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xp: inexpensive baby shower ideas?
A few other friends and I are co-hosting a shower. The honoree's husband is on staff at our church, so it's a fairly large guest list. (Based on past attendance at church showers, I'm guessing there will be at least 75 - 100 ladies?)
It will be an evening (7 pm) cake and punch shower held in the church fellowship hall.
Both of my co-hostesses are on a very tight budget due to a lot of other special events this summer. (I think they also don't realize how expensive it is to throw a party, yet. We're not going to get by chipping in $25/host, here, LOL.) I don't want to end up footing a really large bill, so I'm brainstorming some inexpensive ideas for our planning meeting tonight.
We have round tables that seat 8, so we'll probably have 10 - 14 tables set up. I believe the church has white tablecloths that we can use, as well as china and silverware. I have a lot of nice serving pieces, trays, etc that I can bring to make a nice buffet set up, but I'm not sure what to do about general decorations. It's a pretty big room, but purchasing/making 15 centerpieces is going to be cost-prohibitive.
I thought of doing bright colors, similar to this invitation:
http://www.tinyprints.com/product/16165/baby_shower_invitations_colorful_pins_begonia.html
and getting bright napkins, maybe a few bunches of balloons, and some flowers for the buffet/cake table, but don't want the room to look too empty and sparse. What would you do? Are tissue paper poms inexpensive/easy to make?
Other ideas or suggestions?
Also, any big group games that go quickly? This group will expect games. I thought of Bingo as we open gifts - that's an easy enough one with a big group.
Re: xp: inexpensive baby shower ideas?
Since it's a baby shower, could you do small, 2 tier diaper cakes for some of the tables? You could intersperse them with another centerpiece.
I think things like bright tableware can go a long way, punches of color with napkins and plates.
Pom poms are pretty cheap, just a bit time consuming.
ETA: you could always do cheap candle centerpieces, one tall vase from dollar tree with a candle and then get those packs of votives from Michaels with a coupon. Then wrap in crepe paper/ribbon based on the colors.
Wives Unscripted
I love the invitation and the idea to decorate in bright colors. I don't know how much it would be to make the tissue poms, but I can't imagine it would be too much? Here is a cute idea to put the poms right on the table.
http://www.babylifestyles.com/2011/05/real-baby-shower-teal-and-green-tissue-pom-masterpiece/
You could also do two bouquets of bright flowers on the serving table.
For games an easy one for a big group is to hand out a quiz with fun questions about how well they know the mom-to-be. They could do it on their own while they are eating, or throughout the beginning of the shower, and then you could have everyone gather or sit down while you read the answers.
I also ound thi pic when searching:
You could do some cheap annuals in a cheap basket/pot and have those double as door prizes too (if you're having door prizes).
Wives Unscripted
For centerpieces you could dip pretzel rods in chocolate, decorate in blue or pink sprinkles (if you know what she's having) or whatever the shower "colors" are. Then display them in mason jars in the center of the table. Maybe do candles around the table like pp suggested?
I made up a game at one shower that seemed to be a pretty big hit- I printed out a list of celebrity couples and people had to say what their children's names are. The person with the most correct won. If your church isn't down for that you could always do biblical people and their children...
ie:
Brad and Angelina:__________________
Cash Warren and Jessica Alba:_____________________
President and Mrs. Obama:_____________________
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon:_____________________
Holiday Card 2011
The Baloney Bug, A Blog
Thanks for all the ideas so far - these are great! :-)
centerpieces - cake plates with cupcakes/cakes or cupcake bouquets(pic below, you can google for DIY) as well as the great ideas mentioned above.
tissue poms - look online for videos - I love the look.
buffet table decor - if you have any bakers in your group you could make flower cookie displays similiar to the cupcake bouquet pictured. I've thrown a couple of showers and food seems to be everyones favorite prize/gift.
My cheapest go to is to buy a couple floral centerpieces at the grocery store/Walmart and then divide them up. The multicolored ones work best.
They're cheaper flowers so they won't last more than a couple days but who cares.
They're also big bunches so you can get like 2-3 bouquets out of each bunch.
Then I usually leave one really full one at the main table.
Otherwise, if you want balloons..the Dollar Tree has really great ones. Our school prom just used them and it was fabulous!
You could also mix in paper lanterns in coordinating colors w/ the tissue poms (if time is a factor) for a look like this:
http://www.google.com/imgres?start=84&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1777&bih=852&addh=104&tbm=isch&tbnid=pcKN-CuGLCYumM:&imgrefurl=http://www.twindragonflydesigns.com/2010/04/mad-hatter-tea-party-part-ii.html&docid=CgVC4vaoC_q0tM&imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8H1W0faSMmU/S7lW0V7sqHI/AAAAAAAABcY/7pimR1TI0t4/s1600/photo%252B124.jpg&w=1600&h=1200&ei=z26pT72vLo-w8AT1t_juBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1376&vpy=527&dur=1934&hovh=193&hovw=258&tx=110&ty=74&sig=111625794882631631034&page=3&tbnh=141&tbnw=188&ndsp=47&ved=1t:429,r:36,s:84,i:80
I've ordered paper lanterns for a baby shower I hosted from here but I think most party stores carry them too:
http://www.asianideas.com/lanterns2.html
As for centerpieces, square vases filled w/ carnations in ONE color are cheap & actually look awesome!
I hosted a baby shower and needed to be frugal, so I put together things that would have dual uses...
The centerpieces I put together were inexpensive white pails that I stuck cute felt like animal stickers to, and then made a TON of chocolate lollipops, in milk, white and light blue chocolate, I stuck those in a foam ball in the pail and covered the foam with shredded blue and white paper, they were ADORABLE!
The Mommy-to-be loved the pails and still uses them in her boy's bedroom and that took care of the centerpieces and favors, since everyone took some lollipops home!
Inexpensive bouquets of balloons tied in corners of the room were great for added decor and we played bingo too- always a great game to keep everyone busy while the Mom is opening gifts.
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