Create My Event - Event & Party Ideas Blog

Sweet and Sour Baby Shower

My sister attended a great baby shower theme recently that I thought I would pass along.

With the advent of fertility drugs and the ease of creating multiples, more and more of you may know people who are having twins!
I think that the theme for this shower is great! If I were to personally have twins, I would do everything possible to dress and encourage individual identities with my twins.
For this shower be sure to deliver your theme in the invitation, simply stated, "Sweet and Sour Baby Shower, bring gifts with opposite themes".
It would be fun to have a yin and yang symbol on the front of the invitation. Or a devil and an angel...

For games, food and decorations, stick to your "opposites" theme. You can serve spicy and sour foods and choose black and white as a color theme for decor. Black and white is especially effective if the mother-to-be does not know the sex of her babies. You can even decorate the cake with 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 strawberry, decorated with jungle and ocean images side by side.

I love the idea of playing a couple rounds of "Name the opposite".
As the host, you come up with a list of items, people and words, such as "dark, open, happy, Bonnie" also write a master list which includes it's opposite. For example, your list will have in column A: Bonnie and column B: Clyde. Try to think of harder ones than what I just listed.
Your game will involve the guest assigning what they believe the opposite of your word to be. The person with the most correct matches to your master list wins a prize

The ideas are endless for this theme. Help mom and guests learn to appreciate the differences in twins from an early start. Everyone deserves their own identity!

Birthday Starts With B

I was recently invited to a kids birthday party for a 1 year old. Not being a mom yet myself, I marvel at the effort that goes into baby's first birthday. Let's face it, most 1-year olds that I know will not recognize the blood sweat and tears of dear mum and dad. The money and energy spent can be saved on birthdays later in life. Give yourself a break and go really simple for your baby's first birthday.
The mom for this particular party had a cute idea. Baby's name is Remy so everything at the party was themed the letter "R" and color Red. The invitations were Red with little Raspberries. Ok, granted they were home made so a bit of effort inserted here... She decorated the house with Rainbows and big fake Ruby's. It was fun to eat the Red Rose birthday cake and sip Red drinks in the Spring sunshine.

Not only is this an easy theme to cover, but it gives your baby a color theme for the day which is much more easily absorbed by her little mind than Princess this or Sponge Bob that. Color recognition begins very early, I do know this...color theory classes were for more than just mixing paints to see what you come up with...
If you plan to invite other young toddlers, a great activity for them is to supply them with paper and red crayons. They will be happy to doodle in only red. Don't forget to dress baby in the appropriate color theme for their first party.
Have fun. I did, and it wasn't even my party.

Red Egg & Ginger Party

I just recently heard about an interesting Chinese tradition called a "Red Egg and Ginger Party" which is thrown for a baby who is about one month old.  What a great way to celebrate the blessed occasion of a new baby!  I did some research to learn more about this tradition so I can host one of these fascinating parties one day...

This party is a way for parents to introduce their new baby to friends and relatives.  In ancient Chinese culture, it also was the time when the baby was given a name and formally accepted into the family.  This celebration is accompanied by dinner and can be held at home or in a restaurant. Today, children's magicians or performers are sometimes present for entertainment.

The significance of the color red is that it represents happiness and good luck.  Eggs symbolize fertility and the renewal of life.  An egg's shape is associated with harmony and unity.  Ginger adds a touch of 'hotness' to food and therefore can balance the yin (cold) and yang (warm) of Chinese food. New mothers are often tired and weak (too yin) after given birth, so ginger is good for her.

Apparently, guests receive red-dyed eggs and ginger at this party. More traditional parents will also give thank you gifts of small biscuits with pork in them instead of thank you notes.

If attending a Red Egg and Ginger Party, you can bring gifts of clothing or lucky money.  Apparently, tigers are the king of beasts and have special powers for protecting children so babies are given tiger hats, shoes and bibs.  Lucky money is usually given in red envelopes to baby boys, while girls receive expensive jewelry from close relatives.

If you are planning a Red Egg and Ginger Party, a good book to get is Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture. It is packed with tons of information to make your party authentic and successful.

A Fun Baby Shower Activity...No Really!

Next time it's your turn to throw a baby shower, try this fun activity as an alternative to the traditional baby shower games.

Buy packages of baby t-shirts or onesies in various sizes and colors. Be sure to purchase clothing which does not have any existing graphics or wording.
You can even mix things up and purchase white burping cloths or fabric bibs.
Next pick up some "puffy paint pens" in various colors. Puffy Paint pens can be found at any arts and craft store. Be sure to choose paint pens which are suitable for washing and non toxic for baby.
Remember to buy at least enough clothing and pens for every guest to participate at the same time.
To get the creative juices flowing, you may want to pick up a couple of inexpensive baby books. Look for books with a lot of simple graphics.

Once your guests have arrived and it's time for an activity, bring out the T's, pens and books.
Using the paint pens, each guest is then instructed to choose an item and begin to "play Picasso" on the clothing, burp cloths or bibs. Many people feel intimidated at the task of playing artist. Offer the books as idea generators.
A great idea is to draw a very simple image and then write text to go along.
For example draw an abstract moon on the center of the t-shirt and then above the moon write "...the cow jumped over the moon". Get creative. These works of art don't have to be perfect. Turn on some music and provide snacks. Encourage mom-to-be to take part in the project. Don't forget to take pictures.

Keep it simple and fun. This activity is not meant to be stressful for your guest. The goal is to provide the guest of honor mommy with some one of a kind pieces to remind her of her special shower.
The new mommy will cherish these works of art from her friends.
Don't forget to send the books home with the new mom. It's never too early to start reading to baby...

Hot Mama Invites

Throwing a shower for the hippest mom-to-be in your life and all you can find are cutesy-patootsie baby shower invites?  Then you simply must check out the fabulous selection available at Tiny Prints. These invitations are fresh, modern and fun, yet they still address the subject of mama and baby. The prices are reasonable and all can be customized with your text. On their website you are able to preview your printed invitation and share it with others to solicit opinions before you order.

Shower Power

Shower games only make a long event even longer and allow for less good gossip among the girls, usually. However, this simple shower game actually encourages chats and laughter and hardly adds a minute to the whole she-bang.  So, in case you are ever in need of a “Shower Game”…

1.    Every guest receives a mini clothespin and attaches it to their shirt collar or dress sleeve.  The pins are available at craft stores or online at Crafta.com  and Wilton.com.
2.    The host explains the rules. The goal is to avoid saying “baby” and collect as many pins as possible.  Every time someone hears you say baby, they have the right to take away a pin.  (Of course you can change the word to suit your needs, e.g., for a wedding shower you might use the word “wedding”.)
3.    Throughout the shower guests collect and lose pins.
4.    At the end of the shower, the guest with the most pins wins a prize.

And that's it!