Idea for Bridal or Baby Shower

If you are hosting a Shower for either a Mom-to-Be or a Bride-to-Be, try this idea to keep things personable and lively at the shower. 

When you send out the invitations, include a blank card-- I'm thinking a colored index-card could be good-- and ask your guests to include one of the following:

For a Bridal Shower:

Ask guests to write something down that correlates to the gift they choose to bring. For instance, if they choose to purchase a stockpot for the Bride-to-Be, include a recipe for your favorite soup or chili.  If they purchase a household item, write down a helpful tip for the future use of that item (or a funny story, if you have one). Attach the card to the gift, but make it visible.

For a Baby Shower:

Ask guests to write down either a funny memory or a some thoughftul words of wisdom that goes along with the gift.  Again, attach the card to the gift's packaging, making sure it's easily accessible.

At the Shower:

When the Guest of Honor is opening her gifts, she should pass the card back to the gift-giver, and the gift giver has the option of sharing the story (or the advice) with everyone in the room.

Children's Books for a Baby Shower Gift

I went to a Baby Shower the other day (for two Moms at the same time, thus, the two baskets) and since I was feeling squirrely, I wanted to give them Children's Books instead of items on the registry.  As a teacher, I have learned how vitally important it is for parents to read to their children... so I only felt it appropriate to encourage the acts by putting books in the hands of parents themselves.

And in true English teacher form, I included a small poem in the card.  It reads:

"It's good to read to children,

This much we know is true.

So here's a basket full of classics

For Baby, Daddy, and You!"

It just felt right :)

Diaper Shower Games

The Clothespin Game (a.k.a. "Don't Say ____"):

An old favorite of almost every shower I have attended, the clothespin game is an easy, (usually) no/low-prep activity that helps break the ice a bit.  It's also nice because it starts as soon as the guests begin to arrive, and can continue till the end of the shower.

How you play

If you've never played this game, it's quite simple.  Each guest is given a clothespin, and each guest is told that they are not allowed to say a certain word.  In this case, the no-no words were "baby" and "diaper." If one guest catches another guest saying one of the off-limit words, you get to take her clothespin.  Now here's where it gets interesting-- let's say a guest has 7 clothespins, and someone catches HER saying the word-- she has to hand over all of her clothespins!  So as you can see, this game can be won by anyone at almost any time. 

She who ends up with the most clothespins by the end of the shower wins a prize.   

But as I was shopping around for shower items, I found these ADORABLE plastic diaper pins at the local Dollar Tree, and I had to use them somehow, some way.  The clothespin game game me a perfect opportunity to incorporate these cute little bits. 

Add a little hot-glue, and you have Baby Shower clothespins!

(Yeah, they were as cute in person as they are in this picture.  Maybe even cuter!)

What's in the Diaper?

This was a new game I discovered online, and with all the Moms that would be attending my two showers, I figured this would be a good game to play.  We played this game at both showers, and both sets of guests had a great reaction to it.  No eye-rolling, "Oh, we're playing another word scramble game again" looks.  Yes, this game did require some prep-time, but it was worth it knowing that my guests weren't going to be bored.  This one was great because it was hands on, and it gave the guests with some baby know-how to show off! Additionally, the Mommy gets to keep all the items in the diapers for the new baby, as well as all the diapers used to wrap the items. A game + a bunch of gifts = a happy Mommy. 

How you Play:

First, you need several small items that relate to babies.  I opted for a minimum of 10 items, since both of the showers I hosted had 10 or more guests.  As you can see, I ended up with 12 items to use for this particular event. 

1. Baby powder

2. Baby lotion

3. Rubber Duckie

4. Teething Ring

5. Pair of booties

(both went in the same diaper)

6. Jar of baby food

7. Vaseline

8. Butt-Paste

9. Baby Oil

10. Rattle/toy

11. Pacifier

12. Bottle

Next, wrap each item in a diaper.  Some items, like the baby powder and lotion bottles, were too tall and were somewhat exposed after being wrapped in the diaper.  When this happened, I used a paper towel to add some additional coverage to the items, adding tape when necessary to prevent exposure. As you wrap each item, use a permanent marker to number each diaper.  I wrote the numbers on the tabs of the diaper.

To start the game, give guests a paper and a pen, and tell them to write down the numbers 1-12 (or however many diapers you have).  Explain to them the goal of the game, which is to guess each object ONLY by feeling the diapers.  No peeking!

Pass out the diapers, letting guests exchange as needed.  When each diaper has made the rounds, place it back in the basket.  Once all of the guesses have been made, have guests trade papers with someone nearby.

The Hostess, or the Mommy, then unwraps each diaper to reveal the cute little baby item inside!  She who correctly guesses the most items wins the prize.

A sidenote:  For the first shower, I wrapped the items using Huggies Size 1-2 diapers, and for the second shower, I used Pampers Swaddlers Size 1.  The Huggies were MUCH better for this game.  Why? Because the Pampers were so thin and cloth-like, it was almost too easy to detect what items were hidden in each diaper! The bulkier Huggies (plus their larger size) made this game a little more challenging, so you may want to bear that in mind if you plan to play this game. 

Measure Mom

Another classic, this game MUST be "pre-approved" by The Mommy!  I have met far too many women who are overly-sensitive about their bodies during pregnancy, and if your Guest of Honor is one such lady, I wouldn't advise playing this game. 

What worked best for me was the timing of this particular game.  While The Mommy is opening presents, the interest of the guests usually wanes after the first several gifts--especially if it is a Diaper Shower, where most of the gifts are diapers, wipes, etc.  This provided me the perfect opportunity to start passing around the yarn and the scissors-- it gave the guests something to do that was light-hearted, but did not compete with all the attention directed towards Mom.  Plus, since most women have played this game at a Baby Shower, it doesn't require much, if any, explanation.  So the materials can be passed around without interrupting the gift-opening.  By the time all the guests had had a chance to snip a length of yarn, the presents were all opened and Mommy was available to measure her belly.  This was a nice change from how I have seen it in the past-- if nothing else is going on, it can get too boring to sit and watch everyone pull and cut lengths of yarn. 

How to play:

Using a ball of yarn and some scissors, pull a length of yarn that you think accurately measures the Mommy's waistline.   When all guests have snipped a length of yarn, Mommy uses a length of yarn to measure herself; then, compares it to each length guessed/cut by her guests.  She who matches the actual length of Mom's belly wins the prize. 

Extras and Tidbits:

Prizes:

Seriously people, if you host a shower and play any games, you need to have some prizes.  And they need to be wrapped-- because winning a game is fun, but opening your own present at someone else's party is awesome! :)

The prize basket-- because I thought it was cute enough to photograph!

I ::heart:: curling ribbon and tissue paper!

Decoration:

For no particular reason, I love rubber duckies!  And these little cuties were  only $4 for a package of 12 of them.  It was an added expense, but they were a hit! I placed them on the table around the Diaper Cake, food, and drinks.  The guests loved them as much as I did, and at one shower, these little bundles of cuteness served as impromtu children's toys!   I had two sets of these ducks; one with blue bonnets and accessories, and one with pink. 

I didn't get a photo of the blue rubber duckies, though-- the Guest of Honor's mother was at that shower and liked them so much, she wanted to take them to use with her students!  While I wasn't planning on giving them away, she was so excited to use them I couldn't possibly have turned her down.

My Diaper Cake

While scouring the internet for Diaper Shower/Baby Shower, I discovered Diaper Cakes... possibly one of the cutest centerpiece ideas I have ever seen! 

(Click here to see some of my favorite examples, which 

I used as models for my own Diaper Cake)

After browsing various websites, I figured I had enough basic information to try and make my own.  The rest of this post is my attempt to document this Diaper Cake-making procedure. 

Step 1:

Use some kind of tall, cylindrical object to serve as your center stabilizer. Wine bottles are good, but I opted for a more, pregnancy-friendly beverage :)

Place the bottle on a serving tray of some sort. This will enable the Guest of Honor to carry the cake with her, should she choose to do so. In this particular instance, the Mommy just took the diapers that made the tiers of the cake.

Step 2:

The next part was the most interesting. And by interesting I mean aggravating. Seeing the pictures of other cakes online, I knew what the end result needed to look like. The problem was getting the diapers to stand up long enough on their sides to wrap a ribbon around it. If you have an extra set of hands to help you with these next 3 steps, you might want to use them, because I found myself wishing for company when I was working on the first layer.

Since I only had my own 2 hands with which to work, I had to improvize.  After some trial and error, I decided to lay 25 Size 1-2 diapers around the base of the bottle, making sure to stack them so that each one was under the next.

Like so:

Next, I found some string and tied a slipknot to allow the loop to expand and shrink. I expanded the loop of the knot so that it could loosely contain the fan-layered diapers. Slowly, I cinched up the knot-- this brought the diapers to a standing position.


Holding the knot in one hand, my other hand was free to arrange anything that needed some attention. (Sorry I don't have pics of this, as that would have required hand that I did not have to spare!)  Once I knew I was finished arranging the layer, I secured the knot so that it would not expand anymore.

Step 3: 

For the second tier, I used the same slipknot-strategy as I did for the first.  This tier only required 15-17 diapers. 

Step 4: 

Again, the slipknot saved my sanity.  This top tier only took 5-7 diapers. 

Step 5:

Once I had the diapers layered the way I wanted, I trimmed the ends of the string.  Ideally, this next step would involve a wide ribbon.  In the amount of time I gave myself to buy the materials, I couldn't find a ribbon that I liked enough to use... so, I improvized again and used paper streamer instead. 

..and for the price difference, it was worth it...

Step 6:

All cakes need a cute cake topper, and my Diaper Cake was no exception.  My friend is having another little boy, and she LOVES elephants... so this little toy I found from Target was perfect!  There wasn't a good way to secure the elephant to the cake or the bottle, but it stayed atop the cake throughout the shower, so it was not a problem. 

The finished product! 

The response I received from my guests upon seeing this as a centerpiece was exactly what I had hoped it would be.  All thought it was precious, and the Mommy ended up with all the diapers at the end of the Shower.  She almost didn't end up with the topper, however, because I was too attached to its cuteness by then!

Was it time consuming? A little... but I had a some time to kill the day before the shower, and after I had all the materials in my house, I would say the whole project probably took about an hour or so.  Remember, most of that time was spent "trial and error" style, so now that you know have the benefits of my mistakes, you could probably complete this Diaper Cake in less time.

Hopefully this was a useful post for you, and if you try this for yourself, I hope you enjoy the process (and the product) as much as I did.

 

Update:  2nd Diaper Shower Cake

2 weeks later, I hosted another Diaper Shower for my sister-in-law, Joy.  This time, Mr. Man was in the house while I was making the Diaper Cake, and no lie-- it took 15 minutes to make from start to finish.  The extra set of hands (plus the knowledge of having made it once before) definitely expedited the process! 

And here's how this one turned out, using Pampers Swaddlers, Size 1

Diaper Shower Menu

Today I hosted my first shower, a Diaper Shower for my best friend.  Today was a day full of friends, laughter, and learning opportunities-- all of which I will blog in the very near future.  But for now, I needed to write down the menu before I forgot.  One thing that I noticed is this:  by the end of the day, I had nearly NO leftovers!  Luckily, I did not run out of anything, but all the platters were left with only a few servings left.  In all the other times I've had friends over, I am left with more uneaten food than I know what to do with. 

But today, the amounts were perfect--so, I felt it appropriate to share. For 15 people, I had...

Buffalo Chicken Dip with 1 bag of Tostitos Scoops

Bagel Dip with 1 sleeve's worth of bagel pieces

Veggie Tray with Dip (tomatoes, celery, carrots, and cauliflower)

Fruit Tray with Dip (I cheated on this one... just bought the pre-assembled tray at the grocery store :))

Potato Chips with Dip

Pretzels

Taco Salad Dip (brought by a guest) with Tostitos Scoops.

For Drinks, I had to keep in mind that 5 of the women coming to the shower were pregnant, so I wanted to offer an array of caffeine-free beverages.  I ended up choosing 2-liters of
Caffeine-Free Diet Coke, Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Sprite, 7-Up, and Mountain Dew. 

Also, I offered two different punches-- one with Lime Sherbet and 7-Up, the other with White Zinfindel and Peach Schnapps, called Zinful Peach.  (Hey, just because some of the guests were unable to imbibe doesn't mean we all have to abstain ;-)).

For Dessert, we had a 1/4 sheet cake from a local grocery store known for yummy cakes with whipped cream icing (as requested by the Guest of Honor). 

Diaper Shower Poem (Version #2)

Tis the season for my friends to have babies!

My sister-in-law, Joy, is having her second child as well... and since I'm suddenly addicted to hosting events, I offered to throw her a Diaper Shower as well.

Don't know what a Diaper Shower is?  Look on this blog for my "Diaper Shower Poem" entry for a full explanation. :)

So.... I'm working on her invitations, and needed to include another poem to give guests an idea of what to expect.  Since I already had my first poem, I revised it to fit the needs of this particular event. 

And it goes a little something like this:

It’s a Diaper Shower!

If Mommy and Daddy

and Baby make three

Only a fourth could

bring so much glee!

To save Joy the trip of

searching the store,

Let’s shower her

with essentials galore!

Diapers and “wipies,”

lotions, and creams,

All will be used

to set the scene.

Since Trevin has put many

diapers to the test,

Pampers is the brand

that Mom likes best!

Swaddlers, BabyDry, or Cruisers

Sizes 1, 2, or 3…

All can be used

by this growing family.

Little Trevin is planning

to share all his things,

(His high chair, his crib,

and even his swings)

But even he understands

that cute baby sisters

Cannot wear clothes

designed for little misters!

Let’s help him out and

bring Baby (Last Name) #2

Some little-girl clothes—

they will be so cute!

Come celebrate

this new Baby Girl,

And shower Joy

with all the love in the world!

*If you prefer to bring something besides these items, you can find ideas on Joy’s registry at Target. Go to www.target.com to view her registry

Diaper Cakes

My new obsession is this Diaper Shower I'm throwing for my friend, Janine.  Considering that I hadn't even heard of diaper showers till recently, I definitely hadn't heard of diaper CAKES. They are freakin' adorable!!

Diapers are arranged to appear as a tiered cake... and serve as a centerpiece for the table and as a practical gift to Mom-to-be. 


Doing a quick Google search led me some of my favorite photos-- I'll definitely be using these as inspiration for when I make my own. 

(from amazingdiapercakes.com)

(from amazingdiapercakes.com)

(from creativepartiesandgifts.com)

(from toodles-gifts.com)

Eventually, I'm going to make one of my own... and when I do, I'll post a picture of it (no matter how awful it turns out! :))