ISO ideas for Baby Shower favors/activities (m)

[apriltwinmom]

I'm throwing my best friend a shower next month for her baby girl due at the end of July. I'm looking for favor ideas and ideas for things to do/games (?). I want to stay away from the diapering a doll or tasting baby foods that I've done waaaay too many times, lol!

I thought that maybe I could get some good ideas here from all of you creative moms!

Thanks so much in advance for any thoughts!
:) Rachel
twin ds 4/03
dd Amelia 8/04

[fortato]

My mum threw my shower on Saturday....

No Games, (My request) I got to visit with my friends and family. Everyone wore a name tag that had an explanation of their relationship to me- like my cousin "Kristen's Cousin who is more like the sister her mother didn't have to deliver",

If you're having food- feed your guests before you have your friend open gifts- it took over 2 hours to open gifts, and by the time I got to the 50th "ooohhh, a blue onesie" people were starving!
And- Don't forget your cake until there are less than half of your guests left.

I had a wonderful time at my shower, didn't get any duplicate gifts or anything that needed to be returned! Woo hoo!

Good Luck planning yours!
Kristen

[WitMom]

Here are a couple of games I have seen. One is Baby Bingo. Each guest is handed a sheet of paper with a blank grid drawn on it- like a bingo card without the letters or numbers. They need to fill out each square with a baby gift that they think you will receive, i.e. blankets, bottle, toy, onesie, etc. Then as you open your gifts, if the gift is something they have on the grid, they mark it off. Whoever gets a row completed (vertically, horizontally, diagonally), has a "bingo" and wins.

Another game I have seen has an "ewww" factor. Take several diapers and put a different miniature candy bar in each. Heat in the microwave VERY briefly to get the "mush factor" going. Then pass around, and the guests have to try to identify the type of candy bar. Like I said, it does have an "ewww" factor.:P

[karolyp]

Here's a great thread on shower favors.

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=37&topic_id=288535&mode=full

HTH and good luck!!!

[apriltwinmom]

Thanks Kristen for the advice, and it sounds like you had an awesome shower!!! Your mum sounds like she had it all together, you are lucky!!

We only will have 10 people at the shower, so it will be small and everyone knows each other. The food will definitely be served early on, I hate being hungry too!

How you managed to not get a duplicate AND have nothing that needed to be returned is beyond me -- maybe you need to but some lottery ticket!! ;)

Thanks so much, and good luck! :) Rachel

[apriltwinmom]

THANK YOU!! I'm off to read the thread now!

:) Rachel

[apriltwinmom]

Okay, definitely EWWW factor, but it's creative! I'll keep it in mind. I'd be a whiz at it, I can identify any candy bar ever made!

;-) Thanks so much -- I also love the Bingo idea. That will give them something to do while she's opening gifts! Rachel

[mamamillie]

I helped with a shower for my SIL a few months ago. Our "theme" for invites, decorations, etc was little baby feet. Too adorable. We did baby feet shaped soaps for the favors. The only game we did was the guess how many squares of toilet paper it takes to go around the expectant mums tummy. An oldy but goody!

[zoestargrove]

I love food favors and especially home baked food favors.

I made wedding cake sugar cookies decorated with royal icing for my sister's bridal shower, wrapped each in cellophane bag with coordinating ribbon. It was so popular, I was asked to do two baby showers this spring. We made rubber ducks for one and lilac tulips for the other.

At my sister's baby shower I made miniature loaves of quick bread. (banana, blueberry, cinnamon streusel, lemon poppy) wrapped them up in parchment and tied with a blue gingham ribbon.

[MegND95]

I threw a shower two months ago for three college roommates. It was a very intimate gathering, and we chose not to do games. Instead, we bought three small photo albums, and some pretty papers cut to fit the albums. Each guest wrote a special wish to the expectant mom/baby on the paper and slid it into the album. The notes ranged from general good wishes to specific advice on child rearing. The photo albums could serve as brag books after baby and the notes can easily fit into a scrapbook.

We enjoyed reading all the notes and comparing tried and true tips. Have fun!

[fortato]

My MIL made Boo-boo bunnies, little candy bags, and these little "shoes" made from styrofoam cups cut down the center in 2 places to look like shoe tongues, and then holes punched along the edges to put ribbons into and tie up. They were so cute, I will take a picture of one and post it tomorrow if you want!

Also, my mum made a "diaper cake". That was amazing! It was 4 tiers of size 1 diapers rolled up and tied together into layers, and then little accessories tucked into ribbons that were wrapped around the layers. Again, I can take pictures for you!

About the duplicate thing... I have no idea how it happened, I guess luck. I have a butt load of bibs, and onesies, and NONE of them are duplicates!

Kristen

[jhaud]

i've done a similar game several times... only we used things you would cook with or condiments we did 10 dipes (lemon juice, mustard, liquid smoke, vanilla, horseradish, mint flavoring, worcestershire, ...) it is fun to get pictures of the faces as people stick their faces in the diapers to sniff!

also filled a bottle with jellybeans and had everyone guess how many... and the ribbon round the mommy belly - everyone cuts a piece of string/yarn/ribbon and then the closest to actual girth wins...

another fun one is to list tv families and the correct number of kids and then everyone has to try to fill in all the blanks (have to remember the little surprises that sometimes came in the later seasons) and use shows from different timeperiods (waltons, eight is enough, roseanne, growing pains, simpsons, malcolm in the middle, family ties, my three sons, ...

[maestramommy]

Okay, for my baby shower and one I went to after, here were some fun things:

Everyone write one piece of advice they were given that they want to pass on to the mama. Put it in a basket, and the mama can read them aloud. If advice seems too bossy, how about an encouragement?

Game: Letters A-Z. Each letter begins a word that is baby related. One with the most wins. Some of the more obscure ones can be fun.

Game: of course, there's the measuring the stomach guessing game. Everyone cuts a piece of string they think is the correct circumference of the mama's tummy. Closest without going over wins. Maybe not a good one if the mama is getting really big and feeling sensitive. We did it at my shower which was actually coed. Pretty fun!

[jhaud]

thought of another game that has been fun... baby ballot - everybody fills out a ballot, and the winner gets their prize after baby arrives

the ballots are printed with choices for: boy/girl, arrival date (early/on day/late), time of day (am/pm), hair color (don't forget bald!), eye color, length (under 21"/21"/over), weight (under 7lb/7lb/over 7lb)

the person with the most correct wins