Need Help with Baby Shower Decoration Ideas

Hi K.
when we had my baby shower, we put a toy on each table (as oppose to the usual flowers) example, the weeble's plane and or a stuffed animal that could sit up w/o falling forward, we then tied balloons to the toys.. then whomever had a sticker on the bottom of their plate won the toy..
additionally, we didnt' use ONLY baby decorations, instead and because we had a variety at home, we added christmas lights and streamers , including this string of papermache' pineapples, now I know that doesn't sound babylike.. BUT it was VERY festive and fun.. ppl totally loved it.. we also ordered chocolate favors from hercules candy company.. it was really YUMMY!!!
umm what else... as for partitioning it off and creating a smaller space, are there any potted trees in the church, you could borrow those and make a border of sorts.. and add white lights to the trees.. also, you could simply arrange the tables in such a way that it becomes a space of it's own..
Personally, I like things out of the norm, you needn't stick to traditional baby stuff, really have fun with it and your guests will too..
good luck!!

This has nothing to do with decorations but a really fun idea. We asked people to bring a little book instead of a card and write their congratulations and a little prayer or note to the new baby inside the book. This not only gives mommy and daddy lots of books to read to their precious blessing but they become really special to both the parents and the child as they grow older.

As for the decorations, I love clothes line full of clothes!! They always turn out so cute!! You can also put ballons on the tables as center pieces and fruity/plain cheerios sprinkled as confetti.

Hi K.,

At my S-I-L shower's the hostess had laundry line's of infant girls onsies and baby outfits hung out to dry. It was so precious and she got to keep all the clothes. Practical and cute. For my shower my M-I-L went to second hand stores and found gently used toys (some even new), cleaned every one of them and used them as centerpieces. It was fun to watch and listen as guests commented on how much they enjoyed the toys growing up or how it brought back memories for them. Very creative of her and any children present had something to play with too. My son started off having tons of toys and he loved playing with all of them! You can also ask each guest to bring a favorite childhood book and incorporate that into your decorations. Or have crayons, markers, and paper at each table for guests to write the baby a note or create a birthday card. Assign tables a number so you don't have duplicate birthday years. Eg. table 1 creates first birthday cards, table 2 creates second birthday etc.
As for the favors, you'd be surprised what you can come up with at your local dollar store. Just go and check out what they have during the season your planning the shower and work with what they have. I always make it a point to buy packages as opposed to one item. For instance to thank the ladies at work I purchased candles. I believe it was 6/box instead of buying one votive for a dollar. Then I went on line and found an appropriate thank you/blessing/boy theme printed it out on my dollar store paper. Punched a hole, tied a ribbon attached to candle and I had my favor. Another year, during spring/Easter time I went to Michaels purchased stainless steel cookie cutters (not plastic) on sale. Again went on line and found an appropriate poem expressing my appreciation and attached a ribbon and I was done for less than a dollar. If you're not in a hurry check for 2 for 1 sales, work with whatever season it is etc. I'm sure you know all the tricks.
Have fun!

Use plants and table to section of the room. Ideas - for each diaper pack brought receive a raffle ticket. You can also have a bootie/sock tree. You can have a everyone bring a onesie in their personality for the baby and the new mom needs to gues who brought what (see how well she knows her friends)
You can have everyone write suggestion/advise in a little book for the mom. If you need other ideas let me know.

...This may sound "corny" to some but I'm "kind-a" old school at heart. Remember Paper Mache' ??. Well you can make a Huge rattle out of this old art grade school technique!... Use a big balloon for the "head" of the rattle, use a long tube for the handle, may I recommend rolling a thick Poster Board or a shipping tube shape for mailing something, to your size of desire, .... then you Paper Mache it . Newspaper strips, starch, meesy fingers, lol!!. after this fun art step, the project must dry. 24-48 hrs should be just fine. Then Step 2.. get tissue paper squares, the small finger size ones, and twist them around your finger ,place tip into glue and place the "flowerette" on to the Rattle form . You can choose color schemes, or even add Initials by placing the "flowereetes" in letter shapes.( of a different color of course to stand out) A good time for a girls afternoon,a tea party, or a teenage girls slumber party!!. The result is a 4-6 foot rattle you can hang from some clear fishing line ., Place ..within a "perfect" spot , so the Rattle hangs freely.Where you wish to create a room border. In the past .... I have used small plants in pots for decorations and favors. Now there are such beautiful artificial posies ,I'd imagine some pretty nosegays tied with ribbon,with scented sticks for a fresh surprise. You can also use left over-cleaned used food cans. Strip the labels off of them and the "old Fashioned" look is there in the ridges, decorate them with Vintage Themes ,... maybe about the year of birth within the Mom to be's family. ...ie:Both Grandmas of the 1940's or 1950's, Mom to be, etc. Then plant herbs in them to grow on one's window sill. The herb's could also be associated with a particular family member's favorite recipe additive....you can always add a family recipe card on the Herb Can also. Such a personalized favor/decoration/gift!! Will sure bring sweet memories to many present.

Well have fun !! Congratualations to the lucky lady ,not only a baby is coming, ...but she has good friends like you in her life that care enough to search out for "SPECTACULAR" ideas for her Grand Party !!! Good Luck !!....... I'm sure craft stores will have all the supplies readily available !!

At a baby shower I hosted, we did an activity where the guests (and mom-to-be) decorated blank clean onesies (in varying sizes) for the baby. We used Stazon inks and stamp sets, but you could use fabric paint too...
Before the activity, the onesies were hung around the room on a clothes line. After they were decorated, they were hung back up to dry.

one idea i love it a baby clothes line of onesies that people can decorate throughout the shower with permanent marker..then hang them on the clothese line. just buy white onesies and a pack of colorful markers...it's a fun idea. maybe you can hang the clothesline to partition of the room so the hung up onesies kind of act as a space definer? streamers and balloons are always a good idea too. good luck!

We put little toys on the tables too, but didn't give them to the guests. They just went to the honored mom at the end of the shower. I've also hung a clothes line and used baby clothespins to hang onsies, PJ's, socks, bibs, etc. Totally cute and, again, those went to the mom-to-be at the end of the shower. I also bought a case or two or the miniature Martinelli Sparkling Cider bottles. I soaked them in soapy water and took all the labels off, then made my own labels about the honored guest, the date, a cute clip art, "thank you for coming", etc. And those went to all the guests as favors. It's a little time consuming and maybe too much work for a large group, but again, really cute.

I love planning this stuff! Have fun!

Hi K.,

One of the cutest decorations I've seen at a baby shower was a clothesline full of baby onesies and clothes. If you have plants that you could bring in, you could create a space (perimeter) with plants and tables.

Have fun,

J.

You are a caring friend, even more so in these harder economic times. I love giving showers..once I bought a set of wood blocks and decorated each table with a variety of them as centerpieces...then we packed them up but I never thought to give them to a baby..kept them and my kids play with them. It would have been a great gift..I hung wire (with that blue sticky stuff that does not stick to walls after you use it and made little laundry lines with baby outfits clothepinned to the wire..those were baby gifts..I think no baby can come into the world without a large battery starter kit, of all sizes...I have always had a blank stack of stationary at all showers, bridal and baby..and even was able to get it done through the mail with my husbands friends, but advice, humor, verse, ideas, stories on stationary, put in an envelope and then opened on the first birthday...or first anniversary..this is a timeless, invaluable gift of caring. Along those lines, prestamped, even addressed Thank You notes for the mom as she will get busy and overwhelmed and all she has to do is write a note and send..journals, baby bibles, and if you know them well, a 529 plan explained so they can start saving for college..of course, wooden toys last long and have less plastic, leapfrog baby toys though are popular,,buy clothes big enough..avoid gift cards this year, too many stores going out of business..but my favorite baby blanket and my kids too are from target. They are plain, soft, no itches and made by Amy Coe. A random selection of ideas. Blessings to Baby, mom and dad.

Hi K.,
I just did a baby shower for my friend last weekend. For favors, I picked up the 3" small pots at the local nursery (59 cents each), then got six packs of flowers and planted them in the pots. I used the flowers as decorations on the tables, then had each guest take one home. It was really cute! She's having a girl, so I went with pink, white and yellow flowers, but you could always use white, blue and/or purple for a boy. On the cake, I had it decorated with flowers and baby booties and they wrote "A Baby (Girl) Is Blooming". It was really a pretty shower, easy and inexpensive. I also came up with a great game -- go to one of the baby websites and look up the meanings of the names of each of the attendees. List the names on one side and the meanings on the other and have people guess the meanings of the various names. Lots of people were surprised by the meaning of their own name! It was fun. As a note, you may need to check a few sites to find every name, but I was successful -- even with 2 names I had never heard of!
Good luck!

I dont know what kind of ceiling you'll have (ie, a high ceiling in a gym or a classroom type ceiling)

One thought was balloon "curtains" or pillars. I love the idea of a clothesline and onesies with fabric ink stamp pads and/or fabric markers. Make sure you get assorted sizes! Maybe cardboard buffers to insert in the shirt so colors dont bleed through to both sides. Blankets are also fun.

My mental picture of your set up would be long tables around the perimeter (of where you want to be) with the clothes line & onesies/blankets and/or balloon pillars or curtains behind the tables where you'd put the food, gifts, maybe markers, etc. Then inside that, round tables & chairs for everyone to sit at & watch the new mommy. (I am picturing a corner of a gym sized room. But if you are in a large rectangular classroom, I'd simply decorate one end of it, maybe have a table to "divide" the room but I wouldnt do more than that in this case)

Have fun!!!

The best things I think to make it feel cozy is sofas & maybe a lamp and blanket by the mom's comfy armchair??

You could also decorate with children's books. Have a basket by the mom's chair filled with children books. (might not be cheap but would be really nice)

The tables provided sound like a good, cheap solution to barriers. You can arrange the round tables in such a way that it marks off the "boundaries" of the area you want to use. The 6 ft. tables can be used for food, drinks, gifts, etc... You can also use them to section off the room - i.e. food and drinks in one area, gifts in another. You can use candles and/or small vases with flowers for decorations your guests can take home. They have nice votives and vases at Michael's or Cost Plus for a pretty good price. If you're doing the food yourself, you can include recipe cards on some nice scrapbook type card stock of the menu for your guests, too. I hope this helps!! Have a good party!!

D.

you can define the party area with banners hanging from the ceiling. Get a ball of yarn - nice 'n cheap - then cut out bay clothes shapes from pastel construction paper and either just tape them to the yarn or get the tiny little plastic clothes pins from a party store to make a baby clothes line. Stack 2-3 sheets to cut out multiple shapes at a time. I did this for a baby shower and the mom loved it so much she hung a section up in her baby's room.
Party stores have aisles devoted to baby shower stuff - you can steal a few ideas. Give the new mom practical things - like baby shampoo, lotion, blankets, thermometer, etc. Her friends will buy nothing but cute outfits - in spite of her baby registry list ( mine did anyway!)
For take-aways - give scented candles or little hand lotions from the Body Shop or Bath & Body Works - they always have travel size. Slap a cute baby themed sticker on it or make lables on your computer.
Then make sure you have lots of chocolate on hand!!

You could partition the section off with Pink or Blue balloons anchored to the floor by a weight of sorts. Also you could mix in empty oversized gift boxes wrapped in coordinating colors. For the gifts I am not sure if you are talking party favors or gifts for the mom to be so I will give a few ideas. For the Mom to be a must is a swaddle blanket by Swaddle Designs ( one of the few out there that actually work and is a good size) they have matching burp cloths, bath robes etc.... also, glass baby bottles filled with pink or blue M&M's or jelly beans. For the favors you could give a small plant with a pink or blue bow around it ( you can get bulk plants off of ebay for CHEAP! Like a 24 Pack of Small ivy plants for $20 or less. Then just put a bow around the container and your done. Another favor I love is to take a foil wrapped chocolate bar and take the Brand wrapper off leaving just the foil. Then you get a velum type paper and print off the computer a nice little note about the baby and Mom to be. then on the bottom (back of bar) you can put thank you for sharing the special day and then below that you could put in fun ingredients that make up the love it takes to make a baby. IE: God's love 100%, Family & Friends 100%, Hugs & Kisses 100%, Sweetness 100% and below that "Manufactured by (mom and dads names) Approved by Grandma K.. Once you print off whatever you want the wrapper to say you can then make the words pop with a glitter glue ( purchased at the craft store) thet you lay over the words and bake in the oven. it sounds like a lot of work but its not. Finally you wrap the finished velum over the foil wrapped bar and the attach a thin ribbon to one side and embellish with a stone or jewel. ( I can send a photo of the finished product if you would like.)

A more simple gift idea that does not take any work form you is to get on line and find a company that will print custom fortunes for fortune cookies ( just google Custom Fortune Cookies) then decide how you want the fortune to read and then choose if you want Blue or Pink cookies.

Good Luck!

Hi there. to make the room look sectioned off in a particular area, you can have streamers or something similar ie. a clothesline of onesies, socks, etc. and dangle them from the ceiling. And for centerpieces, you can put the favors arranged at the middle of the tables and then you can have guests take one as they leave. For my SIL's shower we had purchases dome small boxes (favor boxes-Martha Stewart brand to be specific) and filled them w/ m&m's and purchased the Martha Stewart adhesive ribbon and wrapped them around the box. I then stacked the boxes in a small pyramid like style on the middle of tables. Thus, you have decorations and favors all in one.

Use tables to create the section you want to use. Put presents on one of them and put food on the others. We did this at our church several months ago for the daughter of one of my dearest friends and our hall is huge but there were only about 40 of us.

Use balloons to make a corridor to get to the area you are using. Balloons are always a festive and inexpensive way to decorate and to create partitions.

Blessings,
+B+

Hi K.,

What an exciting time for you and your friend. I've planned and had several showers and parties at my church's social hall. What I like to do is have the guests sit at tables set up in a U-shape formation - It creates a more intimate space and everyone can see the guest of honor. I also have several tables off to the side for gifts, cake, and the food, which to me double as decorations. :P

Hope that helps somewhat. Happy planning!

M.

Hang pink, blue,or yellow umbrellas from the ceiling (give them away after the shower) also have sky blue streamers coming straight down as rain (vary the lengths) this would be a cute theme for winnie the pooh and his blustery day...you could use art work from the book blown up as wall posters, cards, etc

Hi K.,

I know how "open" rooms like that feel, but when you try to decorate it, sometimes you can draw MORE attention to it than if you just left it alone. And, to actually do it "right" it would take alot of $$$$ and a wonderful "crew" and at least the whole day before the shower. So, if $$$, people, and days are no problem..... then I say go for it :O) Hang it, rent it, or whatever...

Now if you are trying to fit about 17 tables, then you can try to take up most of the space and it will look lovely, however, if you're only needing like 6 tables, then you should try to keep the feeling small & quaint. Remember, even though a normal table can fit 10 people, you can make it more comfortable by keeping it at 8 per table, then you will have more tables and using your space better :O)

In my opinion, I would focus on the section you ARE going to use and try to have them facing your guest of Honor. Have your Cake & Gift tables near your Guest of Honor so your guests are never noticing the whole space. Your guests will know it's there, but it won't be a big deal, I promise.

As far as "re-usable" gifts.....You can make a "Diaper Cake" for the center of each table. This way your new Mommy will have lots of diapers. I always decorate my "cakes" with a bib, rattle, a onsie, or washclothes and booties. Then add some ribbon or a bow on top. It's VERY cute, and I have a "recipe" for the Cake if you want to see it. All you need are Newborn Diapers, and rubber bands, then whatever you want to put on the "cakes" :o) This an be expensive, too, but if you have a group of people "going in on decorations", then this IS their gift, so they don't have to buy anything else.

As far as gifts/prizes for games to your guests, I would buy 2 Bunches of flowers from Costco and split them up into 3-4 bunches depending on how many games you are playing. The Dollar Store always has great vases to put your flowers in. Put these flowers as decorations on your Gift, Cake, Entry, and Mommy's tables. They could be used as decorations AND prizes.

Oh Yeah, if you don't have a group of people wanting to help, then don't forget to ask for help.....I am sure that there are alot of other women who will help you BUY and PREPARE for this shower, so don't exhaust yourself!

Have Fun, K.!

~N.