vintage baby showers

Here’s a sneak peek at our brand new coordinating line of vintage-inspired baby shower invitations, decorations, favors and more. We’re calling this line Bundle of Joy and we’re designing it in such a way that it can work perfectly for a vintage baby girl shower, a vintage baby boy shower, or a vintage don’t-have-a-clue shower. Bunny, duck and bear with their bottles, booties and pins can be found throughout this line and give it a vintage flair you’ll find hard to resist.

Look for this new and exclusive line to appear at The Baby Gardner in late January. When it’s available, you can find it here.      [UPDATE: The new collection has arrived!]

Don’t you just love it when you stumble upon a treasure? It comes out of nowhere and just makes your day. I was researching ideas for the last post when I ran across Rolling Pin Productions. I had visited several online cookie shops that offered a variety of adorable sugar cookie designs. And Rolling Pin was holding its own as I clicked through pages mumbling the usual, “Oh cute. Sweet.” But then my mouth dropped when I saw these:

And they offer other vintage designs too like these and these and these!

Now people, if you’re planning a vintage baby shower, THIS is the place to go. I am just in love with these vintage-inspired edible goodies and finding them was a total treat. Thank you, Rolling Pin!

Shower Ideas: Sugar cookies are usually pretty durable and make great take-home favors wrapped individually in cellophane bags and tied with ribbon. But what about grouping them on a large silver tray to serve guests while gifts are being opened? Or how about placing a dozen of them on a vintage baby plate (wrap the whole thing in cellophane and tie) and give to the new mom as a shower gift from the hostesses? Get creative!

So how many of us have hosted a baby shower and felt obligated to include a cheesy baby shower game? You know, one of those that usually humiliates the guests and the mom-to-be? Something like “guess how many toilet paper squares it takes to wrap around mom’s belly.” Yeh, you know the ones. Well here’s a few creative alternatives to the rescue!

IDEA #1: A Little Encouragement Goes A Long Way

I was watching Oprah several weeks ago and it was one of her ‘Favorite Things’ episodes. Usually she gives away an obscene amount of free stuff to the audience, but because of the economy, she was introducing ‘thrifty’ gift ideas. Anyway, she was talking about how (years ago) one of her producers had asked each member of the staff to write down what they liked about working at Harpo. They collected all the notes, put them in a simple box and gave them to Oprah as a gift. It was something she still cherished years and years later. Inexpensive but priceless.

That really struck a cord with me. I’m a sucker for sentiment. And then it hit me — baby showers! And after some brainstorming and staying true to my love for vintage, I came up with these: Baby Silhouette Encouragement Cards for the New Mom — now available exclusively at The Baby Gardner.

How to Play:

1. Pass these out to each guest as they arrive at the baby shower. Ask each of them to write a special message of encouragement for the new mom.
2. Collect all the cards towards the end of the shower. Place them back in the coordinating archival envelope.
3. Present the envelope to the new mom as a final gift and watch the tears flow! Allow her to read each one aloud if she likes.

Of course, you could always adapt this idea using your own card design (please don’t copy ours). Either way, you’re looking at a great alternative to the same old baby shower games and you’re giving the new mom something she’s sure to cherish for years to come!

IDEA #2: When Will Her Water Break?

Can’t take credit for this clever game, but it’s one of my favorites. And of course I love the fact that the little babies give it a vintage twist.

How to Play:

1. The night before the shower, fill ice cube trays with water (one cube per guest) and place a baby (available in packs by Wilton) in each slot. [Bonus: Make extra baby cubes to place in the punch bowl as an added touch.]
2. Pop cubes out right before the shower and place one baby ice cube in each drinking glass. Distribute a glass to each guest and point out their impending ‘birth’. Tell them it has to be a natural birth. No biting the ice!
3. The first to ‘deliver’ a baby floating freely in their glass wins a door prize!

IDEA #3: No Thanks Necessary

Here’s another great baby shower ‘game’ that actually gives a helping hand to the mom-to-be.

How to Play:

1. Purchase thank-you cards for the guest of honor before the shower. May we suggest a few vintage-inspired choices at The Baby Gardner?
2. At the shower, give each guest an envelope (those that came with the thank-you cards) and ask them to write their name on the envelope.
3. Collect all the envelopes and place them in a bowl. Draw one name/envelope to win a handsome door prize.
4. After the shower, give the thank-you cards and envelopes to the mom-to-be. She’ll have a helpful head start on her thank-you notes.

Looking for ideas to throw a vintage-themed baby shower? We’ve got a few. You can modify these ideas for a baby girl or boy. Don’t know what the expectant Mommy is going to have? Neither did the mommies of the 40s and 50s! Determining the sex before baby was born was unheard of back then! So baby shower invitations and favors were designed to work for either gender. Hard to fathom that nowadays, right?

Where to start? Well generally I like to start with the vintage baby shower invitation and use that as my inspiration for the entire shower. Lucky for you, The Baby Gardner has an assortment of exclusive vintage baby shower invitations (and vintage birth announcements) you’ll want to explore. Here’s some of our best sellers that might spark some ideas.

Feeding the masses: In my humble opinion, the biggest job is the food prep and the presentation. And for a vintage baby shower, there’s nothing like the classic petit fours. Most bakeries can offer an array of decorating options from monograms to baby booties and rattles. They are perfectly vintage and absolutely yummy!

Another idea to infuse vintage into your feast is vintage planters. These can be very easy to find if you know where to look. Try antique shops, flea markets and even thrift stores. Heck, your mom may even have one that she kept when you were a baby. Give them a good soaking and use them to hold mints, nuts, small favors and more.

You can also find crepe napkins or doilies that coordinate with your invitations and your colors. Fold them to look like diapers and pin a safety pin through the center. Add these to your food table to add another charming hint of vintage.

Can you do me a favor? Of course. And The Baby Gardner has a vintage baby shower favor exclusive. Check out our Proud Papa Pins. Hand these out as guests arrive at the shower. They’re charming and can even be kept to wear on delivery day as well!

Decorating delights: Decorations don’t have to be over-the-top. Place them in key locations and they will really pack some punch. Place adorable garlands like the ones at the beginning of this post (available at The Baby Gardner) above the entry way or behind the banquet table. Choose a beautiful centerpiece of fresh flowers or vintage-inspired millenery bouquets for the banquet table as well. People tend to graze, so the banquet table is usually where the biggest crowd will form. Make your biggest visual impact there.

Games anyone? Some love shower games; some think they’re torture. But here’s a really cute one that goes way back — and the embarrassment factor for the expectant mom and the guests is relatively low. Did you make a mental note about the diaper napkins we talked about above? Well you can alter this idea for a party game as well…

Before the shower, make sure you’ve made enough napkin diapers for each guest. You don’t want to use the same napkins that you’re using on the food table. Trust me. It will help avoid confusion. In just ONE of these napkins, take a small dot of creole mustard and smear just a bit on the inside fold of the diaper. Pin up each napkin diaper with a safety pin. When it’s time for the game, you’ll want to make sure each guest has been given a napkin diaper. Have everyone open their diapers at the same time. The person with the ‘dirty’ diaper wins a prize. Not too humiliating, right?

Thank you, thank you, thank you! If the shower hosts really want to be on the ball, give the expectant mom a gift of thank-you cards that coordinate with her vintage baby shower invitations. That way she’ll be ready as soon as the event is over to get cracking on all those many thank-you notes for her guests. She’ll thank you for it!

An unexpected gift for the expectant mom: Here’s a treat the new mom won’t be expecting. Assign one of the shower hosts to be ‘photographer’ for the event. Get shots of all the great moments. Check out our one-of-a-kind small albums at The Baby Gardner. These are the perfect size to hold all the special photos from her shower — even better, it conveys the whole theme of her ‘vintage’ baby shower. Put all the great moments in her album with captions under each one. Present the album to her on delivery day! It will be the gift she treasures forever.