Creative Baby Shower Gift

Hi Moms,

I am looking to put together a creative baby shower gift for a friend who is having her first child. Have you attended a recent shower and thought, "wow that was a creative way they put that gift together"!?? Let me know your ideas.

As always, thank you Mom's for all your terrific input!!

Hi Jackie,
I once matched the book, "Baby-gami: Baby wrapping for Beginners" by Andrea Sarvady, with a set of swaddling blankets.

The book is full of cute photos of clever ways to swaddle and sling infants (along with a basic lesson on why swaddling is so important); as well as simple instructions for making home-made swaddling blankets.

(I think it went over well - ha, ha!)
T

I like the idea of every guest bringing a book for the baby with their gift. Its a great way to start a library for the little one. They can even write a little message to the baby in it. The is a web site www.cutest-baby-shower-ideas.com that shows you how to make wash cloth lollipops and sock rose bouquets. Good luck and have fun.

I always gie the same gift at al baby showers. well except for my two grandsons i gave them the entire bedroom set. what i do is find a bathtub and i fill it with all kinds of small things. ishop at the dollar store a lot.so i can get a bunch of stuff for cheap and it is so fun opening every single little thing. like baby shampoo. diapers, cute outfits form the dollar store, booties,socks, towels, books, stuffed animals and i always include stuff for the mom like bath stuff lotions nail polish, teas, and stuff for the dad like recieving blankets and onesies and cookies and slippers for mom and dad. also put in moist towlettes and tubs of santiizing towles for dad to use on the car. i wrap each thing individually so they have fun opening it when they get home. when the baby is born i always bring a frozen meal with me when i go see the baby. i dont go to the hospital because i am a nurse and i know what a nuisance visitors are so i wait until they get home and settled . i remember when i had my last baby, a friend brought two chicken pot pies and a tray of lasagne and that was the best gift ever. you can also include house cleaning cuponsif you are close with the mommy and she would allow you to come clean for her one day. dollar store has some really cute outfits for like 3 to 5 dollars

Hi Jackie~

I love baby showers because I get to make a diaper cake. They are so much simpler than they look. I started making them after I looked at a few examples and I always thought mine were cuter :-) I go off the gift registry and get things that "mommy" needs and I always get tons of compliments. Buy 2 different size diapers (newborns for top layer and size one for bottom) and roll them (you can either tape them but I found rubberbands work better)...then put the other items on the cake in a creative way. Then you tie ribbon around each layer with a bow (that also hides the rubberbands). They are too pretty to use.

Have fun!
Melodi

Check out www.kiddiecomforts.com

Hi Jackie,
What I have been doing is finding wipes, shampoos, baby wash, powder, diaper rash cream, etc at the grocery stores when they are 10/$10. Then Ross usually has decent priced outfits, socks, etc. I then wrap everything individually in different colored tissue paper and arrange it in a basket (one that could be used to decorate the room afterwards, or a laundry basket of some sort, Ross usually has good inexpensive ones). The mom to be seems to always enjoy opening up all the different items. And one can never have too much baby powder, baby wash, etc. I always end up getting more than I originally planned, so make sure you get the basket after your done shopping, so you know what size to get.
But most of all, have fun!!!!!
Good luck & congrats to the 1st time mom!!!!

What I found helpful was larger size diapers and clothes. You always get so much of the little sized stuff. I was grateful for the size 3 diapers and the 6 month sized clothes. It was less that I had to go out and buy for myself. For my baby shower, my SIL assigned everyone a different sized diaper to bring. That way, I didn't have too many in any size. It was great! I didn't have to buy diapers until I got to size three. Then if we outgrew a size, I had a new pack right there waiting.

I loved my gift of a baby bathtub filled with soaps, shampoo, washcloths, baby towels, powder, etc. If they're having a boy and circumcising him, petroleum jelly would be a great addition as well!

For my first shower they did a scrapbooking activity. Each guest designed and signed their own scrapbook page to include in the baby's first year scrapbook. Each person chose a holiday or special "first" event to make a page for! It was really a lot of fun, even for the not so creative types-LOL! You could make her a similar book or buy the supplies for all of the guests to do.

I agree with Melodi on the diaper cake! If you want some examples I can send you pictures of the last one I made - it was awesome! I recommend using larger diapers though - a couple different sizes... that way the mom can keep it on display for a while and have some size four diapers later when she really needs them. Also, for the dad I recommend the Baby Owner's Manual, my husband LOVED it!
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Owners-Manual-Instructions-Trouble-Shooting/dp/1931686238

Hello!

From a creative point of view, when our daugher was due, I received one of those diaper cakes mentioned before. They had made it 3-tiered and wrapped the layers in receiving blankets, so we did not see the diapers initially. They had tied the blankets down with gift-ribbon and tied all sorts of little things to it as well, i.e. rattles, socks, pacifiers, you name it. It was beautiful!
I also got a "basket of useful stuff" and really appreciated it as well. There were wipes, petroleum jelly, shampoo, hats, bottles - it was great. I am still using the laundry basket it all came in, so while maybe not as creative, very welcome! I guess you could focus on a theme for such a basket, and get creative that way.

Hope this helps!
Deille

I love the idea of the diaper cakes. I have seen them done several different ways. Google it if you have never seen them before.

A friend of mine received a menu...Yes, a menu. She could choose from several things on the menu and then the woman who gave it to her would cook it and deliver it whenever they wanted. I thought that was a great idea--especially for first time parents who are preoccupied with other things to even think about eating.

It was also presented in a very cute way. (i.e. fancy paper etc.)

Hi Jackie N,

You could make a diaper cake (the possibilities are endless!) or a bouquet made out of onesies, washcloths, socks, etc. all rolled into the shape of roses. Wrap the bouquet in a baby blanket like you would a bunch of flowers. If it's a couples shower and the dad is going to be present, make him a "daddy's tools of the trade" utility belt filled with diapers, wipes, goggles, tongs, clothespin, safety pins, rattle, etc.

I went to a shower where the gift was a laundry basket (nice one) with a laundry line and when you pulled the line out the gifts of baby clothes were hanging on the line - it was great. Everyone loved it. You place tissue paper on the bottom and then on the top after you have put the clothes on the clothes line in the basket. And all sorts of things can go one, blanket, linens, washclothes, onsies, outfits. It was so fun to see the 'next' item.

Hi Jackie,

I've seen the "Diaper Cake" at many baby showers. Its very cute and the new mommy has always liked it! Have fun at the baby shower!

Irene

Hi Jackie, the moms have given you some SUPER cute ideas. I own an online children's boutique and we offer a lot of products that are personalized with custom embroidery (names with bling, monograms, designs etc...) If you like one of the ideas that the other moms' came up with such as the diaper cake, you can always take it to the next level and I can do the personalization on onesies, blankets, towels etc... Or you can check out some of the gift sets we offer. We accept custom orders, so if you like our products we can talk on the phone or via email and come up with something super creative and unique to this particular mom.

Here are some gifts we have done for other clients: I made a friend an adorable swarovski crystal bracelet in the tinest size for a newborn baby. We included a nice poem and the mom had her baby wear the bracelet home from the hospital. The newborn wore the bracelet for 3 months. They are so tiny and immobile that they can't pull it off at that age! We did a baby bath tub from the mom's registry filled with bath supplies and one of our hooded towels with the childs name embroidered on it, infant princess items (bling onesie, teeny tiny tutu for a newborn, and a headband with bow for a newborn) and we put it all in a silver bucket with a set of princess magnets that the child can use when they get older on the outside of the bucket and wrap it clear cellophane with a giant bow on top. We also did this bucket with our princess theme burps, bibs, etc instead of the outfit.

I have a ton of other ideas. If you want, send me an email at [email protected] and we can chat some more. Also our phone number is on our website and you can give me a call.

www.threepurplepigs.com

You might want to check out this web site http://www.i-just-a-baby.com. She has hand made blankets and baby braclets. I think it's always great to get personal gifts as opposed to what you can buy at the store (other than diapers and books). You can also make something for the new Dad. My husband and I recently made a diaper tool belt for my nieces husband. It was a hit! We purchased a tool belt from Home Depot and filled it with diapers, wipes, nose plug, goggles, gloves, ear plugs and diaper rash ointment. We even purchased a retractable badge holder (from Staples) and attached a pacifier to the tool belt. It was a great way of making my nieces husband feel included. I'm sure you can also find ideas for the tool belt on the web.

Hi Jackie
here is one you probably already know about but my step father did this for my sister and i thought it was so creative you get a couple packages of diapers 1$ open the package and roll each one standing them up the object here is to make a 3 tier cake you need cardboard cut into 3 circles each one being a little smaller then the last put tissue paper in the middle to fill unless you have the funds to use all diapers (boy didnt think it would be this hard to explain i hope you can visulize this) after you have your first teir bound them together with ribbon then place your second piece of cardboard on top and place diapers all on the surface rolling each one and standing them up. after all tiers are put together top with a small teddy bear or big bow and you can shove little things in all around like pacifiers and rattles or flowers anything you can go crazy very cute and makes quite a presentation. Have fun!

the last baby shower had the cutest idea.... little plain white onesies from newborn to 24 months were provided to all guests with fabric markers...... each guest designed their own onesie for the new baby & then there was a contest for the cutest one...... every single guest LOVED this very much

also... you can make an altered paint can (http://www.craftcritique.com/2007/05/altered-paint-cans.html) and load it with little baby basics... or make one for mom with pampering gifts for her ... the can could later be a cute decoration and used again