Affordable and Classy Baby Shower Ideas

For soon-to-be moms, pregnancy can bring you mixed feelings. You can be so excited for your baby to arrive, and you can also be nervous about what's going to happen. Nine months of carrying a child is not a walk in a park. You have to deal with morning sickness, cravings, backaches, and at times you can't help but worry. One of the nice experiences of being pregnant is you get to have a baby shower. Most moms prefer to celebrate it. It allows them to de-stress, lessen their worries and feel loved.

Baby showers are mainly about celebrating the upcoming birth of a new baby. As we all know, babies need many things, and it costs a lot. Baby showers are also an opportunity for family and friends to support the new journey of soon-to-be parents by helping them with their baby needs. There's no need for baby showers to be expensive. It can be budget-friendly yet classy. Here are some baby shower ideas you can do without spending too much.

Party Host

The first question you may have in mind is, who should host the party? A family member, a relative, or a close friend is often the host of a baby shower. The goal is to shower the parents-to-be with gifts for their little ones. It is unusual for the parents to host their own baby showers. It is to avoid the perception of them asking for gifts. If you plan to have a baby shower, you can ask for help. You can have a friend send the invitations or take RSVPs. Supportive family and friends matter, especially for a pregnant momma.

Baby Shower Theme

Themes are essential for parties. It simply gives life to the occasion. Guests would appreciate a well-planned party. From stylish decorations to fun-filled party games, themes can surely light it up and bring an enjoyable atmosphere. You will need to consult the mom-to-be for her preferred baby shower theme and colors. It can be a nautical, safari, space for baby boys, or it can be a floral, candy, princess party for girls. Since it is about babies, you can go for baby toy decorations. Or you can also choose classy colors if you want a minimalist style, which is simple yet elegant.

Tip: You can save money by choosing a color-only theme. You will just need to find items or decors in your house based on the color you've chosen. Here are a few samples of color combinations, or you can always play with colors and use your creativity.

For sophisticated color combinations, you can go for:

• black and white
• red and black
• blue and white
• all-white
• pink and ivory
• shades of pink
• pastel colors
• lavender
• gray, pale yellow, and white

For fun color combinations, you can go for:

• yellow-green, marigold, and blue
• red and aqua blue
• aqua, lime, and red
• orange and blue
• white, pink, and yellow

Baby Shower Venue

Nothing beats the coziness and comfort in celebrating a baby shower at home. It is more private compared to other locations. You can borrow chairs and tables and place them in your backyard. A garden would be great as well. Decorate the house with your preferred theme and achieve that baby shower party that you have envisioned.

In today's situation: We suggest limiting the number of guests. Wear a mask and observe proper social distancing. Small gatherings outdoors are preferred. If you are indoors, make sure the area is well-ventilated, with open windows and doors. As the host, implement rules like disinfecting before going inside the house. Provide sanitizers for guests.

Let your guests know that it is safe for them not to come if:

• if they tested positive for Covid-19
• waiting for test results
• had close contact with Covid-19 positive
• experiencing symptoms

You can also opt-in for a virtual baby shower. It is a much safer route nowadays, and it's a good way to celebrate it with guests who are far away. Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype are among the popular video conferencing apps. You can still decorate your home for your family and a couple of guests. You can still have fun and play games virtually, which we will talk about later under Baby Shower Games.

Baby Shower Date

For expecting moms, it is best to celebrate the baby shower in your second trimester. There's no reason to wait and hold it off. We want you to enjoy it while you still have a lot of energy compared to the third trimester. It can also give you more time to buy other baby things you need after the baby shower.

 Planning Tasty Treats

Before planning the food, consider first the time of your baby shower. If you want to serve treats or finger foods, you may want to schedule it early morning at 10, the afternoon after 2, or dessert time at 7:30. These schedules are mostly snack times, and they will not expect you to serve a full meal. The best way to serve finger foods is to present them in your most creative way. Here are some tasty treats best for baby showers.

• bagel bar
• waffle bar
• yogurt bar
• coffee and donut bar
• sandwiches or croissants
• popcorns or chips
• dessert bar (ice cream or cake)
• pizza bar (different flavors or toppings)

For virtual baby showers: you may not be able to share the food virtually, but you can still prepare treats for your family members or other guests. You also have the option of a drive-thru, wherein if you have guests that live nearby, you can have them pick up their snacks and party favors and still join you on the virtual party.

Sending Invites

If you have no experience in creating an invitation, worry not! There are a lot of websites and apps that can give you a free baby shower template. You can edit and print them instantly! There are free websites like greetingsisland.com, canva.com, etc., that can make life easier for you. If you feel being creative, you can personalize your design based on your theme.

Tip: To save you the hassle of personally sending invitations to your guests, it is best to send them via email or direct message. Most people are visible online nowadays, and you can be sure they will receive your invite with one click of a button.

Decorations

You may think that putting up decorations may cost you. No momma, you can absolutely transform your place into a stunning baby shower venue! Here are some tips you can do inside your home.

• Theme colors. You can search for things inside your home that have the same color as your theme. If you have spare decors from previous parties like balloons, ribbons, use them. You do not need to buy new party decors. Simplicity, creativity, and resourcefulness can instantly change the ambiance and wow the guests.

• Party Printables. There are a lot of websites that can help you print a banner or food labels needed for your party. An example of that is Pinterest and printablemarket.com which has available baby shower games, wishes for baby, and thank you tags ready for printing.

• DIY Bunting Banners. There are a lot of tutorials that you can find online in making a DIY bunting banner. One example of this is using scrapbook paper or any colored paper. It works best if it has the same color matching your theme. All you need to do is cut them in equal sizes of triangles. Using a glue gun, glue them in a ribbon, natural jute twine, or any string. And voila! You already have a bunting banner! It's that easy. The good thing about DIYs is you can make them personalized and choose your own colors and patterns.

Fabric Bunting Banners has also the same concept, but you need to use fabrics with different patterns, colors, and a sewing kit. If you have spare fabrics somewhere at home, maybe it's now the time to make them useful! The good thing about it is you can use them after the party in your baby's nursery room. Double purpose!

Tip: Did you know that you can make a tassel garland using a plastic tablecloth? Yes, you heard that right! Step-by-step instructions are available on Pinterest.

• Decorate the mom chair. Choose a nice chair from your home and have it decorated with ribbons, flowers, a nice cloth, etc. The mom will be the center of attention during the gift opening. Let us make her feel special by artistically decorating her chair just for her.

• Baby clothes garland. It is the easiest yet stylish of them all, the baby clothes garland. All you need are baby clothes, like onesies, coveralls, bodysuits, or rompers. Hang them using a clothespin on a natural jute twine or any strong string that can hold the clothes. Once done, you can hang it on your wall or any place you choose to.

•  Centerpiece. Centerpieces add a wonderful touch to beautify the room. We aim for originality and artistry, and you do not need to shell out money. You can use baby toys as centerpieces like baby blocks that are nicely stacked, a teddy bear with a ribbon, or any toy available.

Candles can make the table elegant. If you have pillars of different shapes, the candles would make a great centerpiece. Add stones or marbles for a more sophisticated look. You can also place them on a cutting board. It can be wood, marble, or granite, whichever is available at home. 

Party Favors

Giving party favors is a way to thank your guests and also giving them something to remember when they get home. Here are some party favor ideas for you to choose from:

• Mini succulents are cute giveaways for guests. You can decorate the pot with a ribbon and a thank you tag. They can also be placed as decorative centerpieces. You can buy them at lowes.com at $1 and up, depending on the plant. It is also available on Amazon.com.

• Baking pies, cupcakes, or cookies. If you are good at baking, why not make some pies or cookies as party favors for your sweet guests? You can cut your cookies in any shape that you want or decorate them according to your theme. You can also print free cupcake toppers or design them as you wish.

• Candy jars or boxes. There are affordable jars and boxes in the market. You can simply decorate them. Glue a ribbon or any decoration you prefer and add thank you tags. Lastly, fill them with candy.

• Hand sanitizers are on demand right now. This is a party favor that will surely be useful for your guests. There are affordable hand sanitizers available online. All you have to do is order a 2.oz hand sanitizer and print labels for it.

• DIY Bath bombs. Bath bombs are easy to make and we are pretty sure the guests will love it. You can put it in a nice packaging with a printed label and a thank you tag.  Step-by-step guide on how to make DIY bath bombsare available and easy to follow.

Baby Shower Games

What is a party without the games! There are a lot of baby shower games that you can do, and here are a few of them:

Guess the baby game. Upon inviting the guests, you can ask them to bring their own baby pictures to the party. You will collect their baby picture as soon as they arrived. How the game works, you can ask them to guess the name on a baby picture. The people who correctly guess wins!

Don't say baby. You need baby pins for the guests. Once they arrived, give one pin to each guest. Let them know that they cannot say the word "baby" until the gift-opening time. If anyone hears anybody mentioned the prohibited word, the one who heard it shall take the pin from the violator. Whoever has the most pins at the end of the game wins!

Virtual Baby Shower Games

Guess that nursery rhyme. While on video conference, you can play nursery rhyme songs or any kiddie songs. Your guests can name the title of the song thru chat or by raising hand virtually.

Guess the price. The expecting mom can collect a few baby items then combine their price. Whoever can guess the price right wins!

Charades. This game will surely burst some laughter out of your guests. Each guest should have their own baby-related word to act out then let the others guess it. You can give them a minute or two to act out their words. Whoever guesses most words wins!

Baby Gifts

Opening of baby gifts happens at the last part of the party. If you only have a few guests, opening every gift can be achievable. The expectant mom can still have enough energy to open every gift. The mom can also announce that whoever wishes to stay can watch her unwrap those presents. This for the other guests not to feel obliged to stay waiting for each gift to be opened.

For virtual baby showers, the guests can ship you the gifts if they cannot drop them in your location. Then at your online baby shower, you can open those presents one by one. On the other hand, if in case the guests were not able to ship their gifts on time, you can ask them to open the gift for you during the video conference.

Photo or Video

You may want to make the party memorable, and you want your little one to see it someday. Be sure to take a photo with family and friends commemorating the event. Record funny moments. Take screenshots of your online baby shower. The expectant mom will remember how special that day is, and your child will be able to watch family and friends who got excited about his/her arrival.

Swaddles, Hats, and Belly Bands are the perfect bundle for babies. A nice gift for expecting moms! It is so useful and can wonderfully help baby's colic and gas. Available in stylish designs!