It's time to plan a baby shower for your friend or relative and you need a theme. Why not hold a Baby Laundry Shower? While all those little pink and blue outfits and blankets and sheets are precious, eventually - and sooner than you think - they'll need to be washed. A Baby Laundry Shower will provide the new parents-to-be welcome and necessary items for all that baby laundry.
Invitations
To set the mood for the party, choose a shower invitation with a laundry theme.
There are many invitations available that feature a clothesline theme from contemporary to seasonal, boy or girl. Or, you could choose an invitation that is clothing shaped like baby overalls or onesies or bibs.
If you are crafty, you can make your own invitations by cutting card stock into the shape of a baby bid, t-shirt or onesie (you can find easy templates online) and print the details of the event using your computer. If you have plenty of time, use your scrapbooking skills to make a mini-clothesline with paper clothes cutouts to hang from cord with mini-clothespins.
When sending your invitations, be sure to let everyone know the theme of the party is a laundry shower. Include the honoree's name, date, time and place. If you have some games or ideas in mind that require something extra, include the request in the invitation.
A Baby Laundry Shower is perfect for a co-ed party. Both parents will need to know how to do laundry and remove baby stains!
Decorations and Activities
Decorations for a laundry-themed shower are easy.
Just make a clothesline banner using lightweight rope and come clothespins. Include some baby clothes like bibs or socks - anything lightweight - and some balloons or paper cutouts. Or, if you aren't inclined to make your own or you've run out of time, you can buy a clothesline banner already decorated.
Centerpieces can be created from small laundry baskets or small washtubs. They can be filled with cotton balls for bubbles. Colorful laundry detergent bottles can be transformed into centerpieces by tying helium balloons to the handle and adding a pretty new label with a laundry tip.
As guests enter, have some bright pieces of card stock cut in the shape of baby clothes. Ask each guest to write some piece of laundry advice or a stain removal tip on each piece and sign it. These can then be clipped to a clothesline for the parents-to-be to take home.
If you like to have games at the shower, here's a Laundry Basket Toss. On the invitations, ask each guest to bring a small non-breakable baby item for the game. Have a laundry basket or baby hamper available (it can be part of your gift to the parents). During the shower, have each guest toss their item into the hamper from a set distance. As people miss, they are eliminated from the game and the toss line is moved further away. The person who hits the basket from the greatest distance gets a prize. The prize could be detergent, a set of clothes hangers or a package of clothespins.
Gifts
Baby laundry gift ideas are plentiful. Every new parent needs supplies on hand during those first hectic months. Even before the baby arrives, all bedding, clothes and diapers should be washed before using to prevent allergic reactions.
Here's a gift suggestion list:
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