Baby Shower

The Countdown What to do when? Use this handy little checklist:

3-4 months before the baby's due

Talk to the mom-to-be about your plans. Be sure religious or cultural customs don't prohibit a shower before the baby is born. If the mom-to-be says a shower is OK, it's time to start planning! Babies can arrive early so be sure to set a shower date well in advance of the baby's due date.

3 months before the due date

Once the date is decided, prepare the guest list.

Pick a party theme and location.

6 weeks before the baby shower

Check out our wide selection of invitations. Get your invites addressed and in the mail.

4 weeks before the baby shower

Go shopping for party essentials.

Plan the menu. Make sure you stock up on all the necessary supplies like foil pans, paper plates, napkins, plastic utensils, plastic cups, table décor.

2 weeks before the baby shower

Track down the ladies who have forgotten to RSVP!

1 week before the baby shower

Shop for food/drinks.

Create fun and useful favors for party guests.

Make way for baby! If you believe what you read in the latest fashion magazines, being pregnant today is totally "in!" Much like a designer purse, carrying a bump in front seems to be the latest craze among Hollywood celebrities. Yet most moms-to-be will tell you otherwise: being pregnant is more tiring than it is glamorous! When you don't have a personal chef, stylist or trainer, and when your husband needs to push you out of bed every morning, you are usually counting the days until the doctor cuts the cord.

But there's one thing most pregnant moms look forward to: her baby shower! There's nothing more exciting for the mom-to-be than unwrapping adorable little outfits and bringing new gifts into the home to feather baby's nest.

Throwing a baby shower for a friend can be a lot of fun! Unlike bridal showers, baby showers tend to be more personal, intimate gatherings. There are no "rules" about who should throw the shower or when. Generally speaking, the host is usually a sibling or close friend of the mom-to-be. In some religions, having a baby shower before the baby is born is taboo. Be sure to check with the mom-to-be about her religious or cultural beliefs before sending the invitations.

In the old days, back when being pregnant was not so fashionable, showers were for first pregnancies only. Today, more and more women are hosting showers for friends having baby #2 and baby #3! Why? Probably because experienced moms know that you can never have enough diapers or clean white onesies! But more likely it's because moms understand how hard it can be to have a second child come home. As such, a popular trend is to throw mom a "pampering shower" or "deep freeze" shower for the second or third baby.

1,2,3...no matter what number the baby, we've got everything you need from invitations to decorations to lovely party favors. Check out our great ideas for baby shower themes. Some even include the dad-to-be and his buddies.

Let's have Brunch! Brunch is simply perfect for a baby shower. It's an ideal time of day for a pregnant woman who looks forward to her afternoon nap! Pick a color scheme and theme for your party. If the mom-to-be knows what she's having, by all means go pink or blue. If she doesn't know the baby's sex, or if you want to do something less traditional, think about themes that inspire nursery decor: make way for ducklings; teddy bear tea party; Noah's Ark; planes, trains, and automobiles; A,B,Cs and 1,2,3; sports and games. The theme possibilities are endless! But remember, too much of a good thing can border on tacky. So keep your theme prevalent, without going overboard.

Make way for ducklings is an ideal theme for an outdoor garden party. Dress the tables in yellow and green. Use yellow as your base table cover. Stack wooden bowls or large cooking pots of varying sizes and heights in the center of the table. Cover them with a second table cover, this time in green, and place a small bunch of pastel or brightly colored balloons in the center. Place your main food dishes around the table and be sure to include some on top of the hidden pots! This will give your table nice height and presentation. Tuck little rubber ducks, small to large, around the table, and use a few potted flowers for added color. Serve quiches or egg strata, a nice green salad with fruit and nuts, a sliced fruit and gourmet cheese platter, mini bagels with assorted cream cheeses, and chocolate croissants. Mix a batch of champagne punch but be sure to have some sparkling cider on hand for the woman of honor!

At the guest tables, create a similarly themed tablescape. Use our duck plates and napkins. Small rubber duckies make adorable place cards! Write the guests' names on the ducks with permanent marker. Duck-shaped candy lollipops do double duty as placecards and favors. Attach a place card to the lollipop stick and insert into a small flower pot at every place setting. Be sure to wrap the lollipop with clear cellophane and tie them closed with a raffia bow. For centerpieces, fill a shallow bowl with stones and water and float two or three rubber duckies on top.

Purchase a hard-cover copy of the book "Make Way for Ducklings" and ask all the guests to sign it with a wish for the new baby. This will surely make a treasured gift. For games, fill a plastic baby bottle with jelly beans and pass it around to each table. Have each person guess the number of jelly beans. Another popular game is to collect diaper pins. Everyone at the shower gets "pinned" as they arrive. The object is to collect pins from other guests when you hear them say the word "baby." The guest who collects the most pins wins a prize! Or get our tiny plastic baby dolls, freeze them in a tray of ice cubes, and put them into the bowl of champagne punch. The first person to see her ice melt and baby float to the top shouts out, "My water broke!"

Mexican Style Quiche
Serves 6-8
· 1 nine-inch unbaked pie shell
· 6 large eggs
· sea salt & ground black pepper
· 1 cup half & half or milk
· 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
· 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
· 1 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
· 1/2 cup chopped scallions
· 1/2 cup mild fresh salsa
· 1/3 cup diced green chiles

Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat eggs and heavy cream in a medium mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle half of the cheese in the bottom of pie shell. Arrange the bell peppers, scallions, salsa and green chilies on the cheese. Pour in egg mixture and top with remaining cheese. Bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cover with foil if top browns too quickly. Remove and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Blue Cheese Walnut Twists
Makes about 40 twists.
· 1 14-oz package puff pastry
· 3 oz Roquefort or Blue Gouda, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)
· 2/3 cup ground walnuts
· 1 TB coarsely ground black pepper
· flour for dusting

Follow package directions for defrosting puff pastry. On a floured surface roll out puff pastry to a 10" by 20" rectangle. Gently mark halfway so you have two 10" x 10" squares. Sprinkle cheese, walnuts and pepper on one half, fold over other half on top. Turn pastry sideways and roll out again to a 10" x 20" rectangle. Place on a baking sheet and let rest in the refrigerator 1/2 hour. This relaxes the dough so they don't untwist in the oven).

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut pastry into about forty 1/2" x 10" long strips. Gently twist each and place on a non-stick baking sheet, pressing down ends. Bake in batches for 20-30 minutes, until twists are golden brown and cooked through. Let cool on rack.

Couples Dinner Book Party Baby showers aren't reserved exclusively for the mom-to-be and her gal pals! Dad plays an important role, too! Consider a dinner party for the parents-to-be and invite both men and women to take part in the celebration. A book shower is a great way to involve couples. Invite guests to bring classic children's books to help build baby's library. Carry the theme throughout the dinner party and use decorations inspired by classic fairy tales!

Dress the party space like an enchanted forest! Hang twinkling white lights across the ceiling. Bring in some potted palms or fichus trees and dress them with white lights, too! Shop the children's party aisle for cardboard cut outs of Snow White, Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood. You could even turn your shower into an adult costume party and ask your guests to dress the part! As guests arrive, ask them to sign the special "best wishes bear" and present it to the parents-to-be at the end of the party.

Serve a meal fit for a king! Consider starting with shrimp cocktail, a gourmet cheese and fruit platter, mixed olives and flatbreads. For the main course serve beef rib roast with horseradish cream, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus with parmesan cheese. For dessert: chocolate decadence!

For games, have guests try to finish the last line of popular fairy tales or play a game of doodle charades. Place a large sketchpad on an easel and have teams compete against one another to draw with crayons popular titles like the Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, and the Tortoise and the Hare. Points are awarded to the team that gets the most correct answers. Send everyone home with customized CDs of classical music, candy tins filled with M & Ms, or bubblegum cigars.

Beef Rib Roast with Horseradish Cream Sauce
Makes 15 (6 oz) servings
A slow-roasting method that makes for a tender, melt-in-your-mouth delicious roast. Serve with a horseradish cream or pan gravy.
· 7-9 lb prime rib roast
· sea salt, to taste
· ground black pepper, to taste

Horseradish Cream Sauce
· 1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
· 2 TB prepared white horseradish
· 3 TB fresh-squeezed lemon juice
· sea salt, to taste
· ground black pepper, to taste

Lower oven rack to bottom third of the oven. Preheat oven to 450°F. Trim roast, and place it rib-side down in roasting pan and roast 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 250°F and roast until meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of roast reads 115-125°F (rare), 125-130°F (med rare), or 135-145°F (med), about 15-30 minutes per pound. Place cooked roast on platter and let rest for up to 30 minutes before carving.

For the sauce: Beat until stiff the heavy cream. Slowly add the remaining ingredients and continue to beat together. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Makes about 11/4 cup.

Popular Books for Every Baby Library · Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
· The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
· Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman
· The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
· Guess How Much I Love You by Sam Mcbratney
· The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
· Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
· The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

Welcome Baby Shower If tradition or circumstance dictates that the shower be held after the baby arrives, rest assured that at least one aspect of the party planning is immediately made easier: the decorations! Dress the party space with a wide assortment of "It's a Girl" or "It's a Boy" décor including plates, napkins, banners, balloons and more. Remember the rule: a little goes a long way, so don't go overboard! Accent your pink or blue by incorporating one or two other coordinating colors. With pink try purple, hot pink, or pastel green. With blue consider bright yellow, red, or green. Use balloons, streamers and colored confetti to make the party space come alive. Make sure guests know where the party is! Mark the front lawn with one of our stork lawn ornaments and tell the world "It's a girl!"

Despite the excitement of the party, the baby's parents are likely going to be exhausted. Consider hosting a mid-afternoon tea party to keep the celebration relatively brief. Serve cucumber, tuna salad and egg salad finger sandwiches, mix together a fruit salad and serve it from a hallowed out watermelon, wrap cantaloupe or honeydew melon slices with prosciuto ham and serve champagne, iced tea and hot herbal teas with mint, honey, and lemon. Or keep it simple and serve tea, punch and cupcakes.

Dress the food table with colorful baby accents the parents can take home and actually use like wooden alphabet blocks, small plastic rattles, mini board books, and baby booties. Hang a crib mobile over the food table and hang a piece of clothesline from one side of the room to the other. Hang tiny baby clothes from the line with colored plastic clothes pins. For games, play a round or two of "baby bingo!" After the presents are all unwrapped, send guests home with favor boxes shaped like baby blocks and filled with chocolate truffles or candy almonds. Or print your own candy bar announcements! Purchase a box of full-size candy bars at a local discount club. Remove the outer paper wrapper and replace with our custom candy bar announcements.

Hot or Iced Tea

· Black tea with lemon and honey isn't the only option for your tea party. Visit your local organic food market for a wide selection of green, white, and black teas and try these tasty combinations!

· Mix green tea with honey and organic apple juice.

· Mix white tea with unrefined sugar and fresh ginger.

· Mix up a batch of black tea with a cinnamon stick and some whole cloves. Stir in natural sugar and milk.

· Mix black, green or herbal tea with fresh mint. Strain and add orange juice. Sweeten to taste with honey.

· Mix lavender and mint herbal tea. To sweeten, add a splash of white grape juice.

· Make raspberry herbal tea. Add orange juice and natural sugar to taste.

· Make black tea with ginger. Strain and add cherry juice.

Deep Freeze Shower For a second or third baby shower, a popular idea today is the "deep freeze" shower. Guests bring prepared homemade meals to stock the new mom's freezer. This shower can be held a few weeks before the baby's due date or even after the baby has come home from the hospital. This can be a good time, too, for friends to meet the baby while dropping off a much welcome meal. If you are hosting a "deep freeze" shower, be sure to have a number of large coolers and ice bags available at the party location where guests can store their food. Ask guests to attach a recipe card with an ingredient list their meal. Large foil pans are perfect for holding casseroles, lasagnas, and more!

Typically this type of shower is more about helping the mom and less about games and prizes for the guests. Keep food simple: serve cake with ice cream and punch. Send guests home with a pair of wooden spoons tied with ribbon and recipe cards, oven mits, or a pair of linen dish towels.

CHAMPAGNE PUNCH
· 2 cans frozen pink lemonade mix
· 1 can frozen cranberry juice
· 2 (46 oz.) cans unsweetened pineapple juice
· 2 bottles champagne
· 1 bottle dry white wine
· 1 scoop each of orange, pineapple & lime sherbet

Chill liquids. Pour into a large punch bowl and add sherbets. Makes 1 1/2 gallons.