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When throwing a baby shower, there is so much to plan and so much to do. 

First you need to sit down and write the guest list, and then mail the invitations.   You can either make the invitations or buy them.  When choosing the time for your shower, find out the most convenient time for the mother to be. (What’s a shower without her?)

Once that is taken care of, you will need to think of what you will do at the shower.   First buy some prizes for the games.  Different people choose different types of prizes.   At some showers, the host will give baby items as the prize (usually the winner will give the prize to mother) or the prizes can be small things like candles, key chains, picture frames, etc, that the winner takes home for themselves.

     There are many different websites that will list games to play. Some of the games are cheap, and some are on the more expensive side. Here are a few examples:

• The clothespins/bow/ game: give everyone a clothespins or a bow.  Pick out a choice word – one that is said a lot during a shower. (Usually baby or cute works well- or even when someone crosses their legs).   The object of the game is that when someone says one of these words or crosses their legs and someone else points it out, they get the persons clothespins.  Whoever has the most at the end of the game, is the winner.  
• Another game is the baby food game. Get about 10 jars of baby food and let everyone taste each jar, then they have to write down what flavor it is.  Whoever gets the most right wins. 
• One game that is fun and interesting is the toilet paper game.  When each guest comes in, hand them a roll of toilet paper and tell them to tear some off.  Do not tell them what it is for.  If they have been to a baby shower before, they will think that it is supposed to be the size of the mothers tummy.  After all guests have arrived, tell ask them if they know what it is for.   Then surprise them by telling them it is their story paper.  For each square of paper they have, they have to tell a fact or short story about them, or the mother to be. After telling them the rules, you might find that some peoples paper has gotten even shorter, and that there is now toilet paper stuck down in the couch.

   There are many more games out there besides the three.

    You will also need to chose what to eat. Some people don’t like chocolate, some don’t like vanilla, so Marble cakes tend to be the way to go when choosing a cake, unless you want to have two.   Be creative with the food.   Most people usually serve nuts and mints.  Try a vegetable or fruit tray.  Maybe even some miniature sandwiches.  Whichever way you go, it is sure to be a hit. 

     Be sure to thank all of the guests for attending. Mother should also write personalized handwritten notes or thank you cards to each guest.

     Going to baby showers is a tradition that has been around for what seems like forever.   Every female I know has been to one.   You go, you eat, you play games and you talk about babies. Seems easy. The technical aspects are what makes a baby shower memorable. Here’s some advice if you want to give a memorable baby shower.

     The food should be a little traditional and a little what you know who ever is coming will want. It you are expecting a lot of young friends pizza is good. But always include bite size sandwiches, peanuts, and mints because everyone expects them. Come on, you know it’s not a baby shower without those multi color mints!

     Games are fun and can break the ice between people who really don’t know everyone else that well. They can also give you a little insight on the way people think.   They can also be used to give everyone a little information on the coming event.   Some games are traditional like the ribbon guessing how big the belly is and the clothespin game  for when you say the word “baby”. The dirty diaper game with candy bars is fun and unusual.   You can also do the baby food taste challenge.   There are a bunch of games on the internet that you might be interested in if you need more.

     A little advice to make your baby shower a little different is to purchase postcards or notes and have everyone address them at the party. Then when the baby is born and the mom is recuperating you can send them a note, or even email, to let them know everything is OK. The one complaint that is common about baby showers is you go to a lot of them but you don’t always see the baby until the little one is almost walking.

When throwing a baby shower for someone, think about who your guest of honor would like to have invited.  Ask her for a list of people that she would like to invite.  This will make it enjoyable for all. 

Also, don’t overdo the games.  One or two games are sufficient. Make them fit the personality of your guest. If she likes cutesy, do cutesy.  If she is more modern, choose a game that is more modern.  For ideas for games, the internet is a great resource.

Another great tip is to have someone record names and gifts for the mom-to-be’s thank you notes.  This makes a great piece of memorabilia as well.  Take pictures of the mom and all of those in attendance.  Give these photos to the mom for her scrapbook. 

If you are the guest of honor, be sure to be very gracious. Make a big deal about all of the gifts you open. Look at the person who gave the gift and say thank you personally.  It will make her feel great. 

Be sure that the mom has a comfortable seat.  She will probably be uncomfortable at this point in pregnancy, so try and give her the best seat in the house.

     First of all, keep in mind that this is a celebration!

     Games should be included. The most memorable game for me was when the participants were blindfolded and we had four different types of babyfood to taste. We were not told any information and we had to tell aloud what we thought numbers one, two, three and four flavors were. Whoever had the most or all correct, won. It was a funny challenge. The remarks about the babyfood alone made our sides hurt with laughter.  Another game that I’ve played is put the diaper on the doll. Or course, this is done blindfolded as well. It shows who the novices are and which one can really do it in their sleep. As you can tell from the examples given, games don’t have to be a big expense. Just simple and fun.

Gifts for the shower can come from a registry,  I think every retail store has one now, or there are fun and unique gift baskets available online.  Another great idea is diapers and wipes [Editor's Note: For some unique diaper gift presentations, see our diaper cakes ] .    A baby will go through their share of diapers very quickly and it is one of those new born expenses that most overlook.   To me, diapers and wipes are the perfect gifts.

Don’t forget the guest. Although the focus is on the mother and baby, have prizes for the games played and party favors for everyone in attendance.

Sometimes the littlest detail brings the biggest smile, and being happy sure does go hand-in-hand with having fun. Remember this is a celebration after all!

Baby showers can be fun but there are a couple of things to keep in mind to make them perfect.

     The first thing to remember is when you plan the food, take into account that some pregnant women have a restricted diet, so organize what you are going to serve while thinking about the moms restrictions.  Be prepared to alter your menu accordingly.  Regarding the decorations, there are plenty of themes out there to choose from.  It is always easier if you know the baby’s sex, but if you don’t, simply think of using colors that are not directly associated with a girl or a boy, like yellow or green.  In other words avoid blue and pink [note from The Babbling Baby - a combination of pink and blue with a neutral color can also work wonderfully for a neutral shower] .

Also, make the party entertaining by playing games. Some of the more amusing ones are:  Bottle Races, where each participant takes a bottle filled with a liquid and sucks the bottle as a baby would.  Whoever drinks the most liquid in a specific time wins a price.   Guess The Gerber’s, where you take the labels off of baby food jars and have a participant guess the food (carrots, peas, sweet potato).   The more jars of different kinds of foods the more fun it is to play.   Guess Mom’s Tummy Size, has each participant pull yarn to the size they believe would fit perfectly around the pregnant mother’s tummy.   After everyone cuts their string, compare the results to the Mommy-To-Be’s actual tummy. Give a prize to the whoever is the closest!

     There are many things to think about when throwing a baby shower.   How many guests will be attending?   Where will the shower be held?   Will you serve food?   Will you play games?   What type of prizes will be passed out?   Who is in charge of keeping track of which presents came from what guests?   And the list goes on and on.   Just tackle one thing at a time, write everything down so you don’t forget, and stay in contact with the mother-to-be, she should be on board with all that you do.

     Throwing a baby shower can be very fun, rewarding and challenging all at the same time. There are so many things to think about when planning a shower, but the end result makes all the hard work worth it. When planning a baby shower, just remember that you are doing this for that special mother-to-be. It is a day for her and the baby she is growing inside her.

   Some neat ideas for baby showers:

• Get a piggy bank and tell all your guests to bring spare change from their houses. Use the piggy bank to -start a college fund for the baby.
• Have a themed party. For my sister’s baby shower, we did a beach theme and decorated the hall accordingly. We had people show up in beach wear, served a picnic, and had drinks with the little umbrella’s in them. I hand made some really cute sandy invites too.
• Have fun with the food. I once did a potato/salad/taco bar that was real easy to do, all the toppings were the same for the different items.

I have lots of fun planning baby showers, and you should too!

A baby shower should be about fun and merriment.  It is a time in which a woman is celebrating the birth of child.  This woman is gathering her close friends and family together in order to take part in this incredible moment in her life.   A friend of mine had a baby shower a few months ago.  I organized the shower at my house and sent out invitations to her friends and family.  The shower was a big success. 

There were finger foods, such as sandwiches, fruit and vegetables, as well as, blue punch.  The punch was blue because my friend was expecting a baby boy.

In addition to food, I also had games planned for the shower.  One of the games was a diaper game.  For this game, I had prepared three diapers, each with a different kind of candy bar melted into the diaper.  Each woman had a piece of paper and a pen.  Their goal was to smell the candies in the diapers and try to guess what the candies were.   However, the women had no idea what candies were even used in the game.  The game can be somewhat gross, but the gals had a blast with the game. 

When the game was completed we started unwrapping presents.   Afterward, the ladies relaxed with each other and chatted for a long while. It was a very fun day. It was a nice chance for a group of ladies to get together and bond with each other.

We offer all of our guest an opportunity to comment and share their own stories, tips, and ideas.  Here is one article that was written by a guest.

When my twenty-six year old daughter was pregnant, she was not sure she was going to marry the baby’s father. She didn’t have many girlfriends at the time, either, and no one who would take responsibility for a shower. I wanted this to be a time of showing my support for her, so I decided to throw her a shower myself. I invited a few of her girlfriends, but I also invited about a dozen of my friends, women who’d had children and who’d known her since she was a child. What I decided to do was have a tea party motif. I went to a local cafe that serves afternoon tea and ordered enough scones and tea sandwiches for the small crowd. I did the table in white and blue (we knew it was to be a boy) netting, and hung some simple decorations  around the living room. I gathered my pretty teapots for hot water and my teabags of various herbal and non-herbal varieties and put the teas in attractive baskets. We picked up the scones and sandwiches so the bill was not too high. My friends were so supportive of my daughter. We all loved the feminine nature of the teaparty and had a great time sipping tea and buttering scones and eating cucumber sandwiches. After we’d eaten and she’d opened presents, we had a time where the elders could share their hopes for the new mom and tips for mothering. It was really a very touching time and my daughter loved it. My grandson is new almost two and things have gone very well in part because this circle of support has always been there for us.