Preparing for Baby #3 - Baby Shower

The Baby Shower

Thank God, someone else hosts our baby shower! At 30+ weeks, you don't have the patience or energy to organize a party where you're the center of attention to a bazillion people you haven't seen since you were skinny!

Here are a few ideas, tips and tricks that can help make your shower special.

Decorations:
Visit Martha Stewart for themes and pictures to give you ideas. Dollarstore is a great place to find your decor items (table clothes, napkins, balloons, etc.) including tissue paper to make these pom-poms! Save money on flowers by making your own simple arrangements (see below) vs. buying large pre-made bouquets. A photo slideshow adds a unique touch. Most computers allow you to burn a slideshow dvd to play on your tv with your dvd player. Include baby bump pictures of yourself, pregnant guests and pictures of your guest's children. The slideshow was a hit at my shower!

Games/Activities:

Too many games and you'll run out of time! We had two games and one "project". Price is Right - Baby Edition and Baby Word Scramble were simple and fun! As a project, we had each guest paint a letter and something that started with that letter on a large canvas. We ended up with a beautiful painting for Jane's nursery (see below). At my sister's shower, guests wrote a note to baby that was put into a time capsule for her to open when she is older. Another unique idea! Gift-cards for Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Shoppers Drug Mart or a few Scratch-and-win tickets make great prizes.

Food & Drink:

Showers are typically mid-afternoon, so fresh sammies, fruit/veggie trays, chips-n-dip, etc. should be enough. I also made a few sweets (mostly because I wanted to eat them myself)! My Mom's lemon cupcakes are to die for! I used a ducky-shaped cookie cutter to make Sugar Cookies and also made Chocolate-covered Strawberries w/ white chocolate drizzle - heavenly. Red food colouring tinted the icings/drizzle pink and looked awesome. The recipes are fairly easy. The sugar cookies can be tricky... use a lot of flour to roll out and cut the dough. For drinks, stick with the basics - pop, wine, coffee/tea...our "Fetus-Friendly" Punch disappeared quickly! :)

Favours:
We filled plastic icing bags with pink jelly beans as favours. They were cute, inexpensive and tasty! I also love the idea of paper bags filled with different types of candy from your childhood (oh, I miss the 80's) - garbage can candy, popeye cigarettes, big league chew, nerds, etc. Finish off with small "thank you" labels printed on coloured paper. I'm sure guests would love these!

Try your best to stay on time! I recommend opening gifts an hour before you plan on ending the shower. It's better to have guests stay around after to chat than to force everyone to stay late... they are very likely sick of hearing about how "huge" you are, your acid reflux and your other "sexy" pregnancy symptoms! ;)

Lastly, schedule some post-shower relax time... the only day I had swollen feet during pregnancy was the day after my shower. I was completely exhausted!

Jen :)