Ark Childrens Kids

Making a Baby Shower Memorable

Are you in charge of planning a baby shower?  Do you need a baby shower theme?  Decorations? Favors?  This guide will give you baby shower ideas, whether you are a sister, friend, or coworker.  

Baby Shower Themes

The first and most difficult thing to do when planning a baby shower is to decide on a theme.  After this has been finalized, much of the rest of the shower will plan itself.

There are several ways to pick a theme.

A baby shower theme can relate to the mother-to-be and what she needs.  It can be a color, a nursery theme, or a specific type of item.  For instance, if the nursery is decorated in flowers, the theme could be "A Baby's Garden."  If it is decorated in a sports motif, the theme could be the parents' favorite sports team.  All the gifts would then coordinate with the room.  If the nursery is painted with frogs, the theme could be "Green."  This way, the guests can be a little more creative in their giving.  Or the theme could be "Bedtime," prompting guests to bring pajamas, blankets, and crib items.

For a second (or third, or fourth) time mother, the theme can be really creative.  For someone who already has almost everything they need, a theme such as "Reading," in which everyone brings books for the baby (and maybe for the older children as well) would be a nice change of pace.  

Some people do not like to attend showers for second time mothers, because they feel that they have already received what they needed for their first child and are just being greedy.  If you feel this may be the case for your guests (such as a group of coworkers), throw a baby shower in which the invitation clearly states not to bring a present.  Or spend some money on a nice gift (for instance, a gift certificate to a restaurant, spa, or hotel), and ask that guests bring a specific item (diapers, specific baby food) in exchange for a raffle ticket.  They can even bring as many items as they would like in exchange for several tickets.  That way, people who wish to be generous can still give the mother-to-be a useful gift, and no one feels obligated to bring anything.  At the end of the night, raffle off the prize.

Some other theme ideas include:
Look What the Stork is Bringing
Noah's Ark (good for a shower where the guys are invited too!)
Alphabet Soup
Blue is for Boy

Baby Shower Decorations

The decorations should flow from the theme.  A color theme is the most flexible and inexpensive, although a specific theme such as "Teddy Bears" will be easy, as you can buy coordinating tablecloths, plates, and napkins.

Keep the decorations simple.  Put a nice tablecloth under the cake and spread some confetti rattles around it.  Tie some balloons to the buffet or appetizer table.  Add some pastel streamers across the living room, and you're done.  After all, the focus should be on the mother-to-be.

If you are having the shower at work, the decorations can be even easier.  Simply put the cake under a white tablecloth and add a bouquet of balloons.  A lunchtime event is perfect for the office.  Many of the baby shower ideas will work for any location, indoors or out.

Baby Shower Favors

After the shower, give your guests something to remember it by.  Candle holders in the shape of a baby item, such as a rattle or booties, are popular and easy to find online or in a party supply store.  Other favor ideas include magnets or candies in a pretty gift box.  Of course, let the favors flow from the theme.  At "Tea Party" themed baby shower, guests might receive tea cups and saucers.  At a "Pamper Party," an idea increasingly popular for mothers who already have several children and therefore most of the stuff they actually need, they might take home spa accessories such as a loofah or bubble bath.

Baby Shower Schedule

Typically, a baby shower will last approximately two hours.  If a full meal will be served, be sure to indicate this on the invitation so guests can plan accordingly.  Usually, however, some light appetizers, punch, and cake are all that is needed.  The following is a general idea of a schedule.

As your guests arrive, serve them some appetizers, and let them sign a guest book.  One idea is to make this an advice book, allowing each guest to write down one piece of advice they would give the new mother.

Serve simple appetizers.  Two to three dishes is best, along with some cheese, crackers, chips, dip, and fruit.  Some ideas for munchies that are easy and can be made ahead of time include:

Deviled Eggs: Add salsa and cheddar for a Mexican twist!  
Stuffed Mushrooms

After all your guests have arrived, begin with everyone introducing themselves.  This is especially important if this is a mixed shower, with coworkers, friends, and family.  Make sure everyone mentions how they know the mother-to-be.  

Next, play one or two games.  These will serve as icebreakers.  Some ideas include:

Baby Boggle - See how many baby related words guests can make in three minutes from a sentence such as "I can't believe [Mother-To-Be's Name] is going to have a baby!" or something else silly and fun.  Everyone reads their list, crossing off duplicates, and the person with the most remaining wins.

Baby Box - Place some common baby items (rattle, diaper) in a box.  Cut a small hand-sized hole in the side.  Give each guest 20 seconds to touch as many items as they can (no peeking!), then have them write down what they felt.  The person with the most correct wins.

Remember, short is good, and have fun!

If there is going to be a full meal, now is the time.   Generally, a buffet is best, as the guests can eat while the mother-to-be opens her gifts.  If there is not going to be a full meal, give everyone some time to get another round of appetizers, then have the guest of honor open her presents.  

After the gifts are open, serve the cake.  At this point, the shower is over.  Everyone will socialize for as long as they'd like, and the guests will begin to leave.  If the time is important (i.e. the host has somewhere she needs to be), be sure to put an end time of the invitations.

Hopefully this gave you enough baby shower ideas to begin brainstorming.  Remember to have fun, and you'll throw a successful baby shower.

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Please help me find a childrens story is called?

the story i read years ago, it is about a group of poeple, school kids adn a teahcer ect, who run away who take a ship resturant, calle the Saucy Sauage(i think) and sail to the Thousand islands, where they have a series of adventures, trying to find a lost peron and a lost work of art called the Noah's Ark tapestry. There is a jigsaw puzzle with missign pieces and an iseland called Dessert island. Please help

"Pirates' Mixed-Up Voyage: Dark Doings in the Thousand Islands" by Margaret Mahy

http://www.amazon.com/Pirates-Mixed-up-Voyage-Thousand-Islands/dp/074970229X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211887824&sr=1-2

"Captain Wafer and the crew of the Sinful Sausage set sail with a plot to kidnap a famous inventor, only to be thwarted by a witch, a firedrake, and the dastardly Dr. Silkweed."

"The Pirates" Mixed-Up Voyage" by Margaret Mahy

http://www.amazon.com/Pirates-Mixed-up-Voyage-Margaret-Mahy/dp/0140371281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211887824&sr=1-1

"
Returning to the great city of Hookywalker, setting of The Blood and Thunder Adventure on Hurricane Peak (McElderry, 1989), readers meet young Lionel Wafer. Alas for Lionel; he is dissatisfied with living in rule-and-regulation-ridden real life. In his heart he dreams of being a pirate. So do all of the other people who work with him at his retired uncle's tea shop. A great believer in free will, he cuts the cable that binds the tea shop/ship to a wharf, rechristens the craft the Sinful Sausage and, accompanied by a delightfully dysfunctional crew, sets sail in search of fortune and adventure. This band of bumptious buccaneers finds misfortune, muddle, and misadventure, much of it deriving from the fact that none of them can read. However, they soon repair to Dr. Silkweed's Academy, located between a supermarket and a "Rent-a-Librarian" business. To share more will be to spoil readers' pleasure in unraveling a fiendishly convoluted plot, chockablock with mistaken identity, riotous incident, and madcap merriment. Comic devices are crowded aboard: jokes, one-liners, endless alliteration, puns, hyperbole, funny names, slapstick, and so forth."