Baby Shower & Bridal Shower

Hi Kelly,

I have a good idea for a baby shower gift. It was given to me and it was a total "woooowwww factor. My friend went to Micheals and bought a wooden crate. It was already painted white and she put the name of my daughter on it with really cute wooden letters that were also bought at Micheals. In the crate was a clothes line and on the clothes lines were toys, blankets and clothes hung by clothes pins. It was fun to pulll the clothes line out and see all the fun goodies. Sooo cute and such a great idea. My daughter is 2 and till this day I still use that crate for toys.

J.

Hi Kelly,
A great idea is to buy a cute baby hamper and get a bag of tiny clothes pins and a clothes line or tiny rope and buy some adorable clothes, hats, booties, etc. and hang them from the clothes line. You can then set them inside the hamper and when the mommy-to-be opens it she will be so excited because everything will be hanging for everyone to see! I hope this helps!
D.
Good Times Invitations
Oak Lawn, IL
www.goodtimesinvitations.cceasy.com

I saw a really great idea that would work for either - a tower/cake. The baby shower one was made up of cloth diaper rolled up and then held together with ribbons and built in layers. it included diaper pins, plastic pants and other stuff related to changing baby as "decorations". The bridal one was done with a kitchen or bath theme. Toels rolled then tied with ribbo and then "decorated with kitchen or bath items.

Kelly,

I KNOW IT IS KINDA LONG BUT YOU WILL LOVE THESE IDEAS. I HAVE USED THEM BOTH AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS STILL TALK ABOUT IT TO THIS DAY!!!!!

If the gift is for a baby girl I have done the cake out of blankets and attached to it is a very nice wedding cake knife, along with a poem that reads:

This is a very special
Cake knife.
As you will see
You will use it to cut
Her Birthday cake
For many years to be.
And while she is so tiny,
it’s hard to believe,
One day she will be
All grown up
And ready to leave.
A trip down the isle,
She will take.
A home of her own
She will make.
So when you are ready,
To cut her wedding cake
You will have the perfect
“OLD”
Birthday cake knife
To take

You will get very little dry eyes and the WOWWWWWWWWWWW Factor.

For the boy you can do a white hanky like the one your grandmother use to carry in her purse. And the poem for that will read, it is easy to make it into a bonnet. Just a few stitches and a couple of blue ribbons for the strings. It was a great gift from my mother in law to me. She gave it to me in the box my husband got it in and I did the same for my boys. I just hope there special one will love it as much as I did. It did get used getting rid of lots of happy tears on my special day.

I’m just a little hankie as square as square can be,
But with a small stitch or two a bonnet I will be.
I’ll be worn from the hospital or on my
Baptism day,
And after that, be folded then carefully put away.
When on that future wedding day so we’ve been always told.
The well dressed bride must always wear
Something that is old.
So what could be more fitting
Than to find little me
And with a few fine stitches snipped.
A wedding hankie be.
And if perchance it’s a boy someday he’ll surely
wed
Then his bride can have the hankie once worn
Upon his head.

we just had a baby shower for my sister, and my sister-in-law bought a wicker basket from wal-mart and a bunch of clothes. she layed a receiving blanket in the basket and then attached all the individual clothes items... one sock at a time, etc to a clothes line, with clothes pins and layed it all back and forth on top of eachother in the basket. when my sister started pulling on the clothes line, it came out of the basket with the clothes attached and stretched all the way around the room... each guest holding a little bit of it--- adorable, and then everyone got a good look at the darling little clothes.

I recently found super cute gifts at www.sassybabybling.com. If you're looking for the AWWWW factor, that's the place! They could also make something up for the bridal shower, too. I'd suggest e-mailing the owner (it's a local company - they're based in Crystal Lake) to see if they could make something special for the bride. I'm sure they'll have cute ideas.

Definitely agree w/ using their registry as a guide. You can still buy items off the registry and make it unique. I'm a big advocate of gift receipts, even if you're getting items off the registry. B/c as I recently learned, Target for example, will only let you return items with a receipt. So if you get a duplicate, even if it's off of your registry, they won't even give you store credit without a receipt!

A big hit that I've done using registry items (or not) for baby showers is "pea in the pod." You'll need- a green blanket, 6 pairs of white or green bootie socks, ribbon, and a soft stuffed baby doll (girl for a girl, if it's a boy i try to find like a boy doll in a sports uniform of some sort or even a puppy). Lay the green (try to find a shade that matches w/ their colors) blanket flat, then roll 1/3 of each side (long ways) to the middle. So it should be long w/ 2 rolls. Fasten each end (leaving a couple inches) by tying a ribbon in a bow. Then, stuff the middle with the doll, and separate the bootie socks so they're individual. Roll the bootie socks to make the "peas" around the baby, and hence your "pea in the pod." I usually attach a cardboard square on one of the ribbon ends that says "a pea in the pod for your pea in the pod." It gets lots of ooohs and aaahs, and I've had a lot of people tell me they'll be copying my idea for other baby showers.

The towel cake/diaper cakes are also cute. For bridal, you can use kitchen/bath towels they registered for, or for the baby shower use either diapers, bath towels, receiving blankets, etc., off of their registry. Wrap each "cake layer" w/ a thick ribbon matching their color scheme and you can insert little items they registered for around the layers or as the top of the layer. for baby ie- toys, rattles, socks, bottles, pacifiers, etc. For bridal- kitchen utensils (spatula, spoon, ladel, etc) are easy to stuff in the towels.

I gave my friend a year of pictures at one of the photo places. I printed out on the computer what the gift card was intended for. I used the paper with pink and blue footprints, and then put it in an 8x10 frame. She loved it! There are lots of places to choose from, my family now only goes to Portrait Innovations, I like that the photographer can move around with their camera, as opposed to the camera being mounted inside some big piece of equipment, or that they only take 12 shots.

For the bridal shower, for my best friend, I bought holiday decorations the whole year prior. She lived at home until she got married, so I had window clings, baskets, candle holders, hand towels, dish towels, ornaments, etc. Of course I did this over the year, so you may not have this kind of time. And I knew her tastes perfectly so that helped too.

A gift I really appreciated was a big laundry basket filled with paper towels, cleaning supplies, rubber gloves, etc. We also got 2 huge rolling trash cans with a hose, rake, broom, sprinkler, etc which was very much appreciated and needed. I do't know that this has the "WOW" factor you are looking for, but when we moved into a brand new house and had to go out and buy towel racks, toilet paper holders, etc, etc, it was nice to have this stash of items to look through first!

Let me echo the "get them what they want" sentiment, more for the bridal shower than baby showers. I just watched my sister travel all over trying to return gifts she didn't need, or were duplicates. It was a HUGE hassle.

That being said, find a way to make it from you. Personalize, use a shared memory...

For baby showers I make hooded towels and they always get the "ahhh" factor (even when it's the same group over and over). No matter how many kids you have, the next one always needs a good, soft, big, hooded towel.

Another idea is to see if anyone else is going to the stores. You could go in on a larger gift with them, or ask them to pick you up a specific item while they're there.

I am not trying to be rude at all, but I do talk to a lot of moms-to-be on my favorite messageboard. (Thenestbaby.com)
If you are going to get something that is not on someone's registry you should give a gift reciept with it. People do make registries for a reason. These are things that they want or need for their home/baby. I can understand wanting to get someone something that is unique and special. I'm sure the recipients will love what you decide on, but if they don't, and it's not their taste, then they should be able to return it for something they love.
Personally, I always get something unique and something small off the registry. That way it satisfies me and the guest of honor with out going overboard price-wise. I always include gift reciepts for both.

www.personalizationmall.com has some cute personalized gifts. You could do something with the couples last name/monogram. Baby gifts may be more for after the babies are born. They ship fast and relatively cheaply. snapfish, shutterfly, etc. also have cute photo gifts if you want to try that route.

My friend did something very cute for me. She got a bunch of little things and put them in a basket. In the card, she wrote "for all the special 'times' with your baby." Then each gift had a label with a different "time." For example, she got some baby wash and a rubber duck and labeled it "bath time," and some books labeled "story time," etc.

I love giving (and getting) gifts and always am looking for fun things to give. Trumpettes makes THE cutest set of socks for baby girls or boys. The girl's socks look like ballet slippers or Mary Jane shoes and the boy's socks look like sports shoes, or cowboy boots and they both come in five different colors. You buy a box of these and all the colors are there. check out what they look like here (THIS IS Not an endorsement for this website, just a visual) http://www.babybella.biz/trumpette_baby_socks?gclid=CID53...

Best of luck!

Hi ~

If you looking for a WOW Gift ~ try www.SeasonalTouch.us Her name is Kathy and she makes the cutest gallon pails that she can monogram ~ she decorates them beautifully. I've given them as baby gifts, Wedding gifts ~ for the kids Teachers ~ they are great ~

Just tell her that R. sent ya!! LOL

Third on the "get them what they want." It's not as bad for people getting married, but there's a reason for all those jokes about regifting wedding presents or having to set out a present only when the giver visits.

New parents don't have time to do returns.

I know you want something unique that will make the recipients remember you, but I'm sure you don't want that to be when they put it in the box for Goodwill.

What about gift cards to their registry places? They don't cost anything to ship. Then you can also include some small, personalized thing with it.

Here's what I've done for every baby shower I've gone to - I go to Target and buy a cute little basket, then fill it with all the mommy essentials. Things that new moms will need, but don't know that they will need until they actually need them! For example, Oxy Clean spray (someone gave this to me at my shower and I haven't been able to live without it since!), those little linking plastic rings (that work as a toy or to hook together toys), a bathtub thermometer, hand sanitizer, lap pads, a basket to put bottle parts in the dishwasher...the list goes on! Just browse through the baby aisles and you'll come up with tons of ideas - just think about the things you needed when your kids were babies that no one told you about!

Without fail, this gift turns out to be one of the highlights at every shower. Every mom there starts yelling "yes! you'll need that!" and it is so much fun to watch the new mom go through the basket to find surprise after surprise. The best part is, this is not very expensive to do. You can pack that basket full of stuff for around $50.

Hope this helps! : )

Kelly,

For a baby shower, I have often made cloth diaper cakes. I go to their registry and buy some of the smaller items on their to wrap inside the layers (socks, washcloths, nailclippers, etc). That way they are getting many of the things on their registry. Even if they don't use the cloth diapers for diapering, they make great burp cloths. I have a set of directions I use if you want them. If you want, contact me, and I can send you several photos of ones I have done. I have done small ones and larger ones. They are really cute and people really like them.

Also, for a baby shower for my cousin, I made a "blank" scrapbook. I just made it a girl theme and put in the decorative stuff--all she has to do is add pictures and journaling. I even put in journaling areas. I personalized it, making a page saying Big Sis Melissa so she could put a picture of her older child with the new baby there. I put in other pages like Daddy's Girl, First Steps, etc. She loved it. I know Hallmark mades something similar, but I had so much baby theme scrapbooking stuff from my own son, that it was a great way to use it up.

For a bridal gift, you could do the scrapbook idea above, but use a honeymoon theme so they can put their honeymoon pics somewhere. They just have to add and write. Someone asked me to do one for someone recently for their Cancun honeymoon. I was able to find great paper, stickers, and things at www.tropicalscrapbooking.com as well as Michael's craft store. It came out great and the bride loved it.I got the album on sale and did everything for about $50.

I don't know your budget but I was at a baby shower recently and a friend was given a Pandora bracelet with the baby carriage charm. It was very meaningful and the new mom really liked it because it was for her. After the baby was born because I knew she received this I sent her one charm to add to it. You can get the charms and bracelets at Little Traveler in Geneva or look online.

I would get them something from the registry as that is what they clearly want. Maybe the shipping charges are the price of getting them what they want.

I saw the cutest idea at a baby shower----get items from their baby registry that are clothing/blankets/socks/etc. Hang them on a clothesline with clips. place in a box and they pull the clothesline out of the box and out comes all the baby clothes etc that they regiistered for. It's all about the presentation.

Hi,

How about a cake make of diapers for the baby showers (my sister made this for my other sister-sure there are directions online). Picnic basket w/ stuff (plates, utensils, etc) for bridal shower. If I think of something else I will e-mail you again.

S.

Hi Kelly,

I make growth charts and personalized letter hangings as a little mommy-side-business. If mom has an idea of her nursery theme, I could do a gender neutral growth chart to match. Please contact me if you're interested, and I'll send you my info.

I always feel safe giving a book as a shower gift. A cook book is a safe bet for a bridal shower. Perhaps you know the bride to like certain ethnic foods or maybe needs to expand her cooking skills to please her husband or in-laws.
I give books of nursery rhymes to new mothers. This is a gift that can be used for years to come. You can order books on line and if your order is large enough you will not be charged shipping and handling fees.
C.

Big Lots has beautiful scrapbooks and lots of accessories for them Mchaels does too but they are more expensive but also more variety. Give things to start them in their scrapbooking. This can be an inepensive but really thoughful and creative gift. Hope this helps.

At Target they have these really cute home decor signs....they have all different styles. My roommate from college is having a wedding shower next month, and she is going for neutral colors in her house and I purchased her an "aged looking sign" that says And they lived happily ever after...I am so sure that it is going to look so cute in her house, and it is a more personalized fun gift! I also purchased her her everyday dishes to go along with my fun gift...that way she is still getting something that she really wants, and then something fun too!

For my bridal shower, my aunt bought a set of bath towels, hand towels and washcloths and built a wedding cake with them by rolling them up and stacking them. She decorated them with fake flowers and ribbon. I have kept it intact and have actually redecorated my bathroom to match!! I have seen a tiered "cake" also done in diapers, decorated again with ribbon and small baby stuff... pacifiers, booties, nail clippers, small toys, etc. Those are very cute to look at, and practical of course!!

You can look at www.sweetpeacreativegifts.com. They have adorable diaper cakes and baskets.

For Bridal i often put together a basket with muffin pans, muffin mixes, Cake and cupcake pans and cake mixes and frostings. Sometimes i add spatulas, measuring cups, sprinkles, just little extras. For a couple that enjoys the outdoors, I have done a cooler filled with beach towels, margarita mix, sunscreen, bug spray, and then plastic plates, cups, silverware...that sort of thing. For a baby shower gift i received a "cloths line"...they had just taken a rope/string and with cloths pins hung all sorts of things off of it and they held up the whole thing while i took off each piece. It was just little stuff like a hat, onsie, bug net for over the carseat, wash clothes...etc. Another really nice one i received was a basket with all sorts of meds that i would need. Tylenol, gas drops, butt cream, and then lotions and soaps too...there was other stuff but it has been a while. Hope this helps.

The best gift with an aawww factor at my wedding was a picnic basket with everything needed for a romantic date. It was awesome and a great way to start a tradition of dating my husband even after we were married. I would do like a bottle of champagne, the glasses a decked out picnic basket, maybe with a gift card for like Whole Foods or Trader Joes, or another more gourmet grocery store and a nice picnic blanket.

As for the baby shower, my mom made me a diaper cake for my first daughter and it was a huge hit! She did a really nice job and I know it not only cost her a lot of money to buy everything but it took a lot of time! She was asked to make several for upcoming showers. I'm sure I can get some pictures for you.
I went to a bridal shower and someone gave a card with a single baby bootie and a note attached saying that they wouldn't tell who the gift was from at that time but that the second bootie and the gift giver would be revealed when their first baby was born. That was really cute. Plus she received a beautiful wicker basket full of a bunch of pairs of tapered candles. Inside the box was a beautiful poem of when the couple was supposed to use each set (first night in the house, first dinner party as a married couple, after their first fight, after their first anniversary, after their first child, etc.) That was a HUGE hit. Let me know if you are interested and I can get you the poem.

Also for my bridal shower, my CEO's wife gave me a "forgiveness glass" engraved with our names along with a beautiful picture frame with an explanation of the glass. I can also get you that. That was the most talked about gift of my shower and almost everyone asked for a copy of the letter. It was so well received that it was actually on display at my wedding reception.