Throwing a Baby Shower? 5 Spectacular Tips

Photo Courtesy of Kara’s Party Ideas blog

Your best friend, sister or favorite co-worker is having a baby, and you’re thrilled to host a baby shower, but where do you start? Luckily, it doesn’t have to a stress-filled planning endeavor. With a little planning and some special touches, it’ll be an occasion the mommy-to-be will love.

First – consult with the guest of honor and nail down a date. She’ll likely want to have her shower before the last month of her pregnancy. Who wants to be busy with thank you notes when you’re staring down your due date?

Next, it’s time to select a location. Reserving a room at an outside location such as a restaurant or clubhouse is great if you need more space, but a home is always the ideal location for a really special shower.

Now, for the fun stuff!

1. Choose a Theme (and Invitations)

Choosing a theme will allow all the other details to fall in place. Does she have a theme for the nursery? One mom we know received a copy of the children’s book “Giraffes Can’t Dance” by Giles Andreae that was signed by all of the guests at her giraffe-themed shower. It’s these personal touches that she’ll remember.

When it comes to invitations, we always promote “shop local,” but if you can’t find what you want or don’t have access to a great stationery shop, there are many online vendors to choose from. One of our favorites is Tiny Prints. You can also fine great ideas on Etsy.

Photo Courtesy of TinyPrints.com and  Hostess with the Mostess® blog

2. Plan Decorations

Decorating can be fun, time consuming, even overwhelming. With the help of Pinterest, you can get some really fantastic ideas, especially if you love DIY. Use your imagination to make fabulous looking floral centerpieces. Think creatively about all the cute ways you can fill a vase for a baby shower: with pink and blue jellybeans, marshmallow Peeps or even mini pacifiers. The key is to fit the flowers in a can or smaller glass vase inside the vase, then fill the space in between with candies or other things that create a theme.

Decorations that can double as nursery décor afterward are   wonderful. For example, a cute fabric bunting can be displayed over the cake table, and then taken home to be hung over the crib.

Themed showers are popular these days, and we are seeing a lot of Woodland-themed ideas on Pinterest. Of course, the ideal shower ties the nursery theme to the shower (and the invite).

3. Create the Menu

As for food, whether you cater or cook it yourself, it’s fun to tie it to the theme if possible. For a nautical shower, think crab salad or mini crab cakes.  With so many woodland-themed showers being documented on Pinterest, we selected some favorites. These woodland-themed baby shower cookies by Claudia’s Creative Cookies are adorable. You can order them directly from Claudia.

Photo Courtesy of Claudia’s Creative Cookies

We love the woodland themed shower ideas found in the blog Girl Inspired. The photo below is courtesy of Steph’s Forest Woodland Baby Shower blog. It has dozens of creative ideas!

4. Plan Some Fun and Creative “Games”

We know a lot of people cringe at the thought of any baby shower games (well, we do…), but they can be fun! One idea is to have a onesie decorating station for the guests to unleash their craftiness. Another option is the “Name That Tune” game. Just download 10 or so songs on iTunes that contain the word baby, then play a snippet of each at the shower and have guests try and guess the name and singer of each.

Photo Courtesy of The Chickabug Blog

5. Try A New Way of Opening The Baby Shower Gifts

Depending on the size of the baby shower, you may want to do something different when opening gifts. At a recent baby shower (there were over 25 people), each guest was given one of her shower gifts to open. As we rotated around the room, each person told how she knew the guest of honor and when they met (a few told a funny story about her) then opened the gift and showed it to all. It was a nice change from the guest having to open 25 gifts in a row!

Of course, at Liz and Roo, our favorite gift is anything monogrammed. A Liz and Roo monogrammed baby blanket, monogrammed pillow or a monogrammed faux fur blanket is something the mom-to-be can cherish for years. Our navy solid baby pillow sham with monogram is one of our top sellers, and will look perfect in any nursery! For a gender neutral nursery, our flax linen baby pillow sham is an elegant addition.

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