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I recently hosted a small baby shower to welcome our first grandchild into the family. On our side of the family, baby showers are held once the baby has arrived. It is a wonderful way to introduce a new baby to everyone. It was a lot of fun to plan this shower and pinterest was a wealth of ideas.
I wanted it to be fun and special, and ultimately the goal was to create the shower that I wanted. But as always, if there were ways to do that more thriftily, I would.
I had originally planned to hold the shower outdoors, but we had a downpour the day before, and it threatened to rain again the day of the shower. It was easy enough to adapt though.
Once I had decided on a theme, which was rubber duckies, I was ready to start looking for decorations. I don't think that it is necessary to spend a great deal on showers and parties, though I know that there are people who do, and that some even go all out and rent halls and have a catered event.
If you want to save some money, I think a couple of larger decorations are not only cost effective but make more of an impact.
I decided that helium filled balloons would make a nice focal point and were something that was worth paying retail price for. I ordered a bouquet from our local party store in the shower colours of blue and yellow. It consisted of one mylar 'Baby Boy' balloon, five blue balloons and five yellow balloons.
It cost $17 to buy the balloons, a weight, and have them filled. I also had extra blue and yellow balloons leftover in the packages that we could blow up at home.
One idea that I had seen on pinterest and loved was using a clothesline to hang baby clothes from. I had seen it done using paper cut outs, or real clothing, and wanted to use the real thing.
I found several onesies at a yard sale for a quarter a piece. Other sales netted a brand new monkey wash cloth, a small zebra head blanket, a couple of sleepers, a hat and some bibs. I paid another two or three dollars for those items. I was lucky enough to find both a hat and a bib with rubber ducks on them.
I bought some twine and bamboo clothespins from the dollar store.
I strung clotheslines in the front and side windows of the house, in the living and dining room areas where we would be having the shower. I was pleased with the results and all the guests thought it looked cute.
I considered just using a fabric tablecloth, but didn't have one in blue, so I bought a plastic one from the party store for eighty-eight cents.
I found a recipe for blue punch, using a blue Hawaiian Punch drink and ginger ale (one bottle of blue Hawaiian punch drink with one 2 litre bottle of ginger ale). I added a couple of drops of blue food colouring to get the shade that I desired. The punch itself cost $4 to make and was enough for a dozen people. I used store brand ginger ale, which cost a bit less, and which works just as well in mixed drinks I find.
I wanted to have some yellow rubber ducks floating in it. I figured they would be easy to find, and inexpensive, but I was surprised. The dollar store didn't have any, but the party store had a package with four small yellow ducks for $3.98.
Though they didn't have any yellow rubber ducks, the dollar store did have some larger ones with polka dots. I bought a blue one for $1.25 to decorate the coffee table where I set out the food.
When I was in Staples getting some photocopies made for shower games, I chanced upon yellow and blue cups, and yellow dessert plates, on clearance. They were regularly .97 marked down to .47 with an additional 25% off that day. I was able to get cups and plates in the perfect colours for only $2.
I set a couple of stacks by the punch bowl (to use instead of the tiny glass cups that come with the sets).
I used others to fill with blue cotton candy, and set a gummy shark at the top of each cup. The cotton candy was $1.50 from the grocery store. I set these behind the punch bowl.
I wanted to do a few games, and again pinterest proved some fun ideas. The games that I chose didn't cost anything to create, except for the $2 I spent on photocopies for two of the games.
The first game was called Baby Animals. I compiled a list of animals, photocopied it (minus the answers!) and guests had to write down what the offspring are called. Some were easy but many were difficult. Everyone had fun with this one.
This is my niece, trying to recall the term for a baby swan.
My mom, who watches a lot of Discovery channel and Animal Planet was the eventual winner. She missed only one. She was the first one to be able to select a prize from the prize table.
It was important to me to have a large selection of nice prizes tailored to the interests and tastes of my guests. Some prizes I purchased retail, but many came from yard sales.
I only bought items for prizes that were new in boxes or with tags. And I only had close family in attendance and knew that no one would mind my sourcing prizes from yard sales. If your guests wouldn't either (I know some people might mind) consider doing the same.
The new items that I bought at the store were all on sale. After the attached manufacturers coupon, I paid .44 for a jar of Pantene hair mask. I bought chocolate bars on sale for .77 each. I am able to buy Deep Woods off at a huge discount through work and paid $1 for a large spray can. I picked up some purple heart shaped sunglasses for $2.
Some of the garage sale items that I found included a sock monkey for .50, a Corksicle (for keeping white wine chilled) for .50, some Mary Kay and Avon eye shadows that were a steal at 3/$1, an Avon two-step facial peel treatment for $1, organic nail polishes 3/$1, a set of two silver-plated wine corks for $1, and some pretty note cards for $1.
I bought a large porcelain cup and saucer and a set of pomegranate body wash and lotion from the same sale for $5.
I didn't buy things just because they were inexpensive. I only bought things that I knew would appeal to the guests I was inviting. That is the difference between frugal and cheap.
Someone who is cheap would buy anything that was inexpensive, regardless of whether it might be wanted or appreciated, just to save money. I am all for saving money and being thrifty where possible, but I am opposed to being cheap!
All of the items were new in boxes and/or with retail tags still attached. To an outsider, it would have been assumed that everything was bought at retail and that I was a very generous hostess! The best deal was the Corksicle, which has a regular price of $24.95.
The second game that we played was an homage to 'The Price is Right' involving common items purchased for babies. One variation of this could be to purchase the actual items for the game, giving them to the mom/mom-to-be as a gift from the hostess.
For my shower I simply decided on several items then looked them up on the Walmart website, choosing a size, and writing down the details and the price. Each guest got a piece of paper and a pen (I bought a package from the dollar store to make sure I'd have enough to around) to write down their answers. Like the television game show, the idea was to guess closest without going over the retail price.
The list included things as small and inexpensive as a jar of baby food, right up to a playpen.
I decided to award a winner for each item, since I had so many prizes available. Guests had a lot of fun with this one especially, and it worked out so that everyone was able to claim a prize, and most claimed two.
It was satisfying to see guests choose the prizes that they probably didn't even realize had been purchased with them in mind, and to note their smiles as they picked them from the table. And as an added bonus, I was able to provide all of the prizes for just under $20.
Another game that we had was to guess how many candies filled the sippy cup. I was able to find tiny pacifier shaped candies at the bulk food store, that were perfect for this game. The winner got to keep the candy as their prize. That game cost me an additional $3.
I had a third game as well, but we ran out of time and didn't play it. If you need another idea for a no cost game for a shower, it was a word jumble game. Simply make a list of baby related items, then mix up the letters. Guests must unscramble them. For example 'arc teas' was 'car seat'.
I had also considered another no cost game that gave a time limit during which guests had to write down all of the songs that they could think of that contained the word 'babe' or 'baby'.
Food can be another large expense for showers and parties. It is an area where I don't mind spending money. I did manage to keep the food budget down though but shopping the sales and being flexible about the menu.
I have seen other frugal tips suggesting that you ask guests to bring food, or only serve a dessert, etc. That is a matter of personal choice, but not something I am comfortable with. I like to provide at least some appetizers if not a light meal, and I do not think it is right to create a pot luck out of an event where guests are going to be bringing gifts and have already incurred that expense.
My mother and sister both offered to bring something, and though I told them it wasn't necessary, my sister ended up bringing tortillas and salsa, and my mother brought a lovely pasta salad.
My main food item was croissant sandwiches, cut into smaller sections. I mixed up tuna, chicken and egg salad. The total cost for a dozen sandwiches was $10.
I used canned flakes of chicken, which was more cost effective than cooking chicken pieces myself, and I like them just as well in sandwiches.
The menu also consisted of a pickle and olive plate, fresh fruit kabobs, sliced English cucumbers with herb and garlic cream cheese, prosciutto wrapped mozzarella roll, and coconut date cake. These items were an additional $17.
You can save some money if you leave a bit of room for flexibility in your menu. I had thought that I might do a baked brie with a topping, and some traditional date squares.
When I got to the supermarket though, I saw the prosciutto roll on in-store clearance, along with the coconut date cake. I decided to get those instead, not just because of the price, but because they sounded interesting. Both ended up being good choices, and the prosciutto and mozzarella roll in particular was a big hit.
The fruit kabobs were the most expensive other food to make, at $9 for the plate. But they looked so pretty and were so delicious. Everyone appreciated them and commented about how lovely they looked.
You could make them less expensively by using only fruit that is on sale, and bulking up with the least expensive fruit. Watermelon is inexpensive this time of year, and you get a lot of fruit from one melon, but I preferred different fruits for these. Neither the strawberries nor the blueberries were not on sale, so that increased my cost.
There was a cute cake idea that was perfect for our shower theme, and my teenage daughter wanted to make one for her brother, sister-in-law and new nephew to make it more personal.
Cake mix and icing regularly come on sale for $1 each here. I found the rubber ducks to decorate the top at the dollar store. They are actually small erasers, and cost $1.25 for a package. I bought two packages to make sure she'd have enough.
A few drops of blue food colouring in the icing turned it the desired shade. The cake was under $5, and ice cream was on sale for $2. The cake also added a decorative touch to the main table.
The shower was a success and everyone seemed to have a great time. Of course, when you start out with such a happy occasion for a get together it's almost a given that people will enjoy themselves.
It was wonderful to visit with family and to have them meet our new grandson.
My son and daughter-in-law received some wonderful, thoughtful gifts for their baby boy.
I received positive feedback on everything from the decorations, to the food, to the games and prizes.
I like that I was able to put together this baby shower in a frugal way. The total cost for everything, to create a complete baby shower for a dozen people, was just under $100.
But there was no way that I would ever skimp on anything just to save money. There are cheaper ways to throw a baby shower. Many of them just don't suit my philosophies or needs.
Hopefully there might be a couple of tips here that you can use when planning your next shower or party.
Nifty, thrifty, and (over) fifty,
Cathy
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