Help with Gift Idea for a Close Friend's Baby Shower

A really big hit at my shower was a friend bought the hamper that I registered for and inside there was rope with tons of things close pinned to it....like onezies, outfits, bibs, socks the thing was like 10 feet long....how they took it out was one person held one end of the rope and kept walking until it was all out and they held it up like a close line, everyone ooohed and ahhed over it. It was so cute!
C.

Hi there, One thing we always do for a shower is to buy the baby bath and fill it halfway with packing peanuts. These look like bubbles. Then fill the bath with diapers, washcloths, baby shampoo, diaper cream, baby socks, bottles, pacifier, hairbrush etc. so all of the things are visible. Then we wrap it in clear cellophane. It is used both as the centre piece and a game later on. You put it in the middle of the floor. The guests get 5 min. to look at it, then you take it away and everyone has to write down as many things as they can remember. The winner gets a prize and the Mommy-to-be gets to keep the bath with all the goodies. Good wow factor as big centre piece and great gift with lots of variety.

My friend set up a onsie making station at my shower. She bought plain white onsie's from Target in all various sizes. Then she got fabric markers and puffy fabric paint. She tied a clothes line to one wall at the shower and used old fashion wooden clothes pins to put them up on her wall. During the party people loved going over to the wall to see the newest design that had been created for our baby. After awhile people got a bit competitive (in a friendly way) and tried to out do each other in coming up with cute sayings, designs, etc.. As a result we got about 20 different totally unique onsies. To this day I can remember who made which one. They washed fine too!

I LOVE the onsie station idea! Another idea - at my shower we had one of those giant picture frames that everyone signed with messages to the baby. I put her birth announcement in the photo section and it's hanging in her room. You can get the really big frames at pottery barn - I've also seen them at Target and Kohls.

If you sew at all, a home-made "taggie" is a great gift. Just get a bunch of different kinds of ribbon and some soft fleece - they are really simple to make. My sister quilts, and she made us a quilt as a baby gift, but that is above-and-beyond I think. My mom knit a little sweater and matching hat - also an amazing gift.

One of my most appreciated gift was a months worth of house cleaning. My friends payed for it. I had c-sections and it helped to not have to worry about the house also just when you are to tired to do anything.

Going with the scrapbook theme, might be nice to put one together that has advice and ideas from you and other friends who have children, perhaps a page or two that people at the shower can sign with messages to the baby (my friends had relatives do that for mine and it was really neat - nice keepsake for my daughter when she's older); then finally the third section could be just empty pages, like pre-made with photo mats and decorations and what have you. I think a lot of people (myself included, and I even have all the stuff, but not the time!) really want to scrapbook their kids' first years, but it's really hard to find the time to sit down and do it. I think a pre-made book where you can just put in your pictures and clippings, invites, etc. would be really personally special as well as helpful!

Not really a gift but my favorite thing from my shower was a cute little photo album that everyone passed around and wrote little notes about how I would be a good mother. You could even do that with a scarpbook page- like do the front and back inside cover that way and then give it to her.

Otherwise maybe a pregnancy massage or spa day or something.

Good luck.

I think the scap book idea is wonderful, when I had my son I did sorta the same thing. As I came across things I thought I need to know or information that would help me down the road be it in a magazine or from the internet I cut or printed things out glued it to constuction paper (kinda the same idea as scrap booking pictures) and referenced things together. I think it is a great idea and I use it all the time.

I didnt do this as a gift but I did it for myself. I found a really cute journal with no lines. then with all the extra pamphlets from the doctor (or you can print stuff from online or type up your own) I cut out the useful fun info. Like one page is about how special a dad is to the development of a child and I put my fiances first picture with our daughter.(you could just give her picture tape and leave a spot blank for her to put pictures). then I put a month to month development paragraph on a page and when my daughter is that age I write in around the paragraph where she was developmentally. But the whole purpose of this is to be a journal. I started writing in it when I was pregnant. Then when my daughter gets old enough before bed every night we will write in her journal, for a while she will tell me what to write, then she will do it for herself when she is old enough. but it is something original and educational, plus as a mom its hard to remember little things when your kids are 25. so this way, no memory is lost!!! And it is a way to give your friend advice without feeling preachy or like a know it all.It really turned out beautifully. I live in dekalb if you want to see it or I can send pics. Another fun idea is a sock tree!! it is so adorable. if you are interested let me know and I will send ya directions or you can find them on line. good luck!!! but whatever you do, if it is from the heart, she will treasure it forever!!!

I don't know if you know how to knit, but the gifts I felt were the best were blankets people made for my son. They really showed that people cared because they put all that time and effort into it. Plus, it looked beautiful. Everyone wows at homemade stuff. If you can't knit, the scrapbook is very nice, or you can make a shadow box for her to put the baby's hospital outfit in and hang somewhere. You can embelish it with little scrapbook/craft supplies.

My favorite gift from my baby shower was a personalized plate my friend gave me for my daughter. She is 3 now and still loves that plate, as do I. Here is where I think she got it: http://www.partyallready.com/personalized-party-supplies/...

I made my sister-in-law a scrapbook but I gave it too her when she had the baby b/c at her shower I secretly had everyone write a wish or advice for her and the baby on a little slip of paper and I turned that into a page w/ little things from the shower on it as well(napkin,table confetti,invite) then I took a picture of each table and had every person sign in on a premade page so she'd remember who was all there. Since I didn't give it to her until the birth, it gave me time to make other pages and I gave her a premade album that she could fill in and use until my neice's 1st birthday and she loved it, so that may be an idea to give her at the hospital. Both of my children received these cute little blankets that I found out we're personalized and bought on a website called personalizedblankets.com and you can get them made w/ just the babies name or after they're born w/ all the info. they're adorable. Hope that helps and gives you an idea.

Hi G.,

I made a diaper cake for my friend Jennie's shower and it was a big hit! I got the idea from my cousin and got directions from her, but you can google "diaper cake" and get directions no problem. They are way cute, the other ladies loved it, and it supplies the new mommy with lots of diapers and other essentials--basically whatever you want to put on there! I put some onesies, washcloths, slippers, burp cloths, etc., but you can do whatever you want! It only took me about 45 minutes to make. If you are interested in doing it and want a little help/have more questions, let me know.

J. :)

ps. When I made the cake I fit it in around taking care of my little guy who was then about 8 months old (now 14/15 months), if that gives you any indication on the easy factor. :)

Wow... lots of wonderful ideas here. I think the scrapbook/reference guide would be wonderful and truly something she will love. If you do a page - month to month - for the baby and milestone pages... it'll help her out.

Think of the way she is decorating the nursery and take it from there. One of my friends did Noah's ark. I made the crib sheets, comforter, bumper and skirt in Noahs ark pastels. I also made very soft little stuffed animals out terry cloth. Another one of my friends had Raggedy Anne and Andy. When we threw her shower that is all you saw including the favors. I made a "cake" out of baby clothes and diapers. Just what ever the theme is take it from there.

D.

Hi G.,

Ok, I have the best idea! I did this for my bestfriend and her baby shower and the entire room went nuts when they saw it. In fact, they all said they were going to steal my idea! Here's what I did...

I purchased different size clothes for the baby. From 0-3 months to 18 months or so. Then, I bought a clothes line and some pins and pinned the clothes up on the clothes line from smallest to biggest. Put it all in a gift bad with one end of the clothes line sticking up. It's absolutely adorable when they open the bag! My girlfriend had to stand up and keep walking with the clothes line pulling the clothes out.

Hope this helps!

E.

For my sister in law's shower, I bought a wooden crate from Michael's and painted it to match her nursery and glued on wooden animal decorations - since that was her theme. Then I filled the crate with all the "must-have" items that I thought a new mom/baby needed to have -- using my experience as a new mom. So all little things that you usually don't register for - pacifier clip, etc.. I also shopped in advance for the holidays, and had a onesie for Halloween, Christmas, etc.. but I don't think my nephew ever wore them because he grew too fast and I didn't plan accordingly for size. Attached to each tiny item was a note explaining why I thought she needed these things for the baby. My girlfriend did the same thing for me, but put everything in a basket. You then can use the basket and/or crate afterwards to hold diapers, books, toys, etc...

Hello G.,
I know planning a shower can be "challeging" but may I make a few suggestions; if you are looking for that "wow" factor, definately go with a theme shower. Go to your browser online and put in "baby shower" you will find so many different things you might have a hard time deciding! Another suggestion is when you do see something you like; see if you can make it yourself, personalize it. That will make the mom-to-be feel sooo special. But be careful, you might find that everyone now what's you to do all the upcoming events(believe me I know).
Have fun!