TITLE AND SUBJECT OF ARTICLE

 

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.

Halloween, Halloween Costume, 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.