Most of us who have had baby showers want to make sure that the guests have a fun time with goofy games, lots of laughter and teasing, yummy treats to eat and when it comes time to go home, we want them to have a special memento. We’ve all been to showers where the favor was a tulle bag of pastel baby mints, or some hokey tissue paper baby diaper brooch with little gold safety pin. Not exactly something we’re ever going to wear or use, except at the party.
Favors that are useful, unique, easy to make and special can be made by even the most unartistic. Here are three good examples of taking some ordinary available materials and transforming them into baby shower favors that will add a pleasant finishing touch to the baby shower and leave guests feeling truly appreciated.
Tea Party Theme
As an event planner, one of my favorite baby shower themes for ladies only is the tea party theme. I’ve used it on several occasions for spring or winter baby showers. Food for the party is typical wonderful tea scones, tea cookies, strawberries and clotted cream and of course…tea in a nice variety of flavors. The natural extension of a tea party theme baby shower is to send your guests home with tea party favors. There are two that I really like to use.
I purchase tiny ceramic tea bag holders. You can find them in most discount stores for $1.00. I take a gold ink writing marker or calligraphy pen and I inscribe each caddy with either the name of the mother to be and the date of the shower. I have also inscribed them with short quotes about being a mother, such as “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” – W. S. Ross. You can find lots of different quotes about mother hood online.
For some small tea bag holders, just inscribing a simple saying of your own can work well. I’ve used Mother=Love and Mother=Joy. If you find a perfect quote that you just love that won’t fit on your caddy, you can use it in the second part of this favor.
I use a piece of patterned scrapbook paper with a baby theme. There are many different themes at your hobby and craft store or paper shop. I take three flavored tea packets and taking the paper, trace around the tea bags to make a teabag shaped paper holder, folding the bottom up and cutting the paper on an angle to finish the holder. I hole punch the top of the holder, insert the three tea bags, (stapling them inside the paper holder). I run a colored pastel ribbon with pink or blue for boy or girl and tie in a bow. You can also holepunch two holes and run the ribbon through both, and tie the bow in front or add some curling ribbon.
And here’s where you can your motherhood poem. Print out the poem on a sheet of matching plain colored or vellum copy paper and using a pinking shears, pink around it to make a :”tag” Attach the tag with the ribbon and place the paper teabag holder with the teabags on the tea pot shaped tea caddy and you have the perfect easy to make baby shower favor for about $1.50 to $2.00. A favor that your guest will be able to use over and over with the teapot bag caddy!
Bunny Theme
Another fun baby shower themes is to use bunnies or teddy bears, or other cute baby animals. There are lots of easy things to make with any of these ideas that also don’t require you to be a major crafter or artist. A useful and fun shower favor for this theme is a washcloth bunny. We call these Boo Boo Bunnies at our house and when my children were small, we kept them in the freezer in a ziploc bag for those times when someone had fallen down and had a “boo boo” (tiny hurt).
They are so easy to make. Take a colored washcloth. For baby showers, I often buy the baby kind, but all sizes and styles of washcloths will work.
Fold the washcloth in half on the diagonal. Start at the long end of the triangle at the fold and foll tightly to the tip of the triangle.
Tucking and holding the tip, fold the long roll in half and hold tightly, You will have two pointed ends at one end of you folded roll. Fold these back about 1/3 of the way and taking a colored thin 1/4 or 1/8 inch satin ribbon, tied around the folded back “ears” of the bunny and the entire rolled cloth.After you knot off and trim the ribbon, your bunny’s ears should pop up from the body and you see what really looks like a little folded bunny.
I always complete my boo boo bunnies by taking a needle and thread and whip stitching the bottom of the washcloth roll shut so that we you turn it over, you can place an ice cube in the little cubby you have created in the body of the bunny roll. I also glue on some googly animal eyes on the front of the bunny face beneath the ears, and even hot glue on a little white puff nose made out of pom pom.
For the baby shower, you could tuck into the body of the bunny, a little baggie of candies or mints. I arrange the bunnies in a big basket as the centerpiece for the shower and then give them out as guests are leaving.
Simple food favors like brownies or candy can be made special to fit the shower by the way they are packaged. I often make a food container for food gifts by taking a white paper bag large enough to fit the gift you’re giving. I fold the top of the bag over to make a header and staple the bag shut, then set about decorating it to fit the occasion.
I choose three matching patterned or colored scrapbook papers. You can find a wide variety of these at your local hobby or craft store or paper supply store.
I choose one of them to cut and fold to make a header for the paper bag. I then use pinking shears to cut a smaller rectangle to print out a special message.
Again, there are lots of motherhood and fatherhood quotes online that you can choose a special sentiment to share. I print out the message on the paper and then cut out my rectangle. I glue the the message to the front of the bag.
You can layer two pieces to match, making one larger than the message one to add some depth and more visual variety to the bag. I also use a round large die punch to cut and make the gift tag for the food bag.
Holepunch two holes about 2 inches apart in the folded header of the gift bag, Running some pretty matching ribbon through the two holes, add your gift tag, and tie the ribbon in front, making a bow, or adding some pretty curling ribbon strands to complete the gift.
It really looks wonderful, feminine enough for your femal guest, but those yummy brownies inside will make the guys happy. Again I use baby shower themed papers for the gift bag to fit whatever theme the hostess has chosen.
These three baby shower gift ideas are easy to make, affordable and can be made ahead of time leaving more time for for all those last minute party preparations. Your guests will go home with good memories of the event and with a nice useful shower favor.
