10 Keepsake baby shower ideas to make memories last
How many baby showers have you been to? One? A handful? More than you can count? My own baby shower with Lil’ J was one of the first ones I had been to. I’ve helped plan a few and many to many more since then, and today I wanted to share some special keepsake ideas for those of you who may be planning a shower of your own.
You know me, and I love any excuse to make memories last, and a baby shower is a special day worth remembering. Here are 10 fabulous keepsake ideas to incorporate into a baby shower. I picked up all of these supplies at Target.
1. Wishes for baby- advice box
I love looking back at the heartfelt letters I got at my baby shower. Words of advice from moms as well as encouraging words from moms-to-be. They’re still fun to go back and read occasionally.
2. Letter Wall
Ask each guest to bring a letter decorated to put in the baby’s nursery. If you have enough guests you can do an alphabet wall, or spell out the baby’s name. You can find paint and craft items to decorate wooden letters at Target.
3. Time capsule for baby
Have each guest write down a memory or moment from the birth year and put in a can to be sealed then reopened on his/ her 18th birthday.
4. Late-night diaper box
Give mom something to smile about during those exhausting middle-of-the-night changes by writing humorous messages on the diaper for mom to read later.
5. Decorate Baby Bibs
Let guests decorate plain baby bibs with fabric paper .
6. New mommy survival kit jar
Fill a jar with small items for mom: gum, hand lotion, chocolate, Advil, sanitizer, Mother’s Milk Tea, etc. When the items are gone the jar can be re-used as a memory jar for mom to fill with baby’s firsts and keepsakes from the hospital or birth day.
7. Colored-pencils/ alphabet book
Let your friends show off their artistic side (or lack thereof) by decorating a page for an alphabet book.
8. Signed children’s books
In lieu of a card, request that guests bring a signed children’s book for baby. Small ones run about the same price as a card would anyway.
9. Photo Book
The easiest way to document a party is probably by using a photo book. Take photos of all the guests then slip them in a ready-made photo book that mom can look back and enjoy for years to come.
10. Loving wishes and advice for mommy
Guests can write well wishes and advise for the mom-to-be and stick them in a box or jar for mom to keep and read later, or whenever she needs a pick-me-up.
One important thing every new mom needs is support. No matter what her parenting style might be, she’ll need friends she can count on to have her back. Here’s a video that pretty much sums up my feelings in a hilarious few minutes.
Did you get any keepsake gifts at your shower? Share your thoughts or ideas in the comments and you’ll be entered to win a $50 gift card to Target. I’ll draw a winner at random on January 31st. Good luck!
Ramdom.org #23 winner: Stephanie M.
*Giveaway sponsored by Target in partnership with BabyCenter
Tags: baby shower, babyshower, giveway, making memories last
I love the idea of a time capsule and advice for baby. I recently attended a friends shower and we were asked to write words of wisdom for the baby to read when she’s 16.
Love these ideas. I don’t have a baby on the way for now but they are things I would definitely love.
Looove the ideas of both decorating the letters or signing books instead of cards…anything that I can look at and remember all the people who love and support me. Those are also things that people can do even if they can’t make it on the day of the shower.
I just threw a shower for my sister and we had an elephant painting that each guest put their fingerprint on to make a balloon, and then signed their names. It turned out so beautifully and now it is a memory that she will get to share with her son when he gets older.
No keepsakes for me at my showers, but I did one for my sister. Similar to your suggestion, we had guests write their best pieces of baby advice on cut-outs to match the shower theme. Then we secured them into a book for my sister. Such great nuggets of information from new moms all the way to those that have grandchildren of their own. Motherly advice really is timeless.
I haven’t had a baby shower yet, but will have my very first one soon. I like these ideas! Wishes for baby is always a good one to look back on.
We played a game where we decorated onesies & I kept them as a keepsake. We also collected important articles from that year for a time capsule.
i am in the beginning stages of planning a shower for my sister who is having a boy. I’m thinking a Peter Rabbit theme since the shower will be around Easter. Love the ideas you shared!!
I’ve always heard the idea of asking them to bring a book in lieu of a card, but I LOVE the idea of having everyone sign a book! So fun and unique!
i love these ideas! We still look at our blessing cards from Hadley’s shower. I can’t wait to finally put them in a baby book for her.
boy have I been to a ton of baby showers! These ideas are great! I wish we could do more to support moms to be!
I love it when I get handmade items. I have a few different blankets and quilts that were made for my babies – those are my favorites! I love all of your ideas here though – might try one or two for the next shower I organize!
Had a baby shower for my first and didn’t get any personalized keepsakes. Some family is throwing me a shower for my third and fourth (yes twins!) in a couple weeks…maybe I’ll send this post their way ;). I like the decorating baby bibs and/or onesies idea and bringing a signed children’s book instead of a card is also a really good one!
Yes, I got a lovely handmade scrapbook, just waiting to be filled with pictures of my newborn son. It was such a thoughtful gift!
We did the late night diaper box at our sprinkle shower. Parents can always appreciate a little humor during the late night/early morning hours, even if they are not first time parents.
I got advice cards at my baby shower and they where a kick in the paints because most of my family are jokers. My moms said I need to remember my birth control :-X
I’m planning my little sister a shower and I’m thinking of making a little video of the shower. It’s always more fun to watch later!
I didn’t get any for my baby shower, but at my sister-in-law’s shower, they did the diaper thing, as well a guestbook/advice book. I wrote some things in the guestbook, but let my daughter do the diapers. I think she just drew some pictures on them. 🙂
Oh man i wish i had read these before my shower. I just had it on tge 18th. You are so good with this stuff. I think I’m going to do your version of a letter wall. Thats so cool!
I didn’t get any for my baby shower but now I wish I would have! What a darling idea. I will have to remember these for the next shower Im in charge of 🙂
i love the decorating items at baby showers. At my baby shower for my daughter, we did scrapbook pages. Each guest created their own page and took a picture. It was so much fun.
I like the idea of doing baby books instead of cards. I’ve been to several showers where they have done that, including one of my own. 🙂
Looooove the letter wall! What a great way to get a variety of styles and designs which make each letter unique but also bring out a bit of personality in each person who came to the shower. Man! I am totally doing that for my next child. Thanks for the idea!
Those are all such great ideas! I’m definitely pinning this for any future baby showers I host. The funny diapers was used at my shower – and they turned out to be great comic relief for many diaper changes! I’ve also seen plain headbands with a variety of bows/flowers, so the shower guests can create custom headbands for baby girls!
Love the book idea!!!
I received advice from my guests on circles of paper and I strung them up in the nursery as a decoration. I loved reading them whenever I went in the room. I am planning a shower for a friend in a few weeks and plan on doing the same, but will have a photo book to place the advice cards in.
I love the alphabet wall. I think I’ll ask my guests to do this. Thx for the great idea!
What great ideas! I think they’re all really unique & fun. Will definitely be doing some of these the next time a friend has a baby!
My babies are all grown but at one of my baby showers everyone decorated a bib. I still have them all in my hope chest.
Love all of these ideas! We did the children’s book in lieu of a guest book for my son’s first birthday party and I’ve carefully tucked it away for when he’s a bit older. I’m sure he’ll treasure it. Great ideas in this post!
We had a onesie decorating event. Loved it!
We got a money jar..All the guest left a bill of whatever their choosing with a message to the child on it…I will give each kid their jar when they leave the nest.
Love the late night diaper box….will share and super cute. Wish i had thaf for my late night changes
I love the decorating bibs idea! The wishes for baby is super cute and would be so special when the baby is older.
Love these! I didn’t get anything like these for either of my showers. But I am needing to plan one soon so I’ll be putting the ideas to good use.
The books are a great idea! Sandra Boynton books are a favorite in our house. I was pregnant when my son was in preschool and the parents all signed the book called What Girls Are Made Of. It was very sweet. 🙂
each guest decorated a onesie for our daughter. It’s a great keepsake! A good friend of ours also have us half of a $100 bill and we got the other half when she turned one. He framed it with an adorable saying. We still have both pieces framed.
At my very first shower, all the guests signed this adorable poster and left me little pieces of advice. My daughter will be 10 this summer (wow. I can’t even believe that!!) and it’s still one of my favorite keepsakes.
i love these ideas! We have a shower coming up for one of our LEO wives and I’ll be using some of these for sure!
I loved getting board books instead of cards. This was a great way to start my little ones library of books!
I love the idea of asking for signed books instead of cards! So cute. I haven’t had my baby shower yet but I’m planning on having everyone decorate a onesie and then guessing dates/times the baby will be born. Winner gets their decorated onesie as part of the going home outfit.
What a cute video!! We decorated baby onesies at my shower and it was a lot of fun. So many fun ideas! I love the alphabet letter wall. I want to do that in my next playroom. I never got around to it at this house. :o)
My friend made me the cutest little handmade pacifier holder bag. My daughter now uses it for jewelry.
My friends made me am alphabet book fire baby and each decorated one page. They also decorated onesies for baby using fabric markers.
I love the ABC wall idea!
I love the alphabet wall decor idea! At my shower, our guests gave us baby books with well wishes inside instead of cards. I love that idea and I can still use the books!!!
One of my friends put together onesies for me that all of my other friends decorated! My oldest wore them all the first year of his life!
I loved your alphabet wall.. My guest gave Brooke a baby bible and everyone signed the book and left her words of encouragement by their favorite scripture..
At my shower for my first daughter each guest brought a book. Many of my friends wrote notes in them. I love pulling each one out two read to my two girls and reading the thoughtful notes written in each.
Great ideas!
wow! These ideas smart so insightful! I have been following you since baby girl was about 6 months! Since then, I have had two more kiddies. As a event planner, I love your ideas! Especially the letter wall!!!
I wish that I had seen this when I was planning my friend’s shower. So many of these that I’d use. I’ll save this for another shower.
I love this ideas. I was boring and had bookmarks for the attendants of my babyshower. I will try to remember this for when some friends get their babies!
I really love that alphabet wall, its awesome. I am seriously needing to find out how I can love these cool artsy ideas so much and completely lack the genes for it. Kudos to you, think I’ll try at least one of these! Wish me luck…. (shhh gonna need it!) Lol
I love the idea of signing the book, the alphabet wall and coloring pictures. I think all of these were really great ideas. I didnt have any keepsake moments at either of my two baby showers and now I wish I would have. Well at least I have some great ideas now though, in case I have another. LOL
Next time I have a little one I’ll be doing the book and the advice for the future. Suc great ideas.
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Great set of ideas. Baby showers are a way to announce the arrival of a special bundle of joy so why not make it completely memorable with decor, food, and activities that create an amazing announcement!
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