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Halloween Costume
Baby Shower Ideas for a Halloween Baby
While many people love babies, the typical
baby shower can get to be a little boring. After all,
how much pastels can one party handle? If you are
looking for an original baby shower idea, and the baby
is due in October or shortly afterwards, think about
hosting a Halloween Costume-themed baby shower. This
unique take will certainly be recalled long after the
baby is born.
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Costume, Halloween Costumes
Invitations
As
with any other baby shower, your Halloween Costume
themed baby shower requires invitations. Consider using
Halloween themed invitations or creating your own custom
design.
Donning Halloween Costumes
Since
this is a Halloween-themed party, be sure to remind
people arrive in costume! If you would like, you could
also impose guidelines, such as asking your guests to
wear baby-themed costumes. You can also consider
providing simple costume accessories (like eye patches
or princess tiaras) for the guests who may not normally
dress up for the Halloween season.
Halloween-Inspired Decorations
Decorations are
another must for any party. Of course, with a
Halloween-themed baby shower, you will want to apply
more traditional Halloween decor. Look for black and
orange streamers and balloons to decorate the room. You
can also use traditional Halloween icons like witches,
black cats, ghosts, and skeletons. To keep with the baby
theme, consider using black kittens and baby ghosts as
part of your decorations.
Enjoyable Games
Many traditional baby shower games can be done with a
Halloween touch to them or you can take Halloween games
and put a baby spin on them. For instance, try bobbing
for instead of bobbing for apples. Play a memory game
using Halloween accessories on the tray as well as baby
ones. Mark your baby Bingo cards with orange and black
markers. You can even do things like decorate a baby
shirt with a Halloween design. Consider giving guests
different sized baby onesies (so you will have one for
now and ones to wear in the years to come) to draw their
own pumpkins, ghosts, and black cats on them.
Entertaining Gifts
If this is a shower for a
second, third, or more baby (one where it is more about
getting together than mom actually wanting baby items),
you could challenge guests to bring the most creative
Halloween gifts for baby. This can include everything
from baby costumes and Halloween clothing to decorations
to hang in the child's room.
Halloween-Inspired
Favors
Since the stores are full with
trick-or-treat goodies, locating favors to send home
with guests should be relatively easy. Consider getting
mini treat buckets to fill with goodies or
Halloween-themed gift bags.
Thank You Notes
As the recipient of the party, mother-to-be will
need to send out thank you cards for all the gifts
received. An easy way to make this task easier for mom
(who may not have much free time in the upcoming days)
is to have guests address their envelopes while they are
there (you can even have them address two if mom is
planning on sending out birth announcements). Try using
Halloween cards as your thank you cards to keep in the
theme.
While it may sound a little unusual, a
Halloween Costume themed baby shower can be an enjoyable
way to incorporate costumes and Halloween fun into the
traditional baby shower routine. Your party will
definitely be remembered for some time to come!
Helpful Tips For
Planning A Wonderful Baby Shower
A baby shower can be one of the most
thoughtful gifts you can offer a new parent. Baby
showers are a lot of fun, and can be a good first memory
for the new parents.
baby, shower, freebies,
planning, tips, parents, invitations, hosting
A
baby shower can be one of the most thoughtful gifts you
can offer a new parent. Baby showers are a lot of fun,
and can be a good first memory for the new parents. And
of course, the obvious plus to the parents to be is all
the great baby loot they get as well. Well planned baby
showers can help save new parents a ton of money on baby
necessities, often taking a lot of financial stress and
worry away from them. There is nothing like finding out
you are expecting, then your next thought being how can
we provide everything a new baby will need.
As
with planning any event or party, one of the most
important things is organization. Having a clear plan
and sticking to it will help ensure things go well, and
that you, the host, can enjoy the baby shower along with
the guests and new parents. You should also enlist all
the help you can get, including any willing family
members, friends, or co-workers that would like to help
with hosting the shower. Having plenty of help will help
take a lot of the stress off one
person, and will
also make it easier on everyone’s wallet by all chipping
in together.
Once you have decided to host a
baby shower, and have enlisted all the help you think
you will need, the first thing you should all do is sit
down together and plan out a budget. Since all the hosts
usually share the expense of the shower, they should all
be included in the budget meeting. One of the first
things to keep in mind when planning the budget is how
many people are expected to attend. The more guests you
have, the more party favors, food, utensils, etc. that
you will need, thus making expenses rise. You should
also decide where the shower will be located at,
someone’s home, a local restaurant, or favorite place.
Some hosts will actually rent out a space for the
shower, which isn’t very cost effective, but can be good
if you are expecting a large crowd. At this time you
should also start to think about what type of food will
be served, what type of games and party favors you will
have, and they type of decorations you would like. Many
baby shower hosts will go with a theme just to make
things easier on the planning end of things, but keep in
mind the parents needs and preferences when selecting
one.
After the budget meeting, you should
probably begin thinking about the guest list, as you
will need to know an estimate of how many people to
expect before any real planning can begin. Include the
parents family into the planning of the guest list to
ensure no one is left out on either side. Accidentally
leaving someone off the invitation list can cause a lot
of hurt feelings, and detract from the fun for the
parents to be. Unless you are planning a surprise
shower, it may even be a good idea to ask the
prospective parents who they would like invited to the
shower just to be absolutely certain you do not miss
anyone.
Invitations should be sent out about a
month before the date of the shower, to give everyone
ample time to RSVP, and allow plenty of time for them to
adjust work schedules to attend, purchase gifts, etc.
Depending on your theme and budget, you can either
purchase invitations, or make them yourself. There are
lots of resources available online that can help you
with making and printing off your own shower
invitations, and many of these end up being more
personal and nicer than the invitations available for
purchase. It all depends on how much time and resources
you have available to invest. Along with the shower
invitation, you may want to include a list of items that
the parents need, or a note telling guests where the
parents have registered. This helps ensure that the
parents get items they need and want, which is the whole
intent of a shower after all. You may also want to
purchase or make thank you cards for the mom at this
time, as she will probably be too busy or not feel like
doing this herself.
You should try to tailor the
menu choices to suit the number of guests you expect,
and maybe a little extra just in case. Depending on the
time of day the shower is to be held, you may decide to
do a full meal, or just snacks and finger-foods.
Depending on the number of guests expected, you may come
out better budget wise to have the shower catered, or
have it at a local restaurant so you have someone to do
the hard work for you. Either way, you should put a lot
of effort into planning the menu, as it is a big part of
a good baby shower.
Plan your decorations and
games according to the baby shower theme if you have
one. If you are on a tight budget, you can make a lot of
your decorations yourself, using either clipart that you
can find online, or just printing out some things that
match your theme. There are many ideas for baby shower
games online, but it is important to keep your guests in
mind when deciding on the games to be played. Not
everyone enjoys that type of thing, or being in the
limelight.
The baby shower is a good time to
welcome the new baby, and also make the parents to be
feel loved and special as well. Few parents forget their
baby shower, as it is often one of the first times they
get together with family and friends to talk about and
share information about their new little one. Make sure
you take lots of pictures, to help preserve these
memories for years to come.
How Do You Know
What To Give For A Baby Shower?
Buying a gift for a baby is especially
tough when you don’t have any kids of your own. If
you’ve never had children, how in the world are you
supposed to know what to do?
clever baby products
Buying a gift for a baby is especially tough when
you don’t have any kids of your own. If you’ve never had
children, how in the world are you supposed to know what
to do?
Relax, we are going to give you some quick
ideas to help take the stress off of you, help you
choose an appropriate and useful gift and make the
shower an enjoyable experience.
Call the soon to
be parents or the host of the baby shower and ask if
there is a gift registry for the baby. Many people do
this just as brides do for bridal showers. Many times it
will be available online. The baby gift registry will
tell you what they are asking for and if the desire has
already been filled.
Diapers may not seem the
fanciest of baby shower gifts, but they may be one of
the most useful. Diapers are expensive, and babies use
them quickly, so new parents always appreciate a gift of
diapers. Even parents who use cloth diapers might like
to have a pack of disposable diapers for travel. Diapers
are sized by baby's weight. Buy larger sizes instead of
newborn diapers, since some newborns grow quickly and
don't use many of the smaller sizes. Don't forget to
throw in some baby wipes!
Some babies are really
picky when it comes to bottles and pacifiers - some
babies will only use one particular brand or shape. If
the parents-to-be have registered for a particular type
of bottles, nipples or pacifiers, it's safe to buy them
for a baby shower gift. Otherwise, steer clear of these
gifts until you know which type the baby will prefer.
Some parents do not ever introduce their baby to
pacifiers or bottles because these items can interfere
with breastfeeding.
This is another reason to do
some research if you want to buy something like this, I
know my son never used a pacifier and some people are
touchy about that.
Baby clothes are sized by age
and sometimes weight. The smallest sizes don't get a lot
of wear since newborns grow quickly. Baby clothes in
larger sizes will likely be used more. Use the baby's
due date to figure out what season it will be when baby
reaches a new clothing size, such as 6 months, and buy
seasonal clothes in that size.
If you don't know
the baby's gender, a gift certificate is a welcome baby
shower gift, allowing the parents to choose an outfit in
pink or blue after baby arrives.
If you're stumped
for a baby shower gift, help boost baby's brain power by
choosing a classic baby book, educational DVD or music
CD. Studies show that music encourages brain development
in babies, so a lullaby CD or some tunes for the car
would be a nice gift. Also look for one of the many DVD
learning series for infants, such as Brainy Baby or Baby
Einstein. Still stumped? A copy of your favorite book
from childhood is a meaningful and useful baby shower
gift.
The baby shower gift possibilities are
almost endless when you give the gift of baby toys. You
can buy toys made for older babies for use later in
baby's life, but stick with toys for ages 3 and under to
avoid small parts that could choke a young baby. Toys
have an age range listed on the package. If you want
your gift to be used for a long time, look for a wider
age range on the package. Fancy doesn't necessarily mean
better when it comes to baby toys, either, babies love
simple toys, too.
If you want to give a baby
shower gift that's out of the ordinary, consider the
parents' lifestyle. For environmentally active parents,
an organic baby gift is a smart choice. Are the parents
into travel or outdoors adventures? A baby backpack
carrier or baby bike trailer would get baby involved in
family activities. Techie parents might enjoy a titanium
stroller with an onboard music system. Other lifestyle
gifts might include breastfeeding supplies, baby slings
or cloth diapers.