Happy Mother's Day all you mothers out there!
Next year I'll be joining you in celebrating this day!
My friend and neighbor Sally had her baby shower yesterday and it was a lot of fun! They had activities for us to do which weren't "corny" or "gross". She is throwing me a shower (with the help of my mom and aunt) in June! Yay! I wasn't sure I was getting a shower and I would have really missed it :-)
One activity was using fabric paint and each guest painted a onesie. Some of them turned out really great and all of them are going to be memorable for when Sally dresses her baby in them. I painted an elaborate flower and the quote "Charlie is my BFF" since Sally hasn't revealed her daughter's name yet.
Another game was for each guest to write a special word on a piece of colorful ribbon. Each ribbon was explained and tied to a thin branch. The branch will sit in the nursery and can be used to "ward off" bad dreams, monsters under the bed, or just be decoration.
The last activity was for each guest to bring an item signifying 2009 (Obama stickers anyone?) and place the item in a time capsule to be opened on her daughter's 18th birthday.
I loved all these activities beause they resulted in a lasting item for the child, and they were not ridiculous games. I can "borrow" one of the activities. Maybe two. But really, we can't have the exact same shower, can we?
So for 5 points PER activity/game PER person: What are some fun yet not corny (not "tasting the diaper contents" or "pinning diapers on one's forehead") type shower activites? (with a cap of 25 points possible)
And for the shower theme I end up picking (10 points): What is a unique shower theme we can use? (Mom is thinking "elegant brunch" but I'm not totally sold on that yet.)
This is a real opportunity to wrack up the points...
Thanks guys!
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15 comments:
those were good ideas. most showers have such dumb games, i agree. i especially like the 2009 game. i say take all the games!! so let's see.. how creative am i? i haven't been to a baby shower in ages. guess i should have gone to my coworker's shower on friday.
shower ideas: (gotta get out of last place!)
1. everyone creates a page for her scrapbook
2. each person creates a flower which you can put together as a bouquet and frame it for her room
3. each guest or group of people can create an acrostic poem using the letters of her name. you can use the best one or the best from each to make a poster, book, or something...
4. ok, i don't have any great ideas in my head i guess and i gotta get ready for church. :)
one last try to get me out of last place ...the theme -
SUMMER
flower shaped cookies, seashells on the table, bubbles as favors, etc.
I love ideas 1 and 2, Laura! Seriously I think I might use those. And what do you mean by "bubbles" as favors?
A1S
Fun blog! Just arrived here from the CHSFS Forum! :)
Great shower ideas, I agree! We did the Onesie-painting for my daughter's shower and it really was very cool to have the stack of onesies and remember the great times...
1. Each person attending the shower can string a bead onto (well, string...fishing wire, etc.) as they string the bead they can give out a wish for the baby or a nice welcoming suggestion for you as a mom....string the necklace together and hold on to it for a future gift (?!) for your daughter
2. Game: Who's That Baby? Have guests bring photographs of themselves as a baby and let everyone play a little guessing game of who's who. Who doesn't love looking at baby photos of friends?
3. Theme: Mama's Gonna Be Tired, Frozen foods, Please! (oh something catchy....) Invite everyone to bring a frozen meal that you can store for baby's arrival (since who wants to cook anyway?!) Maybe it can be "kitchen-themed" and you can give guests thank you's written on recipe cards with a tea towel or something....or for the people hosting, you can give them little kitchen-y items as thank you's....
O.k., that's enough wordiness from me this early on a Sunday morning! :)
(I love parties!)
Thanks Bridget! Those are some lovely ideas too! I especially like #2, that sounds hilarious! 10 points for you!
A1S
What about an Ethiopian theme? Music, food, decorations...use it as a way to celebrate Charlie's birth country and educate friends and family in a fun way on her backgroud.
Games...NO CLUE. I'm so outta that loop. I do love the baby picture idea. I'd have each person drop their photo in a box or a bag when they arrive then draw them out randomly. (that way you can play too) Number each and lay them out on a table or pin them up. Will be fun to see how many of your friends still look the same.
Also love ribbons on a branch. I think that's a really cool and potentially useful item.
Love the new scrap booking page idea. I'm afraid I'm not very creative so I will just say Happy Mothers Day to you. I beleive you are already a Momma at heart:)
1. I'm ordering a cookie cutter shaped like the continent of Africa to make sugar cookies covered in pastel icing for party favors. I "borrowed" this from another blogger.
2. Make simple questions about facts on Ethiopia. Put the questions in a bag. If they don't know the answer, allow them to choose another random question about you or babies or something. Give a door prize to the most correct answers.
3. I'm a cornball so I give up. LOL!
bubbles that you blow, you know, the kind with a wand. or you could put together an adult beach gift bag with bubbles, a beach book or gift certificate to amazon. for a beach book, sunscreen, a flask :)
hmmm.. i think i might do that!
My friends gave me a shower with a Guatemalan theme. They decorated with toys and books from/about Guatemala that I put in Andrew's room. We had Latin food and everything was lt blue and white. It was a fun way to celebrate his heritage. (they put one of his pictures on the cake)
We didn't have any games but everyone did bring a children's book as part of their gift.
I think it would be fun to ask for books about Ethiopia (I have a great list if you want it) that you could start her library with.
at my son's shower they had a blessings tree. my mom got one of those decorative small tree shapes and cut up a bunch of small tags with ribbon looped on it. then everyone who came wrote a blessing for my son and hung it on the tree. we still have all the tags to show my son one day.
my other shower was the best theme ever! it was right around Halloween time and it's one of my favorite holidays. So, yes, we had a Halloween themed baby shower. i know it's a bit out of season now, but what about a costume party? unconventional yes. but creative? maybe.
for my son's adoption party we bought the book "Happy Adoption Day" and had everyone at the party sign the inside cover instead of a traditional guest book.
games. hmmm....that's a tough one. nothing really creative to offer. guess the baby food? gross but interesting. Name that baby tune. scavenger hunt around the house/yard with baby or Ethiopian themed items. spin the "bottle" - whoever it lands on has to tell a baby story (either one from their childhood or about their children). the best one wins a prize. guess the celebrity baby with pictures from magazines (make some from different eras for more of a challenge).
themes...i tend towards unique so i would pick something crazy like casino or luau (then it's a great excuse to have drinks). i'll keep thinking. now i'm intrigued.
love the ethiopia themed shower idea...or at least africa...like giraffes and zebras. can i have the points for mooching onto her idea? do you see how desperate i am for points? pathetic. i always make up a quiz that asks different questions with multiple choice answers. the fourth choice is always something sarcastic or funny. it's an activity everyone can enjoy. i also think it's fun to have a corsage made with tulle, ribbon, and a small flower in a pacifer (the kind with a handle). i did a dr. suess shower once for twins (thing 1 and thing 2) with a dr. suess-like rythme on the invitation. you could be thing 1 and your baby could be thing 2. kind of a stretch, i know, but if you like fun and whimsical, it might work. plus i'm desperate for points remember. but actually, the elegant brunch sounds really nice!
Hey...what happened to my suggestions?
So many good ideas before me, but I'll try. My first idea was "It takes a village" theme. You would have everyone who is going to be part of Charlie's life decorate a quilt square (send them out first and guests bring/send them). They can decorate it any way they like but to represent themselves and leave a note for Charlie. Later, you or someone handy with a needle puts them all together into a quilt. (You could just pin them to an existing quilted blanket). It could be a wall hanging for awhile and then a blanket.
Everyone could also decorate a Family/Village album to show her her past through their lives, leaving room for her to add.
At a baby shower thrown by my students, everyone wrote a wish for the baby on this cool thin chinese rice or parchment paper and then we put all the wishes in a metal bowl and incinerated them (so the smoke goes up to the heavens as wishes?) I liked that idea. You save the ashes in a decorative pot.
Everyone could plant a seed of their favorite flower in your garden; or bring the seeds of their favorite plants to be planted for her.
Easy international theme: everyone brings a favorite "ethnic" recipe for a cookbook--whatever represents your heritage.
To continue the idea of everyone contributing from their background, everyone brings a children's book or folktale from their country of origin to build her library.
Also, something for you. I loved the "spin the bottle" idea that someone came up with: maybe in addition to telling baby stories, everyone could give one "best piece of parenting advice" and--strokes for you--one thing that will make you an awesome mom.
Since you sort of have the perfume Charlie as an inspiration, people could also bring scented items to put in her room: sachets for her drawers, spices from Ethiopia, powders: just nice smelling things......
I'll think of more; that's a start. danicuz
Wow a lot of great ideas everyone! Thank you!
And Danicuz, way to zoom up the point board... impressive!
Had an inspiration this morning for a theme idea: Charlie's Angels! More later when I think of related games......of course for food you'd have Angel Cake....
danicuz
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