How to Get Oohs and Aahs at a Baby Shower: Personalized Gifts

Heading to a baby shower? Want to get the mom-to-be something for the baby, something special, but not sure what? Here are some ideas for gifts that are both cute and personalized that are sure to get some oohs and ahhs at the shower.

From LL Bean comes the Custom Adventure Duffle. LL Bean's products are backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and they are monogrammable as well! The nice thing about this duffle is that you can pick and choose the colors for each part of the bag. More than 15 colors are available for the body, and two body types are available as well. What new mom won't need a hospital/ diaper bag? It comes in a medium and large sizes, in a classic or gym-style duffel, with or without reflective trim. It's the ultimate customizable bag, backed by the ruggedness of LL Bean's products. Prices from $55 up.

Baby Wonderland gives us the most adorable personalized piggy banks on the web. They're all personalized, and come in various shapes, like pigs (of course), sports, a miniature cash boxes. The pigs aren't all just pigs, either, they each have a special design on them. A very cute way to start the college fund! The banks start at $14.99, and have very cute color combinations.

Some kids have blankets for years and years that they had when they were born. Namely Newborns has adorable giraffe security blankets in pink and brown that are not only the cutest little thing, but customizable as well! They're 29 square inches, and made of high grade polyester that's said to be velvet-soft. The website offers gift wrapping, various embroidery colors, and several embroidery styles as well. This blanket looks like a keeper! Prices start at a little over $30 with one embroidered name.

For something more decorative, Pretty Baby Gifts offers the Tower of Time Handprints Gift Set. It's a set of tins that are for making a plaster handprint every year from ages 1 through 5. What better way for a parent to celebrate getting through that first year? The colors are gender appropriate regardless of what the baby is, and it comes nicely packaged, as well. The whole set is $24.95, for five years of enjoyment in the making, and a lifetime of memories!

If the mom-to-be is a scrapbooker, or even an amatuer photographer, maybe a memory book would be a good gift. My Bambino has custom-made memory books with over 50 designs in four different colors. You can customize what the book says on the front as well; the example on the website has "Cassie's First Year." A very cute gift for a future mom with a creative streak.