Celebrating the Parents-to-Be: Conclusion

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. Yesterday afternoon, we heard an excellent interview between Matt Zoller Seitz (editor in chief of the excellent Roger Ebert website and TV critic for New York magazine) and the one-and-only Matthew Wiener, "Mad Men" creator extraordinaire. The topic of discussion was the rise of advertising in NYC and it also brought perspective on Jews coming into their own post-World War II. The event took place at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

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Today, we conclude our baby shower discussion with a few more ideas I found online, along with some more games from the shop.

As I mentioned last week, throwing male-only or co-ed baby showers is a growing trend. If the weather is warm, a popular idea for co-ed baby shower is a "Baby-Q" Bash. From Pizzazzerie, here are bottles of soda from the "Pop Shoppe." The colors were inspired by the expectant baby's navy, brown, and white nursery. For party favors, boxes of s'mores with heating instructions were given to the guests.

From The Cake Blog, I love this idea for a "Milkaholic Sip & See" shower. The decorations were done in the simple, minimalist style that I like. As you can see, the table featured lots of milk and cookies and cow prints, which tied in with the theme so well.

From the blog Once Cool Pick, guests got to take home "Badass Brownie" mixes in these cute tubes. 

Are you the type of parents who want to find out until the big day whether the new arrival will be a boy or a girl? There are a lot of parents who want to be surprised, and this adorable "What Will it Bee" shower is perfect.  love these onesie cookies with a cute little bee on each.  Courtesy of The Cake Blog.

How many of you love sock monkeys? Sock monkeys date date back to the Victorian era and are a popular shower theme. Here is a retro-themed shower hosted by the owner of Posh Paperie, which features the monkeys in little Radio Flyer red wagons. How retro is this?

It's now time to present more games from the shop:

This new listing is the traditional predictions and advice cards. In the first sample, I've used a variation on the "Cute as a Button" theme. Sample #2 features a colorful circus tent background and a cute baby elephant.

Next, we have a game called "The Great Hospital Scramble." This is a take on the popular JUMBLE game. Party guests unscramble items from a typical baby registry. They will then unscramble the letters in circles to reveal words of advice for the new parent.

Also new from the shop is a game called "Name that Nursery Rhyme Character!" In this party game, guests need to guess the identity of 20 nursery rhyme characters based on hints given. This is another great game for a book-themed baby shower.

On Wednesday, I'll present the rest of the baby shower games that we offer. We will also start working on Bingo games for the shop next week.

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Women's History Month Fun Fact of the Day: Women's History Month comes to an end tomorrow. Did you know that until 1978, a woman could be fired from a job if she became pregnant?That year, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was passed. Since then, U.S. employers with 15 or more employees are legally bound to provide the same insurance, wages, and additional support to a pregnant woman that would be given to any employee with medical leave or disability.

In other news:

The Dan Feyer dynasty continued as he took home the ACPT trophy for the sixth year in a row. He beat rival Tylar Hinman by a mere half- (some say quarter- ) second. Read all about it here.

Congrats to Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke, and Michigan State for reaching the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament! The games will take place on April 4th and 6th at Indianapolis. Check out The Bleacher Report for lineups and predictions.

I've just received breaking news that Gene Saks, the Tony-winning director of "Mame" and several Neil Simon plays, has passed away at age 93. Saks started his career as an actor and his professional relationship with Simon began in 1967. Married to the late Bea Arthur for 30 years, they adopted two sons. He also had one daughter with his second wife, who survives him, along with three grandchildren. Here's a video of Mr. Saks directing the movie version of "The Odd Couple." May he rest in peace.



Wednesday's blog topic will be Easter and Passover. The shop will be closed from this Friday through Easter Sunday. We will reopen on Monday, April 6 at 6:00 a.m. EDT.

Have a PRINTASTIC day!

Kathy

Celebrating the Parents-to-Be, Part II

Good afternoon . . . this cold weather just won't let up! At least it's not too bad today, but we're even supposed to get more snow this weekend. Sigh. 

Today, we'll continue to look at baby showers and feature some cute decor and food ideas that I found online. 

Let's start off with this adorable fruit salad shaped like a cradle. It looks easy to prepare and makes a great healthy dessert! I was unable to find the source of the photo. 

From the blog for Invitesbaby.com, here's a cute take on the safari theme. 

The storybook-themed shower is a popular one. I love the shabby chic decor by graphic designer Lindsy E. Archer. For the food, she set up easels based on classic children's books (for example, red velvet cake balls for Little Red Riding Hood, ham sandwiches for Green Eggs and Ham, and chocolate-covered strawberries for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Spaceships and Laser Beams always has great products and ideas! In this photo, they feature a "precious cargo" theme for a baby boy. Propeller cake pops are stored in a wooden crate, A "baggage claim" with s'mores is also featured.

Are the parents-to-be expecting twins? The "pea-in-the-pod" theme is one that can be used in a variety of ways. You can use either candy or gumballs for these adorable party favors. Cutest Baby Shower Ideas shows you how.

Finally, from Whipperberry, this is a very creative and original idea called the "Little Bug Shower," which features vintage VW Beetles. Although this party was styled for a baby girl, you can change the colors for a boy or make them neutral if you are not going to reveal the gender. My favorite is the use of a bicycle wheel, where guests wrote their wishes for baby on decorated tags and placed them in the spokes of the wheel. 

It's time to feature some more baby shower games from our shop. Our first game is called "Author, Author!" Party guests will unscramble titles of children's books and then match them with their authors. This is the perfect game for a book-themed shower.

Next up, we have "The Baby Name Race" game. In this game, party guests will fill in a baby boy's (or girl's) name for each letter of the alphabet against the clock. In the sample below, I've used a car theme complete with a checkered border. The customer will receive two 5 x 7 cards on 11 x 8-1/2 inch paper and is customized to fit your party theme!

The last featured game for today is a traditional word search featuring items found in a baby registry. As an option, we can include a hidden message. Once again, the customer receives two 5 x 7 cards on 11 x 8-1/2 inch paper and has a choice of color, wording, or font.

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Women's History Month Fun Fact of the Day: More American women work in the education, health services, and social assistance industries than in any other industry. These three industries employ nearly one-third of all female workers (Source: U.S. Census). . . . Also, Happy 73rd birthday and a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin! 

We would also like to wish happy 81st to Gloria Steinem! The founder of Ms. Magazine, she is one of the leaders and spokespersons for the feminist movement of the late '60s and early '70s.

Celebrating Milestones: We reached 100 "likes" on our Facebook page yesterday. Thank you for all your support, and for my husband Matthew for helping to promote the shop! 

Have a PRINTASTIC Day!

Kathy

Baby Showers: Celebrating the Mom- (and Dad- ) To Be

Good morning on an unusually cold spring day here in the city. I hope you all enjoyed the weekend. 

This week's topic of discussion is baby showers. I confess that I didn't attend a baby shower until two years ago. In my religion, baby showers are not customary because it's forbidden to give a gift to an unborn child. We also do not prepare the nursery until the child is born. Gifts were once thought to draw the attention of dark spirits, which marked a recipe for disaster.  However, attitudes about this superstition have relaxed in more liberal circles and baby showers have become more common.

The baby shower is typically arranged by either a family member or a close friend of the mom-to-be. Baby showers can range from an intimate gathering at someone's home to a fancy affair at a restaurant. This all depends on ones budget and party style. It is recommended that showers should be held later in the pregnancy. By then, the mom-to-be should be sure that all is going well. Traditionally, baby showers were given only for the family's first child, and only women were invited. However, we have seen the rising popularity of co-ed showers over the last several years because men want to be included in the celebration, too. 

A baby shower theme can pull everything together and give the party a "wow" factor. Although some of these themes are boy- or girl-centric, many can be gender-neutral. Here are some popular ideas for baby shower themes:

Baby Feet (Pitter-Patter)
Owls
Ladybugs
Sports
Safari/Jungle theme (Monkeys, Zebras, Elephants, etc.)
Retro
Teddy Bears
Cars
Circus
Gender Reveal
Sea Life (Whales, Starfish, Crabs, Coral Reefs, etc.)
Nautical
Retro
Books ("Goodnight Moon," Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle books, "Pat the Bunny" etc. For this type of party, one would ask guests to bring books for the baby's library).
Farm Life (cows, pigs, rabbits, lambs, etc.)
Wild West
Music
Cute as a Button
Bees
Pea in the Pod (for twins)
Noah's Ark (for twins)
Two Scoops (for twins)

For invitations, it should be mentioned where the parents-to-be are registered so invitees can get ideas for gifts. Sometimes, several people will chip in to buy a big-ticket item.

Playing games has always been a big part of baby showers. I'd like to present some of the games we offer from the shop, and we will be adding more in the near future. As mentioned previously, our games are 100% customizable to fit your party theme, with your choice of event name, color/background, font, and wording. First up, we have three matching games. The first is called "What's In a Name?" In this game, party guests match celebrities with their unique-named offspring.  The sample shown below is for a nautical-themed baby shower.

The second game is called "TV Moms," where party guests match TV matriarchs with their children. This game can also be used for a Mother's Day get-together or invitation. In the sample shown below, I've used a retro flower theme.

Finally, we have a game called "Who's Baby Is That?" I took this title from a "Flintstones" episode. Party guests match the names of animal moms with the names of their babies. Some of these are easy while others are more tricky. In the sample below, I've used a farm theme.

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Women's History Fun Fact of the Day: Each May, Forbes magazine publishes its list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. In 2014, holding the #1 position was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. At #2 was Janet Yellen, the first woman to hold the position of Federal Reserve chair. Also included was Mary Barra, the first female CEO of General Motors. 

Later in the week, I will present some food and decorating ideas for baby showers that I found online. This Friday, I will divert from the baby shower topic to talk about crossword puzzles and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. This is an event I had attended in Brooklyn over the last several years. However, with its move back to Stamford, it was logistically not possible for me to attend this year.

Have a PRINTASTIC Day!

Kathy