Baby Shower Gift Ideas

I just love babies. Seriously. My "little one" isn't so little at 18 months now and I'm starting to get that baby fever again. But we aren't ready to have any more children at this point, so I combat it by hosting baby showers and holding other mother's babies. Then I get go home and sleep through the night - usually.

The last shower I hosted was actually a little over a week ago and was unusual because it was for 3 mothers-to-be. We chose to do a "Display" shower to honor each mother and not bore our guests to death by opening a ton of presents, one by one. You can read more about this idea and other shower details here. When I was deciding what I would give each mother, I wanted to make sure that each display table was personal and easy to distinguish. I created what I thought was a very usable, personal and unique gift idea.

I gave each mother a diaper cake decorated in her nursery theme with a set of closet dividers.

Jungle Theme with Green and Brown

Pink and Brown


Classic Pooh with Yellow and Green

I looked for a number of pictures and how-to's on diaper cakes online. I found both rolled and smooth cakes, but decided that I liked the smooth cakes best. (Plus, once you read the directions the smooth ones take less time as well.) Ultimately, the best instructions I found were here. I probably spent 2 hours on the first cake, but they went pretty quickly after I figured out the process. You can buy as much or as little to go on your cake as you'd like, but I liked the simplicity of the ribbon with the coordinating stuffed animal best.

The second part of my gift was closet dividers. I can remember getting so many darling outfits for my son. He wore some of them only once or twice before outgrowing them. Luke wore a lot of his clothing even less than Mark. And it was mainly because I would put the same several outfits on him because I knew they fit and I knew where they were. If I'd had these in my closet I know they would have worn their clothes more. I found the general idea and and instructions for these here, then I made them my own.

I used 4 door hangers for each set. I deliberated what ages to use, but ultimately decided to use 3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months and 18-24 months. I decided not to do one for newborn or 0-3 because my boys never even wore newborn sizes (like a lot of babies) and I figured the 0-3 sizes could go before the first divider and allow me to add an extra size.

I added ribbon for two reasons. 1. It looks nicer, especially for a display shower. 2. Some closets don't have removable bars, so the only option is to tie the divider to the bar.

I used the same pattern on each set for simplicity. I thought the polka dots were cute and I was terrified that I would mess them up if I tried something else, frankly. I had so much to do leading up the shower that I didn't have time to paint them more than once. I liked the dots so I stuck with them. I'm sure they'd be even cuter with different patterns or colors.

I used Baby Cheapskate to help me find a good deal on diapers and used some coupons for a local craft store to make the divider supplies discounted. Altogether, the total cost of the gifts was less than I would have spent shopping each registry individually and much more personal.

What ideas do you have for giving baby gifts that are both personal and economical?

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