Baby Shower Tips

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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Baby Shower Tips

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Thu May 26, 2016 3:05 pm

Requested by me but it will be here for the next SHE to need it!

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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Thu May 26, 2016 3:08 pm

Ideas from PWYC May 26:

Harmony wrote:Kathryn, I know you are going to open a new thread somewhere for this, but I have some suggestions. I've been to a bunch of babyshowers with all these DGKids!

First of all, try to keep it simple. There are so many ideas out there you can go crazy trying to incorporate all of it. If you have a party store, start there. They will have decorations, invitations, probably a book with all of the games you can play. Keep the menu simple, finger foods are the best, people will be juggling plates. A punch bowl is nice and pitcher of ice tea. Order a cake. 2 or 3 short games at most are sufficient. Any more and it gets long and boring. I'm sure I'll think of other things. You can do the evite thing but I think really pretty invitations in the mail are nice too.

We've been at the paperwork all morning. I'm waiting for a call back from the lady in a dept., same lady I had difficulty with yesterday. DH spent a lot of his energy griping about how stupid the forms were to figure out and how fractured their system is up at that county...and I am going to tell them.... NO do not get started on the wrong foot with these people, we have a huge project to get through. Sigh...

Got dishes done. That's it so far besides all the paperwork and I am stuck until lady calls. :evil:



helia wrote:Kathryn, I co-planned a baby shower for dfriend S, and spouses and unmarried people were invited, including my college aged ds. I think including guys made it more fun -- but that's just my opinion. We played that baby photo game you mentioned. Everyone (or most people) brought a baby photo and we displayed them numbered on a board. We had numbered answer sheets available for people to write down their guesses. It was a lot of fun, a popular activity! One of S' friends said it was the most fun baby shower she'd ever been to. Most of us knew each other at least somewhat -- I don't know if that makes a difference with the games or not. We also had people write out words of advice on notecards and S and R read them aloud to us. That's a very cliche' activity, but some of the cards ended up being hilarious. B's dh wrote the funniest one. . . Some were a bit overly sentimental (imho). And there was everything in between. Other not-too-hokey games I've seen: matching names with their meanings or identifying lines from nursery rhymes. The advice by decades game you mentioned sounds interesting to me! I agree with Harmony: keep it simple. My only bit of advice: remember to have fun too!

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Nancy
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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby Nancy » Thu May 26, 2016 4:17 pm

I had gastional diab. So I requested finger sandwiches for mine. One had $ given so to could get a high chair and playpen with 2nd child. Some folk believe only 1st kids get a shower.

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Kathryn-in-Canada
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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Thu May 26, 2016 4:57 pm

Around here, French Canadians believe the shower should be after the baby is born. Partly superstitious (in case the baby dies in childbirth) but also practical since you get to meet the baby too.

I wrote dd asking about guest list and date. I may be the only oldie-goldie there. We'll see.

Apparently the baby picture idea I had (which I came up with on my own, I swear!) is a common as could be!

I found the suggestion of having the guests do artwork on a white onesie or bib with fabric markers. I like that idea.

I also saw an idea of a picture story book for the baby made up of pictures who will be in their life (family and close friends who they'll see all the time, even pets.) That idea might get used in some way.

I shall sample every frozen dessert I can at Costco to see what will make the final cut for the party!

The rest of the food will likely be my standard party fare - veggies and dip, tostitos and salsa, and easy hot foods, if I bother with them at all. I note that alcohol plays a role in many of the parties I was ready about. Not at my house! (I don't serve alcohol at parties, but welcome my guests at dinner to byob.) Dd won't be drinking so it seems wrong to serve alcohol. It will be in summer so lemonade, fruit punch and lots of sparkling water seem to be the right things to serve. I might make ice tea but that is more of a southern thing.

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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby Elizabeth » Thu May 26, 2016 5:30 pm

If you want as simple as possible, have a tea party. Food, tea, and presents for the new parents. No silly games required. Easy decor.

One thing I absolutely UN-RECOMMEND: any party games requiring participants to eat baby food! Especially a 'race' type game where someone has to feed another person baby food. There are many people who gag on that sort of texture (I am one of them), and having guests throw up or just retch loudly is not good for party atmosphere.

People don't expect alcohol at a baby shower. Expectant mothers don't indulge, and people don't really want to drink in front of them at their own party.

Where I grew up (Mobile, AL), at least during the time that my friends were having babies, showers were only given for the first baby. The assumption was that new parents don't have anything yet. Subsequent babies get hand me downs. Also, bridal and baby showers were given by friends rather than family. Not sure why. No rule against relatives taking an active part in planning, prep-work, or helping the host, though.

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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby Kathryn-in-Canada » Thu May 26, 2016 6:25 pm

Yes, the "no immediate family member" throwing shower custom seems to be the case.

Most of dd's close friends are guys. She has two female friends here, E who is due around the shower time and L who has a smaller apartment than I do. Originally, I had just offered to host the shower (because we live on a bus route and not all her friends have cars.) Dd asked L if she'd do it with me. and she agreed so technically, the mom isn't throwing the shower. It is actually a group effort of the three of us, with E giving the novices some guidance.

Found these ideas here" http://blog.hwtm.com/2012/05/fresh-sea- ... by-shower/

Marshmallow Pop Bouquet: Marshmallows were dipped in yellow, aqua and lime chocolates (We mixed regular store bought colored melting chocolates to come up with the tones that matched our decor). I tapped the top of the marshmallow onto a tray of pearl sprinkles of the same shade. These were stuck into the milk glass vases with the DIY Yarn Pom flowers. Simple and fun display technique!

White Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn: Easy and delish! We utilized the drawers in the antique dresser to display some of our items. Popcorn cones were made out of the printable patterned paper and stuffed with aqua tissue liners for the white chocolate covered popcorn.


If I did just those two fancy things or had L do one of them (wonder if she can cook/bake?) then the rest could be store bought.

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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby Harmony » Thu May 26, 2016 10:10 pm

Couple other things I thought about. I agree about the alcohol. I wouldn't even encourage the byob thing, I think it's rude since mother can't imbibe. Last shower I was at the gals giving it were more interested in sitting around drinking than the party and didn't plan much food. One gal who was helping brought almost all the food because she knew it was going to be mainly alcohol. Very odd.

Other thing they did was have the guys there, but really it's a girly party and men are often bored or don't want to attend these things. They certainly wouldn't be interested in playing the games... last one the guys got together and went to a sports bar. Another shower where the guys were there they went to a nearby field and played flag football. In both cases they came back to watch gifts being opened and eat food.

I've seen where the hostess provides a beautiful full size picture frame suitable for a baby with a white mat inside the glass, but before it's put together, out of sight as people came they signed or left a message and signature somewhere on the mat with a fine point marker. Very nice. Then Mother puts the baby picture in later.

All the ones I went to had "door prizes" for the winners of the games and most of the ones had a little souvenir or some sort, a gift something like a candle etc. to take home. Those seemed to always be appreciated.

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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby helia » Fri May 27, 2016 8:01 am

Interesting about the men at the parties you've been to, Harmony. At the party I co-hosted, the men were there, and they were a very positive part of the party. They were not bored, nor did they leave to go to a sports bar or do something else. For one thing, the party wasn't scheduled to be that long, maybe 2 hours max. Also, they are not that sort of guy; I suspect many of the men that were there have little interest in sports or bars, actually. Well, one guy is really into sports; it is his job -- but I can't imagine him leaving a party for that. The guys participated fully in the games and activities and seemed to enjoy doing it. In fact, my good friend's dh wrote out the most hilarious card of advice for S and R! Also, a lot of the guests were from church and we knew and liked each other pretty well, so there was already a community there. We liked being together. I think the result of including guys maybe depends a bit on who the guys are. No alcohol at the party; we the co-hosts never even considered that! And we had party favors to hand out at the end plus some small gifts for the winners of the game/s.

Food: I think we had an afternoon party so we had a punch bowl, a cake (which S' mother ordered for us), maybe some other finger snack foods. Another co-host was in charge of the food so I don't remember details. There may have been some small sandwiches. No diabetes involved, though.

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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby LadyMaverick » Fri May 27, 2016 8:44 am

Kathryn - Has a decision been made on the location of the shower? It seems some of the other decisions will depend on the room size and utilities available.
1. Know what you want.
2. Go after it relentlessly.

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Re: Baby Shower Tips

Postby Twins' Mom » Fri May 27, 2016 9:27 am

A nice small party favor that I saw was a small small votive candle in a little mercury glass with a little note that one should light the candle when the baby was born for his safety and future...It was similar to these on Amazon...not very expensive...http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywor ... kd95bq70_b

I'm not a big fan of games....eat, maybe one or two games at most, open presents.
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better [wo]man. Ben Franklin


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