Ideas for a 'Green' Baby Shower on a Low Budget

A few years back I threw a baby shower for a friend when I really didn't have much spare cash on hand. Happily, it turns out that most frugal practices are also green. Here are some of the things I did.

I went to the thrift shops and yard sales looking for receiving blankets ,something my friend really needed, in yellows and greens, colors she really liked. I also looked for some plain white t-shirts that snap closed over the diaper, and a few yellow and green baby toys, baby socks and booties.

I washed everything very well, of course. You can get baby stains out of just about any item of clothing by soaking it in a 1 gallon bucket with about 1/2 a cup of Cascade dishwasher soap (other brands may work as well), and Borax, so that is what I did with the baby clothes.

I bought clothespins and decorated the room by stringing a lightweight clothesline (brought from our camping gear at home) around the room and hanging them on the line, interspersed by tiny baby socks, booties, and an occasional nappy. You can run a crepe paper streamer along this as well for added color.

I set out fabric pens (permanent markers, 'Sharpies', also work well) with two of the little body suits and guests signed these instead of a guest book.

I used the little toys as centerpieces for the refreshment table. I also interspersed some old children's toys around the room for other decorations- a set of antique blocks that were my mother's, a few old teddy bears who were set up so they appeared to be 'reading' some vintage children's books I owned, and an old rocking horse completed the old fashioned decor.

For music I brought in a collection of old folk songs to match our vintage theme.

Although I don't like pacifiers, I did use mints and jelly beans to make these little candy pacifiers. I did not bother with ribbons. I just made the pacifiers (with the help of my children), and put them in a candy dish.

We also had a fruit plate made from in-season fruit (and some my children and I had picked ourselves), crackers and a home-made cheeseball, and home-made pies instead of cake.

If you sew, you can use cloth napkins- find a sheet or tablecloth at the thrift shop or a yard sale and cut it up into squares and hem them. I find that old sheets, well washed, can make fun tablecoths as well.

For games we just played word games- Everybody wrote down the mother's name at the top of a sheet of paper and tried to see how many words they could make using the letters in her name. You could also do this with the baby's name if the parents are telling what it is. Have a time limit for this one.

I also wrote down a line from each of several nursery rhymes ahead of time. At the party I read a line, and guests would write down their best guess for the name of the nursery rhyme that matched it.

We kept things fairly simple, and at the end of the shower I took down the blankets and baby socks and gave them to the mother to take home as well.

One other idea I have recently heard of that I think is lovely is to have each guest bring a bead that either reminds them of the mother and their friendship with her, or represents their hopes for the coming infant. Then string them on a necklace for her to make a special keepsake.

You can also ask guests to bring in an index card with a tip on parenting, a bit of wisdom, a poem, a song, or even a cartoon about motherhood that made them laugh, and combine these in a photo album for your guest of honor- leave enough space in it for pictures of the baby shower, too.

I was pleased to have so little to throw away at the end of this shower, and to be able to give my friend even the decorations for her to use to keep her little one warm later. I even gave her the clothesline and clothespins to be reused! You could also give these away as a doorprize to encourage others to be frugal and 'green.'