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For six years, thirty-three days and forty-five minutes I waited patiently for my boyfriend (now husband) to propose. It certainly put an immediate stop to “when are you two getting married?” but it hasn’t seemed to stop the constant “when are you two going to have a baby?” and while I’m not having a baby just yet…I seem to have reached that age where every one of my friends is having a baby. In the last six months I’ve been to 14 baby showers!

So when a dear friend and work colleague announced she was expecting I thought I’d offer to throw her a baby shower! I’ve surely been to enough of them to know how to throw one…right?! So I surrounded myself in all things baby and set off to throw the perfect baby shower!

Let’s get this party started!

1. Guest list and invitations. Mum-to-be can help with this.

There are plenty of great websites that provide beautiful templates and I managed to create beautiful invitations online. It’s up to the mum-to-be but since even Great Grandma Elva had an email address I simply sent out the invites via email…but it’s up to you.

Download and print these cute baby shower invitations for your guests.

2. Decorations

There’s no right or wrong when it comes to decorating, we used a combination of bright colours, pinks, purples, oranges & greens.

I admit that I got the idea for this next decorating idea from a friend’s shower but it’s a great one so pass it on!

You might like to try Bonds Baby Wondersocks (Search 8118682), or Baby Bibs Unisex (Search 8038299) which you can buy from us here at Coles online. Really you can use whatever you like! Simply hang them on a washing line, buy some fabric pens and let your guest decorate them. Then let mum-to-be choose a winner!

Another great idea is to make your own banner to welcome the new baby.

Download and print this sweet “Welcome Baby” flag banner for your party. Just thread some string through the top of each letter and hang it up!

3. Gift Ideas

- Nappy Cake!

It’s fair to say that hubby was a little confused when he arrived home from work to find me surrounded by 108 Huggies Nappies on the lounge room floor…what else would I be doing? Making a Nappy Cake of course!! I think this is a brilliant table decoration and gift for the mum-to-be. All of the items you need to make the nappy cake you can buy from Coles online! Once unwrapped all these products are ready for baby’s arrival.

Here’s a list of what you need to make the cake:

• 60 – 80 Nappies (I used disposables but you could use cloth) Try Huggies Jumbo Nappies Newborn up to 5kg 108 Pack (Search 9088598).
• 40-60 Rubber Bands (This depends on how big you want to build the cake) Try Coles Rubber Bands 100g assorted sizes (Search 9536032).
• 1 500mL bottle of lotion/baby bath/powder (I used baby bath) Coles Baby Bath 500mL (Search 8115709) or Johnson’s Baby Powder 400g (Search 5263142)
• Various items to decorate the cake (I used a baby toy) but you could use any number of things to decorate your cake including:
• Bottles –  Avent Feeding Bottle 125mL (Search 4586973)
• Bibs – Baby Bibs Unisex Oatmeal Cream 5 Pack (Search 8038299)
• Socks or Booties – Bonds Baby Booties Infants Unisex Size 00-1 (Search 8434048)
• Dummies/Soothers – Coles Baby Soother Cherry Small from Birth.(Search 5519188)
• Various sized ribbon to tie your cake together
• 1 cardboard or plastic cake platter

Step 1:

To make the first tier, you will need to use about 36 nappies (depends on how big you want to make your nappy cake)

Unfold half of the nappies and roll them up quite tightly. Place a rubber band around the centre of each nappy. These will make the inner circle for your nappy cake.

Next take the cake platter and place the baby lotion/powder in the centre of the platter. Put about 6 nappies around the bottle and put a large rubber band around the ring of nappies.

Below is a picture of how it should look at this point…

Next make a second ring with the remaining 10-12 nappies by putting them around the first ring of nappies you have made. Finish it off with a large rubber band around the second ring.

Now you are ready to complete the first tier: Take around 20 nappies, roll them up tightly the same as before and repeat the previous steps. Finish the third ring by placing a rubber band around the entire bottom tier. We will tie ribbon around this to finish it off later.

Now you have finishing the first tier! Here’s what it should look like!

Step 2:

The second tier of your nappy cake is made the same way as your first tier except you will only need to make two rings of nappies instead of three. Part of your Baby lotion/powder bottle will be sticking out of the top of the cake so you will just need to place 5-6 nappies around it to make the first ring of your second tier. Then you will need around 11-12 nappies to form the second ring. Place a large elastic band around this tier to hold it all together. Again we will tie some ribbon around this tier at the end to hide the elastic bands.

Now you have completed tier 2! Here’s what it should look like

Step 3: The last and easiest tier to make! I found it easier to make this tier on a table and then I placed it on the cake at the end. I used two rolled up nappies in the centre to form a ring and then used 6-7 nappies to form a ring around the first ring. Then I placed it on top of the cake.

And now you’re ready to decorate!!

You can add as little or as much as you like. I decided to use some purple ribbon and a baby toy to place on top of my cake but you could use any baby products you like including lotions, bibs, baby bottles or blankets.

And here’s the finished product

Go on and give it a try for your next baby shower!

If you’re stuck for gift ideas you might like to try one of our gift packs. Packed full of all the baby essentials, it’s a perfect gift for new parents and their baby.

It’s a Boy Gift Bag (Search 7608198) It’s a Girl Gift Bag (Search 7608165)

4. Game Ideas

-          The Price is Right

I purchased some everyday baby products and had the guests guess the price of each product. Guests wrote down their answers and then closest to the correct total is the winner. Best bit is that mum-to-be gets to keep all the products!

Huggies Jumbo Nappies Newborn 108 Pack (Search 9088598)

Johnson’s Baby Bedtime Bath 500mL (Search 9152595)

Avent Feeding Bottle 125mL (Search 4586873)

Gel Pack Nappy Sacks 50 Pack (Search 5758178)

-          Playdough Babies

Play Doh Single Tub assorted colours (Search 5176730)

Give your guests at the baby shower some Playdough and give everyone five minutes to create a baby. Have your mum-to-be decide who made the best baby! Lots of fun!

We had a great day. Lots of laughs, lots of fun and most importantly our mum-to-be enjoyed every moment with her friends and family. And now we wait for the most important part - I just cannot wait to meet baby.

5. Thanks!

There is one more thing to do and that is write thank you notes to all who attended. Download and print these thank you templates for your guests.

What are your baby shower ideas?