Baby Boy shower ideas! Waiting for Cooper!

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Baby showers no longer have to be the same old boring affair. A baby shower is a celebration of babies, family, and friends. Finding the right combination of gifts, food and themed decorations will make for some memorable and fabulous fun for the parents-to-be and their guests. 

Putting together a dream baby shower starts with a great theme that goes beyond blue and more blue. Finding the perfect theme requires research. The party is all about the parents-to-be and the hopes and dreams for their beautiful baby boy, so making it uniquely about them, creates interest. Create a theme around their nursery theme, their favorite place to vacation, a favorite childhood book, or even a single memorable moment from their past.

Holly got the ball rolling with the introduction of the theme through the invite-

Once the theme is identified, get creative with decorations, food, games and party favors. Party supply stores, Etsy, online party supply sites can be a great source of party accessories. If a theme involves one of the parent’s special interests or hobbies, widen the search to brick-and-mortar shops and online specialty sites. The more creative and unique the theme, the more digging the party planning team will need to do; however, lots of fun will be had in the process. My little elephant trike was made by an Etsy vendor Little Frog Lane. She has created many different types of diaper cakes, diaper race cars, diaper bassinet's and many other creative ideas. Amy has used it as a decoration in little Cooper's room, it's adorable!

Test out any new equipment, to make sure you know how to use it and that it works the way you have envisioned. In my case, I had bought this cotton candy machine to make little clouds of cotton candy to use on the Sweets Table.

Theme ideas-  

In our case, we chose the nursery theme that Amy and Dustin had picked out a elephant theme for the nursery. Holly, Laura (my daughter's) and I themed everything around the elephant theme with a hint of transportation, which is the playroom theme, just outside of Cooper's room.

I made this cute little table runner with airplane for the table. I didn't personalized as if Amy and Dustin decide to have a second child, this runner could be used for Birthdays for both children in the future. The airplane is a duplicate of an airplane on the wall of Cooper's nursery.

 Time of year theme-Celebrate the time of year the baby is due to arrive with a "Baby It’s Cold Outside" winter-themed shower, or welcome the "Boo-tiful Baby Boy" with a Halloween extravaganza. Because our shower was in late November, I made and served Rosemary Chicken Chowder with a cheese cracker cut out in a elephant shape to stay with our elephant theme.

I found and ordered these personalized M&M's on the M&M website.

Baby's name- If the new baby boy’s name is known, create a theme around it. Celebrate the arrival of "Cooper" with a car theme. If the baby boy is named after dad or grandpa, create a theme around memories from their lives. Movie stars, sports stars or famous hero's were babies once, too. Think of the possibilities for welcoming new baby Jordan into the "Jordan Club"! Our little bundle is named after Dustin's Grandpa, my Dad, who played very big part of Dustin's childhood. Grandpa Loyle Owen, taught Dustin how to carve wood into all sorts of different animals, including an elephant! They spent hours together in the shop carving and bonding.

This mini Cooper I found on ToysRus website, would be a cute decoration for a Cooper themed shower! I bought it for my Grand daughters, Julia's 2nd Birthday!

An appropriate gift for little Cooper, with Dad and Mom being avid 12th man fans of the Seahawks!

Parents hobby or sport- help parents celebrate the arrival of their new baby boy with a party theme that focuses on a hobby they love, such as camping, coin collecting, skiing/snow boarding. A non-traditional party theme can have more of an adult focus, while still incorporating the celebration of the new baby boy.

I embroidered this relieving blanket with John Deer colors, as Dustin and Amy have John Deer equipment and enjoy tractoring around  their acreage.

This elephant towel I found on the Pottery Barn Kids website, I personalized with my embroidery machine, but you can have personalized through Pottery Barn Kids.

 What do I want to be- Welcoming the baby boy with a costume party that asks guests to come dressed as their prediction of what they think the baby’s future occupation will be. This is perfect for October babies. Party planners can take an early poll and match some of the decorations with party-goers’ predictions, what fun this could be!

 

I found this cute little story book at Barnes and Noble!

Favorite storybook- Plan a party around one of the parent’s favorite childhood story books. A creative shower-planner could get quite imaginative with the decor for a shower based on "Where the Wild Things Are", Spot, Berenstein Bears or anything by Dr. Seuss.

Kale and black bean salad with a tarragon dressing. I will feature this recipe after the first of the year, for a "Figure Friendly Series"!

The beverage bar looks fun and inviting with the popular blue mason jars and old fashioned striped paper straws. We served lemonaide with blue berries in it, ice water with sliced lemon and a ice cream punch with blue Koolaide or Blue Crystal light addition.

We served chicken salad croissants, turkey and ham sandwiches. The expectant Mommy cannot have the deli meat, so, make sure to offer another option for her.

Our little snail was made more than 40 years ago by my Auntie Gail. We found a tiny elephant cutter on Amazon and cut the cheese out.

 For a couples shower- Turn a boy’s baby shower into a cooking class for Dads. Create prizes for categories such as "Most Edible," "Most Creative Use of ___ (fill in the blank)," and "Most Likely to Help Out in the Kitchen." Besides the short-term benefits of having two cooks in the house, this baby shower activity might just provide Dads with some useful culinary skills they can someday pass along to their sons and be ton's of fun!
 

 For a second child shower- Throw a Diaper Party instead of a full-blown baby shower for babies who are not the family’s firstborn. Help a new baby’s family avoid having to take out a second mortgage by gifting them with baby diapers. Get around the need to buy party trimmings by asking guests to create decorations with the diapers. Laura set up a "personalize a diaper station", for late night changes, give the tired parent a little laugh! "Scratch and Sniff", "Good Morning Mommy", "Oooops" and many other little laughs that our guests thought to write on the diaper.

Fun Game ideas-
Nothing makes a baby shower fun and memorable like clever and engaging party games designed for adults. Here is a sampling of baby shower games that can be modified to fit almost any shower theme and will keep guests from wanting to duck out early.
Every group at a baby shower is different. Some are family only, some are for friends, some are for church groups, coworkers, or friends of the grandmother-to-be. And some are for everybody (including the men).
So, you need to think of the specific group of people that will be invited to the baby shower. Are they close friends? Or distant relatives? Are there some whose feelings are hurt easily? Are there some who are older or have disabilities that prevent them from physically active games? Do you want a boisterous atmosphere? Or more of a relaxed, formal atmosphere?
Now, with these people in mind, you can choose the perfect games for your baby shower.
The games that are played at a baby shower are meant to be fun and good natured, and most women understand that. But to be safe ask the expectant mother for her approval of the games that you choose

What’s in the Bag?
Put small baby items into lunch bags. Number the bags and seal them closed. Let guests feel the bags and write down their guesses about what is in the bags. Set a time limit for passing the bags around the group. The one who has the most correct guesses is the winner. The parents-to-be get the gifts in the bags, and the top guesser gets a prize.
Dirty Diapers
This one is an old favorite and great for laughs. Melt different types of popular chocolate candies in cloth or napkins folded to look like diapers. Choose chocolates that are fairly distinctive, such as milky, caramel, peanut butter-filled, or nutty flavors. Give each guest their own set of diapers. Have everyone sniff and lick the gooey "poo" centers in order to guess which brand of candy is in each diaper. The person with the best nose for chocolatey number-two is the winner.So fun!
Bobbing for Nipples
For a Summer shower with fun loving people. Put pacifiers or baby bottle nipples into a large tub of water. With their hands behind their backs, have guests bob for as many nipples as they can within a short period of time. The person who captures the most nipples wins. 
Guess the Distance
Have the guest write down their guess of the distance around the expectant Mommies baby bump. A prize goes to who comes closest! Check with the expectant Mom to make sure she won't be offended.
Diaper Relay 
Set up several diapering stations with dolls in diapers. Divide guests into two or three teams of equal numbers. Everyone wears a blindfold, and the teams race to diaper and un-diaper their doll by passing it down the row of team members. Team members can remove their blindfolds and cheer on their teammates as soon as they have taken their turn. The first team to complete the diapering race wins.
Tinkle in the Pot
Running to the bathroom every thirty minutes is one joy of pregnancy that every baby shower-attendee can experience with this game. Line up jars on one side of the room and guests on the other. Give everyone a balloon and a quarter. Have them blow up their balloon and put it under their shirt. With the quarter held between their knees, they must waddle as fast as possible over to a jar and "pee" the quarter into the jar. The first person to make all of their potty runs wins. A variation of the game can be played outdoors. Have guests hold water balloons between their knees as they race to drop them into a bucket. Contestants are disqualified if their "water breaks."
Rice bowl
A wildly popular baby shower sport is the rice and safety pin game. Fill a bowl 3/4 of the way full with dry rice. Add a packet of tiny gold safety pins and mix them in well. One at a time, blindfold each guest and give them the chance to remove as many safety pins as possible in one minute. This sounds easier than it is! The pins and rice feel very similar and many of those participating will likely end up with a small pile of rice. Needless to say, the guest who finds the most pins wins the game. Make sure to mix any removed pins back in before the next guest's turn so that everyone gets an equal chance.


The eBay, Amazon or Etsy  website has thousands of baby shower decorations, gifts and supplies. Start your search by entering a description of what you are looking for into the search engine, or find the category that you think will have your item. With so many options offered by the eBay and Etsy shopping community, it is easy to compare product brands, features, and prices.
Search the eBay site, Etsy or Google by doing a keyword search on the main page or your search engine, or by reviewing the entries in a particular category.

Our guest's raved about the details that went into Amy and little Cooper's shower. It was a lot of fun!

This is the quilt I made for little Cooper. I will feature the making of this quilt on a future blog. Below is the label I made for my little Grandson....can't wait to meet him!