Baby Shower Favors – Tokens of Love

There are many aspects of planning and hosting a baby shower that very enjoyable – from choosing the theme to planning the activities, you’ll find plenty of ways to make the event memorable. Choosing the baby shower favors for your guests certainly falls into this category.

First, you’ll want to budget to provide a favor for every guest, as well as one for the guest of honor herself. The number of favors you need, along with the amount of money you have to spend, will help determine what type of favors you can choose from. You can choose from inexpensive, do it yourself favors, or more expensive, individually personalized favors. It’s all up to you, your needs and your budget.

If you’re hosting a couple’s shower, you’ll want to choose favors that are appropriate for both men and women. You might choose a single favor for everyone or choose separate favors for the men and women. Or, if there will only be couples at the shower, you might choose a favor for each couple rather than for each individual. If you go this route, you can choose a more expensive favor the couple to share, as well as smaller, less expensive individual favors, like candies or scented candles.

Speaking of candies, edible treats are always a popular favor. You can choose something simple, like cookies or candy, or even a bar of chocolate. The packaging you use can be simple or as ornate as you desire. There are a number of favor containers that are inexpensive and that can be personalized using ribbons, tags, charms and stickers. You can even order printed, personalized labels to decorate chocolate bars or use your computer skills to design and print your own.

Sometimes the container itself can turn an ordinary item into a favor appropriate for a baby shower. For example, decorated gift bags make any gift or item more festive. You might also consider using small clean paint cans to hold snack mix – in plastic bags, of course – and put your own personalized label on the outside. For a creative container, take a small paper bag and holding the front and back together, punch two holes in the top of the bag, about an inch down from the top and two inches apart. Thread a length of ribbon or cord through both holes from the back and tie in a bow on the front. You can choose to further decorate the bag with stickers or rubber stamps.

You can also fill a reusable container, such as a water bottle, mug or even a shot glass with candies to make a fun favor. Your guests will appreciate receiving a gift that’s fun to look at and functional.

Overall, the best favors are the things that guests will enjoy, such as edibles, or will use, such as coasters, picture frames, bottle openers, bottle stoppers or key chains. Favors that are simply decorative often end up being tossed out, especially if they don’t fit in with your guest’s personal decorating schemes.

Baby Shower Gift Wrap - Make The Celebration Colorful

Once upon a time there was a baby shower where all the gifts were wrapped in pastel shades of pink and blue. It might have been a lovely shower, but we'll never know –because the gift table put all the guests to sleep.

Of course, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, and pink and blue packages are still wonderful, but why be limited to tradition? There’s a world of colors out there to choose from. To start, consider some of the color combinations that are popular right now.

If you want a classic look, start with a base of white wrapping paper. Instead of going with a traditional pastel, choose a really bright accent color, like hot pink, fuchsia or lime green. Think about adding an accent or two of black. Toile patterns are also very popular right now.

For a boy, think about different shades of blue. Turquoise blue and chocolate brown go well together, as do bright navy, baby blue and white. Add accent ribbon in these colors or find a nice wrapping paper that incorporates those shades.

For a girl, choose an unusual shade of pink, like coral, paired with orange, red or sky blue. If you want to choose a pastel pink, pair it with a color with some contrast to make the pink pop. Try burgundy, navy, emerald green or even black instead of the standard white.

Also, look at wrapping paper designed specifically for children. Ducks, teddy bears, dolls, ships, cartoon characters – any of these can make good, colorful choices for wrapping baby shower presents. And what's more perfect than “Happy Birthday” paper to celebrate the baby’s first birth day?

Giving a gift for baby's first Christmas? Go ahead and break out the Christmas wrapping paper! Your gift is sure to stand out and be remembered.

There's also no reason gift wrap has to be made of paper. Consider wrapping your present in a blanket instead – the new mom will get two gifts in one! A few layers of colorful tulle can also provide enchanting gift wrap. Even colorful cellophane can be used to surprising effect. You can even experiment with a layer of tulle over a layer of cellophane?

If you have a child, consider turning them loose with a box of crayons or paints and a roll of plain white paper. You'll be guaranteed to have the most artistic and unique gift wrap at the party.

Or, if you’re the artistic one in the house, consider making your own gift wrap. You can use rubber stamps or even colorful markers to decorate your own gift wrap. If you’re wrapping a small gift, consider using paper you’ve designed and printed using your computer printer or make a file that you can have printed at your local office supply store.

Finally, you might also try topping your gift with colorful ribbons, a baby toy or even a bouquet of balloons. Whatever you choose, the wonderful gift wrap will stand out and leave the new mom dying of anticipation to see the gift inside.

Baby Shower Gifts – Spread Love and Affection in an Adorable Way

There are few things more lovable than a newborn baby. However, choosing the perfect baby shower gift is truly an act of love and affection for the baby yet to arrive, as well as for the parents-to-be.

One unique gift you might consider is a belly casting kit. These kits allow the mother-to-be to make a cast of her pregnant stomach or torso. For most women, pregnancy happens only once or twice in a lifetime and it can be hard to remember how their tummies looked. They’ll cherish the memento and enjoy showing it off once their children are grown up.

Reading bedtime stories to the new baby will also be one of the parents' most treasured memories as the baby grows. For this reason, consider a gift of your favorite bedtime story books or choose a nice copy of any of the classic bedtime stories. A CD of soothing lullaby music and a cuddly blanket or two will round out this wonderful gift nicely. Or, if the parents-to-be know the gender of the baby and have already chosen a name, you can special order a personalized bedtime story featuring the child as the hero or heroine.

Diaper cakes are also enjoying a resurgence and offer an adorable way to provide a gift that will be much used and appreciated. To make one, simply tie bunches of diapers – disposable or cloth – into cake “tiers” and decorate the “cake” with baby toys, pacifiers or other baby items. You might also consider giving a “bouquet” of flowers made from baby socks or baby wash cloths.

Photo albums and memory books are another wonderful gift choice. You can fill an album or part of an album with photographs and remembrances of the happy, expectant couple. Thinking about how the couple met and the kinds of activities they enjoy sharing can also help you choose a meaningful and loving baby shower gift. For example, if the couple loves to ski, you might give the baby a snow globe and a warm, fleece blanket. Or, if the couple loves music, how about a music box or a crib toy designed to play soothing lullabies?

In addition, every baby should grow up in a house with a rocking chair. If the happy couple doesn't already have one, consider purchasing one for them. It need not be expensive – a thrift store rocking chair refinished in nursery colors and outfitted with a comfortable cushion would make a perfect gift. Just imagine how many loving hours will be spent in that rocking chair, helping the new baby drift off to sleep.

Finally, if you’re hosting the shower, consider making a garland from yarn and a number of tiny baby socks. Babies need lots of socks to keep their tiny feet warm and baby socks are always getting lost. Not only will a baby sock garland be a wonderful decoration, the mom-to-be can hang it in the nursery and pull of extra socks as needed.