HOW TO PICK A BABY SHOWER THEME

By ANN MACDONALD

Baby showers are just fun! What could be more joyful than a party to celebrate a new arrival? However, there are many things to do when you are the one planning the shower. The first thing on your list is usually picking a baby shower theme.

1. Think about who will be coming to the shower. Will it be women only or will there be couples and families? If you are holding a co-ed baby shower, you could choose a theme that is a little less frilly and cute than you might consider for a female-only event. Since your theme can affect the food, games and decorations, you want it to be appealing to all of your guests..
2. Another factor in selecting a theme is the shower's location. Is the celebration being held in your home, at the office or in a park? For example, if you are throwing the party at the beach or in a park, you may want to incorporate elements from those locations into your theme.
3. It is critical that you consider the interests and preferences of the mother-to-be. You should choose a theme that will please her; consider picking a theme that will highlight her hobbies or just incorporate things that she likes, such as a favorite color or flower. Is she a big sports fan? You can work elements from her favorite game into your party plans.
4. One way to find a baby shower theme the parents are sure to like is to utilize the nursery theme. Since they have chosen it for their baby's room, you can rest assured they will like it and it will make many of the gifts look cohesive with your party decorations. For example, if the nursery is being decorated in a Winnie the Pooh motif, you can easily find party decorations, accessories and tableware that also use Pooh Bear
5. Consider the baby or babies. Is the new arrival going to be a firstborn or a fourth? Have Mom and Dad announced the gender? Are multiples expected? All of these pieces of information can help you pick the theme for your shower. For example, if a firstborn girl is expected and Mom loves frilly, feminine patterns, you cannot go wrong with a lacy pink design for all your decorations. If it is a shower for twins, consider a Noah's Ark theme with pairs of animals. Has the baby already been born? You may want to get decorations and favors printed with the baby's newborn pictures!
6. Whatever you choose, make sure to have fun with the planning -- your enjoyment will be evident in the finished product. A happy theme will set the stage for an event that is sure to be memorable and a perfect welcome to the new little one!

Quick Tip---Unless the shower is a surprise, ask the mom-to-be for her opinion on any themes you have in mind.

ABC'S & 123'S

If the expectant mother is or was a teacher or educator, this will be a perfect and fun baby shower theme idea. This idea is also a great baby shower theme to throw for a 2nd or 3rd child. This is because the mother already has all the basic baby items like baby toys, diaper bags, etc. So, this theme could be a children's book baby shower to help her build her children's library. 1st time mothers also use this theme because it is so fun to decorate with alphabet blocks and dream about reading books to her baby!

INVITATIONS

Vellum is one of the most popular types of baby shower invitations today. Vellum is a thin, semi-opaque, semi-clear, milky colored paper.

How to use Vellum...
To make invitations for an ABC baby shower theme idea,
1st go to a scrapbook or craft store and buy some sheets of ABC, 123, alphabet, or school themed paper. There are all types and styles of printed paper that fit an ABC's theme. You may be able to get at least 2 invitations from one 8½ by 11 inch sheet. It all depends on how big or small you make the invitations. A 4” by 6” invitation is a recommended size. At the store, buy the same amount of sheets of vellum. You may want to buy some ribbon or metal brads. You may want to use either the ribbon or brads to fasten the vellum to the paper.

Now for the fun part! On the computer, type up the information you want on the invitations. You could write something like this:

Do you know your ABC's?
A is for Almost here
B is for Baby
C is for Celebration!

Come celebrate an ABC's Baby Shower for Danielle Henderson
May 25, 2007

1628 Anderson St.

Given By Ashley Holifield

RSVP to Ashley at 555-555-1254
Danielle and her little girl are registered at Babies-R-Us.

Or something like that.

Next, print your wording onto your vellum. You may have to adjust and play around with the printer settings to get it to print two invitations on one page. So before you start printing on your sheets of vellum, use blank white paper first until you get it just how you want it. Then, print off as many as you are going to need. Then, cut the vellum down to about 3” by 5” size with the wording centered in the middle.

Next, cut your ABC's themed paper to 4” by 6” size. Then place the vellum on top of the ABC's themed paper and fasten it at the top with two brads, equally spaced in the center. Or punch two holes, equally spaced (about 1-2 inches apart) in the vellum and the paper; then loop come ribbon through both the paper and the vellum.

Finish it by tying the ribbon in a cute bow on top.

You are now ready to send them off!!

Now, you do not have to use vellum paper. You may just as well print the wording on light-colored alphabet or school patterned paper!! Cut to your preferred size and you are done!!

If this is going to be a BOOK BABY SHOWER, be sure to tell the guests to bring along their favorite children's book as a gift.

ANIMAL THEMES

Using this theme can be very inexpensive. This can be a very fun event with cute little cartoon animals decorated around the room. When you this theme you will want to think about the mother to be. Does the mother-to-be have a favorite animal? Maybe a dog, a cat, a monkey, a bunny, bird, etc. That animal may perhaps be the animal for the occassion. Keep in mind the things that the mother-to-be likes and try to pick a theme based off of that. Animals are really easy to use as a theme. There are lots of stickers, cliparts, and fun games that can be based on specific animals. So, try this theme and tell me how things turn out.

AMAZON PRODUCTS

Click and visit my Baby Shower Wonders Amazon Store--http://astore.amazon.com/bsw-20

TICK-TOCK GOES THE CLOCK

Time of Day –-

Create an invitation that looks like a clock and set the time on the clock. Make sure the time you set on the clock is different for each guest. The guest must bring a gift that mom or baby would use at that time of the day. If you set the time to 12:30 pm lunch time, a themed gift would be a breastfeeding pillow, bottles, or a food-mill to make baby food for an older baby. If the time is set to maybe 7:30pm, a themed gift would be baby bath or oil.