8.18.2009

No need for an umbrella, because it's a baby shower

Two in fact. I have two wonderful friends both due with boys later this year, so of course I had to be in the middle of shower plans.


Shower #1 was for Baby V and his mama. The V's are our neighbors so we hosted at my house. Shower number #2 was for Baby L and both of his parents. The L's are both college friends of me and Carolina hubby so the shower was for the ladies and the gents alike.


Both of the showers were fairly traditional-light food, gifts, activities (notice I said activities, not games). We hosted them both in mid-afternoon, so there was no need for a huge meal. For shower #2 we actually stuck exclusively with dessert (plus a bit a fruit and cheese).


We chose themes to follow for both showers-jungle (which actually matched Baby V's nursery) for one and trains for the other. Themes help jumpstart the planning and creative ideas and give a cohesive feel to the event from invitation to event to party favor. They don't have to be tough, just choose colors to stick with.





To follow the train/dessert theme, we used toy train sets as decoration and I made railroad crossing cookies. For the jungle, the cake and diaper cake were decorated with jungle animals.




I quickly learned that I really dislike most of the traditional baby (and wedding) shower games. I like the idea of having something to do besides eat and open gifts, but really I don't want to smell or taste baby food. Celebrations at Home seems to have a similar opinion. I have come up with a few "activities" that I think are a good compromise.
#1-For a small shower full of creative guests gather scrapbook materials and have each guest create a page for one of "baby's first...". Leave room for mom to add pics and have guests sign each page. Mom gets to keep a personalized baby book.

#2-Help build baby's library by asking each guest to bring to the shower a special or unique, unwrapped children’s book to add to Baby's bookshelf. Include a tag with the invitation for guests to write a simple note about why then chose the book. Make sure no one signs the tags then ask mom to guess who brought each book. The books make a nice display at the shower as well.

#3-Help eveyone get to know each other at the shower by asking each guest to send or bring a baby picture of themselves. Post the picture with out names for shower guests to guess who each picture is. It was neat to play this game with adults.


#4-Wish baby Happy Birthday for years to come by asking shower guest to sign a birthday card for baby to be opened on Birthday's 1-18. Grab several cards and envelopes for a wide range of ages and make sure guests write which birthday the card should be opened on. Send the stack home with mom so she can remember her sweet shower as baby grows up.

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