A baby shower is a wonderful time for the mum-to-be and her loved ones to come together and celebrate. In general, baby showers need lots of colours, fun games, good food and plenty of laughter between friends. When planning decorations, think festive! If you know the baby’s gender, you can colour coordinate appropriately, although you don’t have to stick with just blue or pink.
It’s fun to think outside the box too. Go with mum’s favourite colour or anything from the pastel colour palette – a soft yellow, a pretty lavender, a mint green. Or be adventurous and select a special theme such as a Spring themed baby shower, Pooh Bear, Noah’s Ark, Butterflies, or the “Pitter-Patter of Little Feet” (i.e., baby shoes). Or, for a truly unique twist, use vivid jewel tones – magentas, bright yellows and oranges, and/or royal blues – to make a truly festive setting.
Fresh flowers, a specially designated area for all the brightly wrapped gifts, a few soft toys, and lots of balloons and streamers help set the atmosphere. Here are some nice ideas for creative displays, accents and decorations.
- Instead of candy wrapped in tulle (which is cute but common), make cinnamon buns, wrap them in saran wrap, and attach little tags that say: “Thank you from Yvonne’s little bun in the oven.”
- Make “washcloth lollipops” by folding an adult-size washcloth lengthwise over and over and then rolling it into a spiral pattern. Hold it in place, and wrap a fair-sized white tulle around it to secure the spiral. (You should have tulle still dangling after this step.) Make your lollipop handle using a simple craft stick and tie off your creation with a pretty polka dot ribbon. Insert a cluster of these lollypops into a pail and use it as your centrepiece.
- Use inexpensive baby bottles with a straw poked through the nipple instead of drinking glasses. Wrap a small ribbon around them in one of the colours from your overall colour scheme.
- Decorate the inside of an open umbrella with colourful streamers (they should be long enough to hang over the sides) and suspend it over the gift or food table for an impressive accent piece.
- Tie a bunch of colourful satiny ribbons to the top of an open umbrella and let guests sign a special message to the mother-to-be.
- Place a giant teddy bear in the middle of the room and give it a clean white shirt (or one with a witty message to the new mum). Let guests autograph or sign special messages. This will make a nice addition to the nursery. They could also pin money to the teddy as a gift to the new parents.
- Suspend a clothesline across part of the party area and let guests hang little baby items – tiny shirts, booties, bibs, hats, onesies, socks, etc. This makes a nice decoration as well as a gift to the mum-to-be.
- Fill baby booties or inexpensive baby bottles with jelly beans or candies as take-home gifts. Decorate with ribbon.
- Use dummies as napkin rings.
- Place small, inexpensive votive candles in baby food jars as a cute table accent.
- Use children’s wood blocks to decorate the food table and add an “ABC” flair to the décor.
The possibilities are endless, and once you get going, you might even surprise yourself with all you come up with. What matters most is that you have fun and make the mum as comfortable and happy as you help her prepare for her new arrival.
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