Diaper Cakes are Tops on the Baby Shower Ideas List

Diaper Cakes are the hottest new baby shower idea!  They are so versatile, and can be customized in many ways that are only limited by your imagination. Different colors can be used, and cloth diapers can even be dyed to match any theme. The basic diaper cake is so simple to make, all you need are diapers, rubber bands, and dowels.

Diaper cake from wikihow

Take a diaper open end up, then begin to roll it up.  Put a rubber band around the rolled diaper, and this diaper will become the centerpiece of the entire cake, or use 2 or 3 diapers to make a bigger bottom layer securing them with rubber bands. Next roll up more diapers and secure them with rubber bands just as you did the first one.  Then place these diapers around the centerpiece diaper or diapers, and wrap a rubber band around all of them to hold them secure.  Do this again to make another round if you want a cake this big. This will be the lower layer of your diaper cake.

Make the second layer of diapers exactly the same as the first, just don’t use as many so it will be smaller.  That way when it sits on top of the other layer, it will be the smaller layer.  Keep doing this same process of rolling diapers, securing them with rubber bands until you have enough to make the second layer a bit smaller.

Do this again to make your third diaper layer, making it just a little bit smaller than the second layer of diapers, so it will fit nicely on the top of the second layer of your diaper cake.  Use dowels to secure each layer together, pushing them down through all the layers. Cut a piece of cardboard the size of the bottom layer to set the bottom layer on to stabilize the cake.

To finish off your unique diaper cake there are many choices of baby shower ideas to choose from.

Ribbons of any color, shapes and sizes can be used to adorn your diaper cake.  Take 2 different ribbons, put them together then twist them so you can have multi-color bows and decorations.

Use little pacifiers in an assortment of colors, and tie them up with the ribbons.  You can also use strings of feathers in different colors, along with so many other things to decorate your diaper cake.  Remember to put the first letter of your bundle of joy on your creation.

Lollipops sticks, are another great idea.  You can even use little animals to set on and around the layers of the cake, with some peaking out from within the diapers.   You can take out a few diapers from the middle and put baby items in their place, like bottles, lotions, pacifiers, baby clothes, baby shoes, baby blankets, and just about anything you can think of.

To transport your diaper cake, wrap it in a plastic bag, and pull tight with a ribbon to keep it secure. Check out these top baby shower favors you can use to customize, and personalize your diaper cake.  These diaper cakes make great gifts for any baby shower, so decorate your storage bag also with some of these unique baby shower ideas for the next baby shower you attend.

Check out these great pre-made diaper cakes from HerBabyShower.com

My Very Own Baby Shower (Part II)

Hi, its me again, Hatifa. Our last post about my baby shower was all about the theme (Goodnight, Sleep Tight Baby!), the food (midnight snacks, nighttime feedings, sleep potions, sweet dreams and night caps) and the decorations (baby mobiles, stars and moons galore, tulle cloud puffs –  all tied in with a simple color theme). Its been a long time coming, but I was (finally!!) able to finish up writing about my own baby shower. Here we’ll cover the games, prizes and baby shower party favors! Sorry it took so long, but being a mom has been keeping me quite busy 😉

Baby Shower Games

Baby shower games should be fun, easy to play in groups and most importantly get the guests excited and interacting with each other. Without games, a baby shower might just feel like any old lunch party. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on games to make them fun and personalized.

We started out our afternoon with a simple game that tied in with the theme: “Count the Sheep”. We filled a small plastic jar with sheep animal crackers, tied a ribbon and a tag around it with instructions and passed it around the room. As guests ate appetizers aka “midnight snacks” they tried to guess how many sheep crackers filled the jar. The person who guessed the closest to the number without going over won the prize.

Use sheep animal crackers to fill up a jar!

The only supplies you need are an empty plastic jar, some ribbon to jazz it up, and a large bucket of animal crackers (the hardest part was digging through and finding the sheep shaped ones to put into our jar).

The second game we played was Baby-themed Taboo (coming soon to our store!). It’s the baby shower version of the classic game where a player tries to get her team members try to guess the word on her card by describing it. She can’t use the word itself or a small list of “taboo” words. The team (we split into groups of three) who got the most guesses right in the allotted time won prizes.

To personalize this game, we printed the taboo cards on lavendar metallic cardstock and printed the back of each card with the mom-to-be’s name and baby shower date. Again, all you need for this game is a pdf file of the cards, a few pieces of cardstock and a printer.

Of course it wouldn’t be a baby shower without some more traditional games. We chose the super simple game “Guess the size of mom-to-be’s tummy”. We passed around a ball of yarn and a pair of scissors to the guests, asking them to cut a length of yarn that would fit mom’s tummy. The person whose piece of yarn fit the mom’s tummy best, won the prize. This game is perfect because it can be played while guests are eating lunch or dessert. You always get laughs when inevitably a guest with no sense of estimation misses the mark by about a foot or two.

Our grand finale was the Baby Jeopardy game (also coming soon to our store!). This was inexpensive but took a little planning. We made a large jeopardy board from oversized poster paper. We used blue metallic paper to make each question-and-answer card in six different categories (baby and goodnight theme related of course). As guests chose different categories, we pulled off the cards from the poster board. Whoever correctly answered the question first, held onto the card with the dollar value. This was an easy way to keep score. At the end guests could count how many points/dollars they earned. Our categories included lullabies, baby animals, parents in the Bible, and Guinness world baby records.

Baby Jeopardy makes a super fun baby shower game!

Baby Shower Game Prizes

We wanted to give prizes that were useful and tied into the theme. For two of the games, we gave out gift baskets full of “Moonlight Path” scented items from Bath and Body Works.

Because Baby Taboo was a team game, we gave out three $5 gift certificates to “Enjoy a Nightcap” at STARbucks to the team that won.

And our grand prize went to the winner of Baby Jeopardy, two tickets to “See the Stars” – movie passes to a local theater.

Baby Shower Favors

To bring the whole goodnight theme together and to give our guests a small token to remember the shower and say thank you for coming, we handed out candles with little sleeping bunnies on them. We tied personalized tags to the candles. Check out these adorable candles in our store now!

A super cute bunny napping on a moon amongst the clouds went perfectly with our baby shower theme!

These adorable candles are available in both pink and blue bunnies.

That’s about it! I LOVED my baby shower and want to thank my sister-in-law and cousin for hosting! I had a lot of fun at mine, and hope you love yours just as much. If you have any questions, please let me know. I’d love to hear your comments as well. Thanks!

Why You Should Have A Baby Shower

This is a guest post by Lisa Norton.

When you find out you’re pregnant there are certain things that most women look forward to, and start daydreaming about. Feeling your baby kick for the very first time, glimpsing at your baby’s face when you have a scan at your doctor’s office, and seeing all your friends and family gathered together at your baby shower. The baby shower is a rite of passage for first time moms, and the first of many celebrations you will share with your baby throughout their life. So why should you have a baby shower? And why are your friends and family getting so excited about throwing your baby shower party for you?

The Social Importance of Baby Showers

Your baby shower is a great way for you and your family to bond with your baby before he is even born, whether you choose to have a small shower or a huge one. Baby showers have a key social importance, as they provide a great way for all of the women in your community, whether they’re you family, friends, work colleagues or members of your church group, to come together and to celebrate a brand new life and the new arrival to your family. Becoming a mom is a new social position for a woman, and your shower is a way for the women in your life to welcome and accept you into this community of moms and give you any support and encouragement you need on the way; after all, from changing dirty diapers to helping with that first science homework assignment, motherhood is a series of endless challenges!

Baby showers also have a great financial importance for moms-to-be too: After all, at a baby shower you are literally showered with gifts. So the baby shower is when moms-to-be will receive all of the things they need to provide for their new arrival: From their diapers to a bassinet and activity center. Your baby shower will provide you with a great morale boost too: baby showers usually come towards the end of your pregnancy when your ankles are swollen, your bump is heavy, and you’re ready for your pregnancy to end. So the timing of your shower is perfect for giving you a lift and reminding you that your pregnancy will soon be over and you’ll soon have a baby to put in your new crib and dress up in those adorable onesies!

Baby Shower Etiquette

You don’t need a lot of money to throw a great baby shower: you’re baby shower can cost as much or as little as you like, from a beautiful budget event to a flamboyant and extravagant party. Tradition dictates that you will only have a baby shower once, as you only receive a baby shower for your first baby: but in recent times, women have found they are also thrown a shower for their second and even third baby.  Until the mid-twentieth century, baby celebrations were held after the birth of the baby. The baby shower as we know it now, a party held prior to a baby’s arrival, is a relatively modern phenomenon. Nonetheless, there are a series of loose rules and etiquettes that surround the throwing of a baby shower.

Firstly, baby showers are considered to be female-only events. Although some people do invite husbands and other men from their community to celebrate at the shower, generally men are considered off the guest list. This, no doubt, goes some way to explain why so many showers have such feminine themes: eating frosting laden cupcakes, taking part in bump measuring competitions or games and nibbling on dainty sandwiches are all very girly activities.

A baby-themed bingo game!

99 Flash Cards of Baby-Themed Trivia

Secondly, the mom-to-be can’t throw a baby shower for herself. The shower is traditionally thrown by a close female friend or family member. In part, this is because if you throw the shower for yourself it is considered poor taste to be asking for gifts for yourself.  Besides, if you have someone else throw your shower for you then the theme and decorations will all be a wonderful surprise when the big day finally arrives.

Finally, don’t forget to buy a hostess gift for the host who throws your shower for you. A hostess gift is not a necessity, but it is certainly a very kind gesture: it’s the perfect way to say thank you for organizing such a wonderful event, and will let your hostess know that their hard work is appreciated.

New Baby Tin of 16 Belgian Chocolate-Covered Oreos

Bringing Up Baby: Eight Ways To Document Your Pregnancy

When you’ve got a baby on the way, you want to remember every moment. Documenting your pregnancy is the perfect way to commemorate your child’s path in the world, and will mean you’ll have lots of special memories to share with that child as he or she gets older:

1. Keep a Pregnancy Album

Take a picture of yourself every week, or even every day, to document your baby’s growth. You can get a friend or loved one to take the pictures. The final picture will be of you holding your new little one. You can use that final photo to make copies and send them out in thank you cards to guests that attended your baby shower. You can add a fun twist to this idea by wearing a T-shirt for each picture saying how many weeks pregnant you are or how many weeks you have left.

2. Voice Recordings for Your Baby

Dig out your old CD player (or just use your computer) and take some time to chat with baby. Talk to your child about all the things you plan to do together, what you plan to teach him, everyone he will soon meet — whatever comes to mind, really. When your child is older, you can listen to the recordings together, and he will know just how loved he was from the very beginning.

3. Make a Pregnancy Scrapbook

This is something you can do digitally or by hand. If you opt to go digital, many companies like Shutterfly.com will print your scrapbook into a hardcover book. But, if you want to make it by hand, you have the added fun of heading to the craft store to pick out details pieces like 3-D stickers and pretty ribbons. However you choose to do it, making a scrapbook is a great way to document your nine months. It’s the perfect way to keep track of everything from ultrasounds to baby shower photos.

4. Dear Baby

For something more tangible than recordings, write your baby a letter. Whenever you have something you want to say to him or her, just jot it down in a note. When your child is old enough, you can stick together and reread the notes. You could even have them bound into a special book to keep on the family shelf.

5. Make a Belly Cast

Remember making masks of your own face using plaster of Paris in high school art class — that wasn’t just me, was it? Well, you can remember your pregnancy by creating a belly cast. You can even buy special kits to make the process easy. It’s the perfect fun project for you and a loved one to do together.

6. Keep a Pregnancy Journal

Throughout your pregnancy, keep a journal just for documenting your thoughts, feelings and ideas. Record your reaction to seeing a positive sign on your pregnancy test or how you felt when you used a due date calculator to determine when you’d likely give birth. Documenting your thoughts will help you think about the changes in your life, and it will make a beautiful keepsake to reread for years to come.

7. Blog About It!

If you want to keep a more public record of your pregnancy, and maybe even connect with other moms-to-be, consider starting a pregnancy blog. In addition to documenting everything pertaining to yourself, it’s a great way to share updates with friends and family, and get advice and insight from others.

8. Weekly Q&A

Every week, answer a series of questions about your pregnancy — how are you feeling, do you have any cravings, and so on. Later, you’ll be able to look back and see how your answers changed week to week! It’s a great way to chart the process of your pregnancy.

My Very Own Baby Shower (I)

It’s Hatifa Jukaku (founder of HerBabyShower) here, debuting my very own baby shower (posting a two part series)! I was beyond thrilled to learn that we were expecting a precious, little baby girl. The execution of a classy, and timeless baby shower was all perfectly captured  by my family and closest friends. Here is their take on organizing my very own baby shower.

Decorations

The Goodnight themed books were the very foundation of inspiration in this baby shower. Star and moon lanterns were made and printed using Photoshop, then wrapped around jars with double-sided tape. We then added a purple satin ribbon around the bottom and as a handle. We placed a tea light candle inside and voila: a hand-held lantern to add soft lighting around the room were used as centerpieces. We cut out stars and moon from thick metallic card stock paper and tied them together with sheer ribbon to use as hanging decorations. We also went a little “Goodnight” crazy and placed goodnight themed books to fully round out and capture the theme (Goodnight Moon, Pajama Time, Lullaby Moon). Cloud puffs were made using white and purple toule which were strung together and spread out around the center table to add the “dreamy effect”. And last, but not least, the floral arrangements were made using cream roses with purple accents to add life and color to the room. My absolute favorite part of the decor were the edible passifiers;  concocted using two Lifesaver mints “glued” together with royal icing, and a yellow jelly bean on top.  We added a purple ribbon so guest could wear them during the party. The rest were used as decoration on the dessert table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food

 

I am all about the delicious details:

 

Appetizers (“Midnight snacks”)

 

Artichoke Cheese Dip: served with bite size crackers and blue tortilla chips

 

Chole: a chickpea and potato salad served with sweet tamarind sauce, cilantro chutney and yogurt, topped with pita chips. Quick tip: we served these already prepared in mini-dessert cups so guests wouldn’t have the hassle of assembling all the sauces and chips (it also makes for deliciously good looking photos!)

 

Caprese Salad Kabob Sticks: fresh mozzarella, basil and cherry tomatoes splashed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil

 

Fruit Medley: since we knew our mother-to-be was a big fan of fruit, we served a medley of fruits in a “pram” fruit carving made out of a mini watermelon. We filled the pram with the cut watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries and honeydew melon

 

Warm brie: a classic Martha Stewart recipe using a wheel of warm brie with a maple-syrup/brown sugar sauce, topped with pecans and served with water crackers. Elegant, simple, and tasty

 

 

 

 

 

Main Menu (“Nighttime feeding”)

 

Shayyo Biryani: a signature dish from our hometown in India which is chicken biryani with noodles instead of rice

 

Fattoush: a bright colorful salad with a variety of finely chopped vegetables and a lemony sumac dressing topped with crispy pita chips

 

Borani: we wanted to add Afghan flair to the menu in honor of the mother-to-be so we asked Hatifa’s mom to make this fried eggplant dish, served over a garlicky yogurt sauce

 

Afghan style flat bread: to soak up all the borani sauce

 

 

Dessert (“Sweet dreams”)

 

Because the room had a perfect stand for displaying desserts, we had to make sure the dessert station looked nothing short of amazing

 

Cake:  after days upon days of brainstorming (aka Pinteresting), the final cake product was an amalgam of different creative ideas. A domed cake with a 3D crescent moon, decorated with stars. To ensure the entire cake was made from edible parts (because what fun is a cake if you can’t eat every last bit), the 3D moon was made from a thick biscotti dough so it would stand up. The stars were made from melted purple jolly ranchers that were cut into shape with cookie cutters, and the cake was a chocolate fresh-raspberry angel cake baked in a bundt pan with a buttercream frosting

 

Moon Pies: we wanted at least one item to be chocolate so we made chocolate cake-like cookies, piled on fluffy whipped cream frosting and sandwiched them together. To add elegance and match the color scheme, we coated the middle of the filling with Wilton’s sugar pearl sprinkles in pale yellow

 

Star Cookies: soft sugar cookies ordered from a bakery with a lavendar frosting and crytallized sugar coating

 

Chocolate Spoons: purple spoons dipped in chocolate and decorated with the sugar pearl sprinkles. Perfect for mixing coffee

 

Fruit tarts: mini fruit tartlets with a pale yellow lemony filling and decorated with a single blueberry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drinks

Moonshine: San Pellegrino Arranciata flavored sparkling water with handmade crescent moon moonshine tags. We punched two holes in the top and bottom of the crescent and stuck a striped paper straw through the holes so guests had a straw handy

 

Sleep potion: orange and cranberry punch with 7-Up added a beautiful purple color

 

Night Cap: coffee and tea station where we used a star-shaped bowl for the sugar and added handmade tags to the tea bags

 

 

I hope you guys enjoyed the details of my very own baby shower! Stay tuned for the next post which will include games and prizes and favors, oh my!

 

Baby Showers on a Budget? Simple Menu Ideas

I have a confession: I’m addicted to Pinterest.

The mother to be unwrapping gifts at her baby shower.

I’ve actually put a personal ban on using the site because what starts as a five minute check-in turns into a five hour vortex of lost productivity. So when I was recently planning a baby shower and trying to stick to a strict budget, it was tough not to immediately fire up my Web browser and head for the land of lost time. I’m not alone, either. Several of my friends – when I asked them for tips – just referred me back to the forbidden site. So I had to get creative.

The good news? Time was on my side. I had more than a month to plan and prepare. I did a lot of (occasionally productive) Googling and found tons of extravagant ideas, but many of the resources I thought would be useful ended up being fluffy and useless. I eventually decided to do it on my own.

I happen to have a pantry full of fine china that I rarely if ever use, so I decided to skip paper products altogether. I dusted off the dessert plates, serving ware, tea cups and crystal and decided to keep it a classy, afternoon affair. Best of all, I found these super cute miniature porcelain tea cups and these adorable stainless-steel tea infusers to give away as baby shower favors.

These mini china tea cups are the perfect baby shower favor for an Afternoon Tea Themed Party.

This cute tea infuser is another great option for a baby shower favor for an English Afternoon Tea Party.

By hosting a Sunday afternoon tea party I knew I would save money and be kinder to the mom-to-be and here’s why:

• No need to serve an entire meal. Big savings here.
• The party would take place between lunch and dinner, so fewer supplies were needed.
• Since the lady of honor wouldn’t be drinking alcohol, the party would be dry. Again, big savings here.
• For decorations, I posted baby pictures of the mom- and dad-to-be around the house so everyone could get a good laugh.
• I only needed to provide enough food to keep people busy between the baby shower games. By keeping the focal point of the party the social interaction, I could keep the menu limited.
• I followed up on RSVPs so I had an accurate headcount and didn’t prepare too much food.

So, did I stick to my budget? You bet! I didn’t have to buy any paper products, and the novelty ones get expensive quite quickly. For drinks I served an assortment of hot teas, infused water and a sparkling fruit punch (in a pitcher, not a bowl). I figured that by offering a variety of teas I could cover anyone who didn’t like the cold beverages and there wouldn’t be any waste since I’d use the tea eventually, anyway.

For food, I skipped the kitschy, baby-themed foods, in favor of playing silly themed games. It was easy: I just selected the games I liked, downloaded, and printed them.  I made my own vegetable platter and served it with Ranch dip and hummus. I made my own hummus, (I do this all the time) but store bought is quite reasonable and tastes great, too. A block of sharp cheddar cheese, jack cheese and two types of crackers made for a nice display of easy-to-eat foods. Lastly, I did a platter of sweets. I can bake simple items, so I made bite-sized peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies. In the center of the dessert platter was my piece-de-resistance: chocolate peanut-butter no bake cookies from FoodNetwork.com.

In the end, we had a great party without too many leftovers and while I had some dishes to do, it was worth it to celebrate a great friend and stick to my budget!