I am throwing a baby shower brunch for my sister inlaw the second week of December. My theme is Gingerbread baby. She's expecting a girl. My mother in law is hosting at her house, so there will already be Christmas decorations. Does anyone have any unique theme related ideas? I'm pretty crafty, so handmade ideas are greatly welcomed. Also, don't have a huge budget, so cheap or free is great too! Thanks. C.
Well, the Gingerbread Baby shower brunch was Saturday and it was a huge success! I used several of your ideas. I bought Jan Brett's book Gingerbread Baby. I used some of the artwork from her website for the invitations. I also used the book as a centerpiece with a thick pink ribbon tied around it. I found some tissue paper with gingerbreads on it and used it to wrap some washcloth roses that I made. Also made some "candies" and "cupcakes" from pink washcloths. For favors, I made gingerbread truffles and put them in cute little gingerbread bags that I found at the dollar store! And the huge hit... I made gingerbread girl shaped petit fours. Thank you to everyone for all the great advice!!
C.
What about cookie cutters for favors? That is such a cute theme, is some one going to get her the book The Ginger Bread Baby by Jan Brett? Have fun.
A.
Get your boys to help make Gingerbread houses! The would make cute decorations and you can really use that as the cake! One year, for Christmas, my kids and I went to the dollar store and bought little gifts and we sealed them in the gingerbread houses and each person at the table had a chance to break off certain pieces of the house and the last person can keep the gift inside. It was a hit!
Cute idea! I would look on the website thriftyfun.com and do a search because they have a huge supply of ideas. You might also look at Oriental Trading Company for party favor ideas. Sometimes I see a craft in their books that is easy to make without buying their "kit." Good luck to you.
The only thing that keeps running through my head is the "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" saying. Maybe that can be on the invitations somehow. What an adorable theme for a christmas baby shower! =0) Too cute!
Just last night I was reading an article on modern baby showers and how to have fun in a newer hip way. The one I thought was neat, and people may have already done this, was to buy or have everyone invited to bring a package of plain, white onsies. Get different sizes that will range from birth to approximately age one.
Buy some fabric markers. Then at the party have everyone gather around the table and decorate each onsie. Make sure there is a piece of cardboard in between the onsie so as not to bleed. Dig out your old boxes and cut them up.
The point is that for the next year the mother will have memories of the baby shower whenever she dresses her baby. God Bless~
How about everyone making a jar of gingerbread mix to take home as a shower favor? Your guests can each bring their own mason jar.
L.
Go to the Jan Brett website. They have some wonderful ideas and lots of downloads that you may incorporate in your theme based on her book..."Gingerbread Baby." Have fun.
Gingerbread men cut out of sandpaper are really cute decorations. after the shower you can punch a hole in them and tie them onto your Christmas gifts as gift tags. have fun. L.
I saw that someone mentioned the "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" saying. I hosted a baby shower for a friend who was expecting a girl, and we included that phrase in the favors. I took clean baby food jars (the small, size 1 jars, and I got them from Freecycle and friends with little ones), printed the phrase on patterned scrapbook paper (there are lots of cute gingerbread papers, or get a stamp - Michaels has a gingerbread house in their $1 section - and stamp/color on white paper), and filled w/ homemade cinnamon sugar. This time of year you can find sugar at least on sale, and you don't need a ton of cinnamon. Everyone thought it was very cute and couldn't wait to get home to make cinnamon toast and snickerdoodle cookies. Since it lasted quite a while, they had thoughts of my friend and her shower for a long time. I have a picture somewhere. If you email me, I can send it to you.
Oh, and in addition to the Gingerbread Baby book, Jan Brett has also written a couple of other Gingerbread books, and I've seen most of them at Target, Toys R Us, and the bookstores.
I LOVE the gingerbread theme. What a great idea. Good luck. Let us know what you do.
C., You can buy small gingerbread shaped cookie cutters inexpensively, check grocery stores, craft stores, like hobby lobby have bins full of different shapes, you could tie or glue pink(for girl),blue(for boy) or white as a party favor for each guest. You can print out a gingerbread recipe on small piece of paper, laminate and tie to cookiecutter, or just have to hand out to guests as they leave. Also you can fill cutter with chocolate and put in clear plastic bag as gift, look at examples on crate and barrell.com (under stocking stuffers) Walmart has an 8pack of gingerbread cookie decorating kits for $10, depending on how many guests and budget, you could set them out with the included icing and toppings for guests to decorate as activity, maybe provide additional candy, sprinkles etc as options and a plastic bag and small paper plate they can take it home with them if prefer. The cookie cutters could be tied with ribbon on the back of chairs or tied to balloon bouquet decoration to weigh down. Cut out ginger-brown felt in shape of gingerbreadmen, simply decorate with rickrack (0utline of dress)and smile(in fabric dept @ walmart), button eyes use "tacky bond glue for fabric" also in same area. To lay on tables in and around refreshments, glue on giftbags as decor or for her gifts from hosts, have cake with g.b.men or cupcakes w/gumdrops on top similar to gingerbread house. They have predecorated gingerbread houses, one would be cute as table centerpiece or @sign-in table for guests to write sentiments and their info name,address, phone,& email for mom to-be to write thank-yous. It's so nice to have all that info together for new mommy to take home with her.You can lay that polyester fill that looks like snow on gift table or under food,refreshments. Apple spice mullins as a beverage option with a cinnamon stick would be nice. Old Navy has had gingerbread aprons in stock around the holidays,you and your mom-n-law could get one to wear as hosts that'd look nice.Hpe this helps! Have fun, she will be blessed by it all! Sincerely, S. P.S. Walmart has gingerbread scented candles in their brand called "Mainstay" candles staring @ $1.00 for a small glass jar with lid candle or a little bigger open glass votive one for $1.77 they are great, I have bought this brand and like it, you could use several lit around the areas of the brunch, or depending on number of guests,give as favors.
I picked up a free holiday cookbook at Food Lion. It has a recipe in it for gingerbread houses made with pop tarts. You cut 2 pop tarts in house shapes, then use two more for the side walls and two more for the roof. Just glue them together with frosting and then decorate. That might be a cheap and easy activity or you could make some as decorations and door prizes.
Use gingerbread men cookie cutters to cut out finger sandwiches.
Make gingerbread babys out of constrution paper (pink or brown)pin them on everyone that comes to the shower and when the shower starts tell everyone that when they say the word BABY that whom ever hears you will take the gingerbread baby from them and the one with most gingerbreads at the end of the shower will win a prize if there is a tie then have the expecting mommy pick a number from 1-10 and have them guess a number and whom ever is the closes will win the prize i attended a shower where they use little clothes pins (pink or blue) to play this game so if you are doing gingerbreads i think this would be a cute game
