...I think they're adorable!

http://www.parties4kids.com/birthdaypartysupplies/BC005-BABY_BABYCLOTHES.html

And if there aren't a huge # of people being invited, and you were a little crafty, you could get cheap onesies and write the shower info on it with fabric pen or paint pen and then roll them up and mail the onesies.

 

[alyssa810]

At my shower, we did the "candy in the diaper" game, which was funny, but you need the "right" crowd to appreciate it. We also played a celebrity baby name where you needed to match up the celebrity with their baby's name. We also did a "family feud" type game where I had to come up with 5 things I was bringing to the hospital, and my guest had to match my picks.

At my best friend's shower this spring we did the shower bingo but instead of putting in possible gifts in the bingo squares, we had to put in things we thought the mom-to-be would say "Thanks!" or "that's so cute" etc.

I received a lovely scrapbook where my guests all gave me tips; at my friend's, her step mom (who's a stampin' up gal) made a book and we all wrote messages to the baby.

I also received 2 awesome diaper cakes, which were probably the greatest gifts of all. I was so inspired (corny but true) by them that when my two best friends were pregnant this year, I made them each a cake...of course I went totally overboard on them and they definitely weren't budget-minded but I tried to put things on them that I found most useful...

As a twist in the baby pool, instead of picking the day the baby would be born, we picked a time, 1-2pm, 2-3pm etc...I think the guests threw in $2 each. I was so excited because I thought I had won once she was born, but I was off by an hour and her stepmom won.

 

[Bildmouse]

Just went to a shower on Sunday. For the punch they used white cranberry juice and sprite and added blue food coloring. Then there were little rubber duckies floating in the bowl.

 

[Corryn]

Hi!
For my sister's shower, I didn't know what to do as far as theme went. Everything was so typical and boring. I settled on Yellow Rubber Duckies which sounds boring, but it was very, very hard to find anything that was exclusively Yellow Rubber Duckie. I don't know about now - the prevelance of Yellow Rubber Duckies - but it was a very neutral theme, yellow, blue and green.
I purchased small silver "tubs" from Michaels and painted rubber duckies on the side. When I got to the party, I placed water inside the tub, added blue food coloring to it, and placed a few rubber duckies in the tub along with pea sized styrofoam balls to look like soap bubbles. What I should have done for a little contest was to label the underside of one of the duckies and whoever chose that duckie got a little prize.

For shower favors I purchased Yellow Rubber Duckie bath scrunchies and I placed them at each seat on the table. The cake was decorated with rubber duckies, the tables were draped in yellow cloth. We had the typical clothes line, we decorated the big chair with yellow tulle, and since I love Rubber Duckies (I think it has to do with Ernie on Seseme Street) I have a few Rubber Duckie collectables that I placed on one of the tables with the cake, etc.

Another little thing I did: I took a picture of my sister when she was about a year old and a picture of her husband at the same age. I blew Just The Face up to life-size and printed them out on card stock. I cut out around the face and cut holes in the eyes and attached them to tongue depressors.
When the guests arrived I asked which side of the family they were related to and based on their response, I gave them the appropriate "mask".
Before my sister and her husband walked in, everyone held their Baby Natalie or Baby Chris mask up to their face. When they finally walked in, all they could see was a sea of their own faces staring back at them. My other sister thought it was creepy, but my baby sister, the one for whom the party was thrown, thought it was the coolest idea! After a minute, everyone pulled their masks down to reveal their smiling faces.

Good luck with your party and post pictures!

 

[lindsmom]

Parents magazine online had a bunch of ideas:

http://www.parents.com/fun/baby-showers/games-gifts/

I'm not a game person myself, but some of them sounded not too painful

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

A sorority sister of mine just had a baby shower. The sorority sisters attending decided we were all going to give Harper, the baby, one of our favorite baby/childrens books and write her a little note on the inside cover. Then, when she is older, she can read our notes. I gave her "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and just told her I hoped she has as much fun reading it as I did. I know Johanna, the mom, thought it was really special to get all of the books from her friends.

I always tell people this idea as well. To have every guest bring their favorite childhood book or one they read to their children with a message. For first time moms, it helps them to start with so many books as it is so important to read to little ones.

 

[a1tinkfans]

A sorority sister of mine just had a baby shower. The sorority sisters attending decided we were all going to give Harper, the baby, one of our favorite baby/childrens books and write her a little note on the inside cover. Then, when she is older, she can read our notes. I gave her "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and just told her I hoped she has as much fun reading it as I did. I know Johanna, the mom, thought it was really special to get all of the books from her friends.

I LOVE this idea!!!!
What a great way to start a library for a child! Better yet, develop a love for reading!!!