Baby showers go hand in hand with activities. You expect to play some games, win some prizes and shower the mom to be with gifts. Those games often range from tasting unlabeled baby food and guessing the flavor, memorization games and even diapering dolls in a contest of speed and wits. Crafts are often mixed in as well, like giving each guest a onesie and having them decorate it for future use and creating items from the bows and ribbons torn from gifts.
One great activity is recycling baby bottles, or in this case, creating some fun crafts to take home or give to the mom to be, depending on the craft. Toddlers Today came up with a lot of great ideas for recycling (or pick up a case of new ones at Costco prior to the party) baby bottles.
Favorite pick: Turning a old bottle into a birdfeeder.
Favorite for those bottles for the baby turning into a toddler: Rattle filled with uncooked rice, sequins and beads.
Other ideas:
- Inform the guests ahead of time of your bottle theme and have them incorporate it into their gift wrap.
- Fill bottles with candy and treats for guests to take home as their goodie bags, including some ideas for recycling their bottle when they get it home (like the above crafts!)
- Provide origami paper squares and have guests (or you) fold up enough cranes to fit inside the bottle and give to the mom to be for good luck.
- Provide an assortment of colorful flowers and greens and let guests create their own mini floral arrangements and use the bottle as a miniature vase to take home.
And of course, what shower would be complete without some suggestions for what to serve for the food? The best practice is to choose a cuisine theme to keep it easy for yourself and build from that, rather than trying to pour through cookbook after cookbook coming up with a menu plan. If going with a Mexican theme, the appetizers are easy enough with taquitos, chips and salsa, and an entree of a taco bar with all the fixings and/or taco salads.
Or Italian is always popular: lasagne, garlic bread and green salad is always welcome fare. Or a pasta bar with several types of pasta and sauces, letting guests build their own entree.
Whatever you choose, a theme makes planning much easier! Though obviously not required!
