I don’t have any kids of my own (today) but I know I’ve been to about a billion baby showers.

We’ve all been there, we’ve all done the rounds.  The laundry pin secret word games, the getting the tiny plastic baby out of the ice cube game, baby advice, BINGO, guessing the birth date, the first word reaction on gifts game, the melted candy in a diaper!!!  Oh man, I’ve seen some things.  I.  Have.  Seen.  Some.  THINGS!

I think we all know that we’re excited for our friends who are having a baby shower, I mean they’ve obviously done some work to get to where they are!  (Just don’t think about it, just block it out…)  Because of that, we want to give them a gift, and why not?!  Why wouldn’t you?!  Think of all they’ve had to give up for 9 months!  They’re not out of the dark yet either, my friends.  There’s months, years even of giving up that they haven’t even gotten to yet!  So yes, they need a gift.

You don’t want to give them any old gift though, I mean come on.  A rubber ducky and some wash clothes?  A baby outfit that wasn’t properly thought out (they’re not going to be in Winter clothes at 3 months but that’s what WalMart had on sale, sorry friend)?  You want a gift that is going to make them cry tears of joy, and then they’ll name you the baby’s godparent, and just completely be the most remembered gift of the baby shower.  YOU WANT TO WIN THE BABY SHOWER.

Now there are plenty of things to take into account here.  Maybe this person is so important to you that money is no object, maybe you just sort of know this person through someone else but you just like to win things, and oh wow this person invited you and you didn’t even think they would so you’d better make them understand how good their decision was to invite you.  Because of these things, I’m going to make a list of 5 thoughtful gifts that you can get someone (conveniently mostly in one place!) for a baby shower gift that will surely make a mark, however big or small you’d like that mark to be.

• Diaper Strap + Pampers Swaddlers

This is probably my baby shower go-to gift.  Since I watch a ridiculous amount of tv, I see a lot of commercials.  I’ve taken away from these commercials that Pampers Swaddlers are the best for teeny, brand new babies.  While I don’t think you’ll get a complaint, you should probably get something more than just diapers, that’s where the diaper strap comes in handy.  A diaper strap will keep a few diapers and a pack of wipes bundled together in your diaper bag or purse so that when they go to grab one in a defcon 2 diaper situation, they don’t go flying all over the place.  I have a variety of colors available in my shop to go along with any mom’s tastes.

• Diaper Cake

Again, diapers, but I hear that babies go through those things like a hot knife through butter.  This range is really wide, I mean you can spend as little or as much on a diaper cake as you can imagine, or you could build one yourself!  Here is a quick search I did on Etsy for diaper cakes (oh my there is one for $4,000 maybe don’t buy that one?  Or…I mean if you have that kind of money laying around?!?!) and there are literally thousands of options.

• Baby Room Decor

If you know the parents, you may already know what their baby’s room is going to look like.  Jungle theme, neutral tones with pops of color, (is that a theme?  That’s sort of what I want to do in the future…I don’t know if it has a name) unicorns?  Princesses?  A circus?  Probably all real baby room themes.  Something really fun would be to add something to that room that maybe they hadn’t thought about before.  Needlepoint is a fun art that can add a sweet little mark in any room.  If you’re not familiar with needlepoint, it’s similar to embroidery and cross stitch, but it’s typically just words and uses a different stitch.  If you’re not inclined to do this yourself, there are loads of completed hoops out there for you to buy.

Two different examples, both using hoops as decor, bring as much or little color and texture to a room as you’d like!  The first photo is by Meghan Benson (Meghan_Benson on Instagram)

 

• Crib Quilt

Oh man, this is where ALL THE WOOS come in, when someone opens a quilt at a baby shower.  And the “oh my goodness”, “who made that”‘s and “you’d better keep that”‘s and just grandma gushing everywhere!  Nothing beats a handmade quilt for a baby.  I mean nothing.  They’ll keep that baby quilt forever and maybe even hand it down, it’s something they’ll actually use and keep that little baby snuggly every night.  Sure it’ll also get pooped on, and probably drug through a puddle eventually, but since it’s handmade, it’s going to be able to stand up to most things a baby can put it through.  If you happen to ask me for a quilt, I can do custom orders, just ask me about a month or so out. 🙂

• Mom Gifts

You know this girl, and you know she’s got about a billion friends that are about to buy her so many onesies and baby books and baby toys and baby this and baby that, what about mom?!  And no, I’m not talking nipple cream and butt rubs.  Maybe mama needs a new purse?  What if mama needs a new wallet?  She’s going to start lugging a diaper bag around everywhere, she’s really going to appreciate anything that actually looks like it belongs to a grown up (whoever got her this bag is just rude.) that is new and hers.

I hope that you find this list useful, and that you can look at that new baby shower invite and know that you are probably going to have the best gift there.  Because that’s what baby showers are all about!  Right?!  😀

Until next time,  happy sewing!