Planning a Baby Shower.. Looking for Centerpiece and Favor Ideas

My sister did a rubber duckie theme for me.... duckie cake, small, clear bowls of water tinted blue with a single (or more if the table was bigger) duckie swimming in it. She bought molds to make pink, white and blue chocolate/candy suckers for favors..... Duckie stuff is easy to find at Oriental Trading Co.,dollar stores, floral supply stores, etc. so it was very cute and not hard to find all the materials.

And my Aunt hosted a shower for me as well - with the 'a baby is blooming' theme. Favors were small, clay pots - she wrapped the lip with ribbon and had little seed packets in each that had a little poem (with an Anne Geddes type photo) about the seeds growing like the baby (if you decide to go that way, shoot me a personal message and I can send it to you). Centerpieces were tiny planters and watering cans (should all be on sale now at Target, etc.) with flowers. Oh.... and she made the invites too, with an image matching that on the favors. Again, adorable :)

Either way, consider piling up the favors on cake stands in the center or gathering them somehow in the center so they serve as both decor and favor. It will work well if you don't have lots of space on the tables and is a time and money saver!

The centerpieces at my baby shower where little chairs and cradles that were painted blue, because I was having a boy. The person who made them just bought the at michaels and after they were painted tied little bottles and rattles with strings on the corners. They were so cute. I still have a chair in my sons room that he loves to play with. Cookies are a great favor. I hate getting more "junk" at shower, but usually something you can eat will never go to waste. I have more candles, soap and other stuff from showers that were thrown away, given away or collecting dust.

For my SIL's baby shower, her niece made the cutest centerpieces. She just used a small vase and a single Gerbera Daisy, but then took pastel colored pipe cleaners and made spirals out of them by wrapping them around a pencil, and placed several of them in the vase as well. They were so simple and adorable! You could use small drinking glasses for the vases, or you could probably find some small vases/containers at a dollar store or hobby store. You could use any kind of flower, or even use fake ones. Also, the pipe cleaners can be a rainbow of colors to reflect both genders.

For decorations at my shower (it was at a restaurant too) we just had a balloon bouqet on the cake/gift table and my aunt made me a really neat poster that said "It's a Boy!" that was on a stiff board and we just propped in up against one of the walls.

For favors, we just did candy on the tables at each place setting. A lot of people I know give out little trinkets, but I don't think that's necessary and unless it's something useful it just gets thrown out anyway.

One of my favorite games to play at a baby shower is the one where people guess how big around you are by cutting off a piece of yarn and then "measuring" you to see how close they are. It's so funny to see how much people over-exaggerate!

Have fun at your shower and Congrats on the Baby!!

Diaper cakes are super cute! Look on line for some idea, but make your own...way cheaper! I have made 2 and everyone loved them. They make great centerpieces plus it's a gift! I have seen duck centerpieces as well and it was cute. You could also do baby bottle centerpieces and use them as vases or fill them with anything... candy, bibs, baby flatware, etc. In fact, some people even use that as a game...fill the bottle with something and then guess how many of that thing is in there and win a prize. it's cute.

I have done two showers and the first theme was a literary theme and it was really fun! Included in their gift, everyone was to bring a book to add to the baby's library. I printed up some book plates and everyone personalized them to put in the book at the shower. You can find tons of literary themed shower games too. For the second we did a coffee theme..." A Baby is Brewing" and it was cute too. My friend is a coffee fanatic, so it was perfect. As favors I gave away individual pot sized bags of coffee and biscotti. Russell Stovers makes some chocolates that are coffee flavored as well that work well for game prizes or favors.

Have fun! I love a good party!

My mother-in-law made adorable diaper baby carriages as centerpieces for my shower, which was also at a restaurant. The weren't that hard to make-you just need newborn diapers, clear ponytail holders and some glue-dots. I can email you a picture if you PM me. I was pregnant with a girl and my MIL is a shopper (she had 4 boys) so she just hung some clothesline and used outfits as decorations.
My mom did cheap bottles from the dollar store filled with bath salts (she made them, but you can buy them too) as favors for my other shower. That was also at a restaurant, before we knew the gender, so she used stuffed animals as centerpieces and did an animal theme. The bottles she used even had animals on them.

I have see diaper cakes, they are so cute. You can just look up a picture online. For my second baby shower my MIL did the theme "A gift from Above" it had little teddy bears and little umbrellas, it was so cute. Probably if you put that in a search engine you will get some ideas. I loved it and it would have been great for boy or girl. Have fun:)

A friend of mine used the cupcakes as centerpieces. Using the cupcake stands which held 6-8 cupcakes on each table. Cute and functional! They also had a cake, but I thought the cupcake centerpieces were awesome. Have fun!!

Balloons tied to baby bottles, filled with jelly beans..

My sister filled toy baby bottles with m&m's for the favors and had a really big one in the middle of the food table as the centerpiece. Balloons and table glitter that said "It's a boy" rounded out the look. It was simple and sweet. Given that you are doing it at a restaurant, the less involved it is, the better! I really liked the rubber duck suggestion from Lynn.

Good luck.

For one of my sister's baby showers, I made the center pieces my gift. I took smaller baby gift bags and filled them with different baby gifts. Rattles, bottles and things like that. Put fluffed up tissue paper in them and tied a balloon to each one.

Showers are so fun but also a lot of work. I have hosted many baby showers. All the best! The theme will really dictate the centerpieces. Diaper cakes are adorable but also can get expensive, so I'd save that for a main table (buffet, etc).

I would use decorated cookies, cupcakes or candy for your favors/dessert and these can be easily incorporated into a centerpiece. Individually wrapped cookie "pops" (on a stick) are cute sticking up our of a vase or flower pot or box or carriage or whatever goes with your theme. It's easy to go gender neutral cookies. I make them all the time, so let me know if you need ideas, help or even cookies :O)

Don't stress over it all! The mom-to-be will be thrilled with anything you do. Have fun!

I didn't read all the other posts, but a close friend of mine is throwing her friend a "Circus Themed Baby Shower". She is going to have a popcorn bar with all different colored popcorn and I think the center pieces are small tins that are circus colored with tigers on them.

Looks like other moms have already recommended but I agree with the diaper cake as a centerpiece. It would be a totally cute idea. Plus whatever theme you choose for the cake, you can run throughout the entire party. Other ideas that could work for both boy or girl would be circus theme, or maybe the parents favorite animal. I hope this helps and good luck.

I had one for my SIL but hers was in October and we went with a "Little Pumpkin" theme. I got ceramic pumpkins at CVS for $5 each and pumpkin candles for $1 each at Walgreens. If yours is in February, perhaps you could work around a heart theme and utilize Valentines in some way. The theme at my own baby shower was "A Bun in the Oven" and the party favor was a package of muffin mix. I suggest these things because while a truly "baby" theme is cute, you might want something practical that guests can use afterwards. If the centerpieces will be given as prizes (as is our family's custom), you want to try and go with something useful. I've also been to one where the theme was "Little Peanut" and you could make any variety of peanut favors. Edible is always a hit! My final suggestion would be "A baby is Brewing" and giving coffee mugs (you could easily find these at the dollar store) as favors. Since it will be cold outside, coffee or hot cocoa could be a nice touch as a favor. Or those chocolate covered spoons that are meant to stir your coffee to add flavor. Good luck and have lots of fun!

Mini diaper cakes. Look online for instructions. It is a "cake" made out of diapers.

In a glass jar you can make a "flower" centerpeice using socks and onesies. Check online how to do this as well.

My sister and I were both expecting at the same time. The other sister and I did a clothesline theme for our sister's shower. I don't know if it would work for you but it was great. We hung a line along one side of the room and invited everyone to bring various size clothes (onesies, shirts, pants, whatever). Use little clothes baskets for center pieces.

They used ducks for my shower. You can use rubber ducks alone as centerpieces or in a small floating boat/vase.

Both themes are good for either sex and you can use any color accents.

You could make the center piece the cupcake dessert. They sell cute cupcake "towers" some are disposable. That way your centerpiece is edible and you get two items out of the way at one price (sort of)