baby shower on a budget?

[pixiewings71]

So, I'm throwing a baby shower for my DD20 and I was wondering what kind of ideas everyone has. I've done a few things, I bought bottles and bubble bath at the 99 cent store and filled those but I'm looking for other ideas. Food ideas, decorating ideas? Games we will play the baby food game, the memory game, the bingo game and I'm making up one of my own using names but I'd love any other thoughts anyone might have. And yes, it's definitely budget minded! LOL
TIA!!

 

[*pixie*dust*]

If you are having a full meal consider lasagna or baked ziti, crusty bread and a big salad. A great budget meal!
If not then just do cake, punch and a few little snacks like mints and nuts, pretzels, etc.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

Estimating the measurement of the mommy's belly with toliet paper or ribbon. Whoever is the closest, wins.

For food, you can see if anyone is willing to bring anything. Taco dips, cold cut platters, pasta salad, potato chips, and pasta such as ziti are pretty popular and easy.

 

[Kae]

We always do Brunch type showers I think it is cheaper- fruit, mini muffins or regular size if you don't have a mini pan, egg cassarole, tater tots or crispy crowns.

Kae

 

[pixiewings71]

Thanks everyone. I've got a few friends helping with food, they are bringing some dips and desserts so I am almost set there. The TP game, we were going to do that but my DD is 14 weeks so it's kind of pointless. LOL She is moving 10 hrs away next month so I wanted to have a shower for her before she leaves, otherwise we would be waiting. I like the pasta dish idea, I may be doing that!
Thank You all.

 

[prncess674]

So, I'm throwing a baby shower for my DD20 and I was wondering what kind of ideas everyone has. I've done a few things, I bought bottles and bubble bath at the 99 cent store and filled those but I'm looking for other ideas. Food ideas, decorating ideas? Games we will play the baby food game, the memory game, the bingo game and I'm making up one of my own using names but I'd love any other thoughts anyone might have. And yes, it's definitely budget minded! LOL
TIA!!

My best budget idea is to follow Emily Post and not be crass as the future grandmother hosting the shower by hosting a shower at all. In the south it is considered in VERY poor taste for the grandmother to host the baby shower. If you do decide to continue to host the shower I would honestly wait till the 3rd trimester, much unfortunately can happen in that time frame.

 

[ktcov]

Brunch type showers are great for budgets. My bridal shower was a brunch with muffins, fruits, quiche and a light salad. It got rave reviews! Plus my MOH said it was super easy to throw together, as most things she could do the day before.

As for games, one staple in my family is having everyone fill out their own names & addresses on the thank you card envelopes. Have the guest of honor draw one for a door prize. This isnt my favorite (I'm not a game person anyway)...but it is one we do at every shower. Plus it helps the guest of honor get a head start on those Thank You cards.

As far as Etiquette is concerned, I live in the south & it is extremely common for family members to give showers (yes even the future grandmother). I was invited to one just this past weekend given by a future grandmother. In fact my mother, step-mother & aunt hosted my own baby shower just 3 weeks ago. Plus I think it is wonderful that you want to throw one for her before she leaves. The likelyhood of anything "happening" after 12 weeks drastically declines. I wish mine had been a few weeks earlier. Travelling 12 hours at 30 weeks pregnant was not fun...and extremely exhausting.

Just a word of advice from an 8 month pregnant soon to be new mom. When speaking of your budget around the guest of honor please do not use the word "cheap" or "cheaper". My MIL offered to give my baby shower but kept saying how she didnt want to do much with food or games because she wanted to keep things "cheap". While I actually agree that keeping things simple can actually be more enjoyable for mom-to-be...being referred to as cheap makes me feel like that is what my baby is thought of. Call it hormones...I may be a little over-sensitive.

Good luck with the shower & CONGRATS Grandma!!!

 

[prncess674]

As far as Etiquette is concerned, I live in the south & it is extremely common for family members to give showers (yes even the future grandmother).

Just because it is common still doesn't excuse good etiquitte. Trust me, even if your shower was in the deep south, people even at your shower talked if it was hosted by your mother/grandmother.

 

[torinsmom]

Gosh, almost every baby shower I have ever attended was hosted by the mom to be's mother, the dad to be's mother, an aunt or a sister. I am born and raised in NC, and have never, ever heard that. And to tell you the truth, if people were talking about it being crass, I could really care less as they would not be true friends anyway. JMHO. Actually, I think it's crass to worry about who is hosting the shower. It's about the expectant mom and new baby, at least it is to me.

Anyway, one inexpensive thing is to have the guests unscramble a list of babyrelated words. Whoever wins gets a prize. I have also seen "Finish the nursery rhyme" games. It is amazing how many people don't know the old nursery rhymes!

Marsha

 

[HelenePA]

My mom hosted mine and I can assure you no one has talked about it... she's not around now and I miss her and I wish she were here to see her new grandson... anyway...

One thing you can do is put on the invite bring a pack of diaper's to have your name entered into a special prize drawing. Prize could be a Yankee candle, a GC to get their nails done something along those lines. She'll get TONS of diapers this way There is also a poem out there some place about instead of a card have the people buy the baby a book... they cost almost the same amount and the book will get used 1000000% more than the cards will!

There is another thread on the Community Board about this here is the link you'll get some great ideas from it... and please for the love of god NEVER play guess how big the mom's belly is (I know you said you weren't going too) but it really makes us mom's to be a TAD self conscious when people cut ribbons almost 5ft tall!!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1957807

 

[pixiewings71]

Wow, well all of my showers were given to me by my Mom or MIL so I'll just disregard that but Thank You for your input. You were honest and I appreciate that. My DD is moving 10+ hours away from me, I will not be able to travel (I have 2 youngers girls and a full time job) to a shower in the future nor will any of her friends here so we have all decided to do a shower before she leaves. If she wasn't moving I would be waiting but that is not an option here. I don't really put a lot of stock into what "etiquette" tells me to do, I'm my own person and I'll make my own decisions on that but again, I do Thank You very much for your thoughts. I'd never heard that the Gma to be wasn't supposed to throw the shower. Can I ask who is supposed to plan it?

Katie, I like the idea of the Thank You notes being prefilled by the guests! Thank YOU for that. I hadn't even considered that. And Thanks for your congrats, I'm very excited to be a Grandma, even though I'm nowhere near "old enough" LOL

 

[pixiewings71]

Marsha, thank you for the game idea, that is cute!! I love it!

Helene, Thank you as well. I'm sorry you've lost your Mom. (((HUGS))) I can't even imagine.....Thanks for the input on the belly size game as well, we didn't do that one at either of my showers (I had 2 showers as my first 2 girls were so far apart and different Mom's threw them for me) but I'd never even thought of that part of it. Thanks for CB link as well, I will have to check that out tonight!

 

[ktcov]

Trust me, even if your shower was in the deep south, people even at your shower talked if it was hosted by your mother/grandmother.

Trust me, no one cared or even gave it a single thought.

 

[MrsPete]

My best budget idea is to follow Emily Post and not be crass as the future grandmother hosting the shower by hosting a shower at all. In the south it is considered in VERY poor taste for the grandmother to host the baby shower. If you do decide to continue to host the shower I would honestly wait till the 3rd trimester, much unfortunately can happen in that time frame.

Hate to say it, but Prncess is right. Moms and grandmas don't give showers. Aunts, cousins, friends, co-workers -- they can host showers. Immediate relatives cannot. A mom might help out with food, but she shouldn't be the official host.

 

[jemgumby]

I've been to several showers as well that were hosted by family even including the grandmom to be and nobody seemed to really care. They were just there for the joyful occasion. As a matter of fact one of my friends is pregnant and I'm throwing her shower this weekend and her mom threw her one with another friend in another state cause she moved and had good friends there who couldn't travel to the one I'm doing. Anyway, a good budget favor is to buy the small hershey chocolate bars (the ones that come in a pack of 10 for a dollar) and to wrap curly ribbon around it and place on a platter as a thank you for coming. I even found ready to print badges at the dollar tree and am planning on printing "thank you for coming" and "hope you had a wheely good time" (as the shower theme is little red wagon) and wrap that around the candy bar. Everyone likes chocolate! Also it is good you are getting people to bring some dishes to help out. A very good economical dish is a yummy cheeseball and they can go far. Have fun!

 

[pixiewings71]

Hate to say it, but Prncess is right. Moms and grandmas don't give showers. Aunts, cousins, friends, co-workers -- they can host showers. Immediate relatives cannot. A mom might help out with food, but she shouldn't be the official host.

I'm the only family around here so it's me or no one really. Her friends don't have their own places so it's my house and if it's at my house then I'm planning it. Sorry to be such an etiquette killer but that's the way it is. If I want to be at a shower for her I get to throw it and it's going to be this weekend. Thanks again but I'm going to disregard this, especially since the invites are sent, I'm not going to cancel or change it now. lol And I know for a fact that the 20 people that are coming do NOT care at all who's throwing it, we just want to celebrate before DD20 moves 10+ hours away. Seriously, if someone cared they would tell me, my friends and I are honest with each other so I know no one is going to talk behind my back. LOL

I like the candy bar idea too,that's super cute. We are doing a barn animal theme, heavy on the rubber ducks and frogs. LOL
Thank You guys for your suggestions. These are really helping me out a lot.

 

[ktcov]

PixieWings,

Now you've got me thinking about past showers...

At my previous baby shower we played 4.

1. The Thank You card one (I love that you like it, even if its not my fav).
2. Baby Bingo, which you already mentioned.
3. Dont call me baby, give each guest a diaper pin (we made necklaces with small plastic trinkets of baby items) & they cant say "Baby". If they hear someone say it they take the pin. Whoever has the most wins. It got people talking who didnt know each other that well.
4. Timing. During gift opening set a kitchen timer for random times. Whoever gift she is opening at the time it goes off wins a prize.

My shower this coming weekend is almost game free as its co-ed. We are only doing a "lottery" drawing & having 2 prizes for men & 2 for women.

Favors
1. They bought inexpensive candles & attached a notecard that had a poem saying thank you for coming & please light this candle on the day the baby arrives or say a prayer in our baby's name. There were 3 variations
2. Small gift bag filled with travel size bathroom items. Shampoos, soaps, etc... the note said Thank you for coming... From my shower to yours. Something along those lines.

I cant remember the exact phrases but if you google baby shower ideas, you will get a ton of websites... thats where I found all my ideas.

 

[PrincessGracie]

Not trying to add too much fuel to the fire....but this is the year 2008!!! Many of these "etiquette" books were written 50+ years ago!!! And they definitely need updating!!!!!

A baby shower is to serve two main purposes: to honor the Mom-to be and to celebrate the birth of an upcoming miracle!
Who cares who hosts it!!!!

Your daughter is very blessed to have you throw her a shower!! Showers are expensive to host....even on a budget!! So I say whoever can do it, DO IT!!!

So, now that I've added my 2 cents...

Here's a decoration idea:
As a centerpiece you could float some rubber ducks (and frogs too) in a large punch bowl. I did this for a baby shower one. Got a great deal on the ducks at Burlinton Coat Factory (in with the baby bath stuff).

Good luck to you and your daughter!

 

[Cinderelly5507]

...

Here's a decoration idea:
As a centerpiece you could float some rubber ducks (and frogs too) in a large punch bowl. I did this for a baby shower one. Got a great deal on the ducks at Burlinton Coat Factory (in with the baby bath stuff).

Good luck to you and your daughter!

If you do this, you could make it a game too! they sell small floating ducks/frogs at the $Store... you could mark one on the bottom and each person pick up an animal... the one with the mark wins...

Also, the "Guess How Many Pieces of XXX are in the Container/Bottle"... I usually use candy and give away the candy as the prize... I've seen safety pins too...

 

[Crystal0608]

Congrats on the future grandbaby

I'm from NC & almost everybody's mama throws the baby shower. My mama/MIL threw the one for dd, my co-workers had one at my work, & dh's boss planned one at his work. I also had 2 showers for ds- one my mama & dh's male bf threw (at my house even!) & one my co-workers planned at my work. I'm attending my cousin's Sunday thrown by my aunt (her mama).

Cupcakes are budget & can be made really cute. Sherbet punch is yummy-sherbet, pineapple juice, & ginger ale. Maybe set out pics of the future parents as babies?