"Rubber Ducky" Baby Shower
This weekend I threw a "Rubber Ducky" themed baby shower for my daughter and her husband who have decided to keep the gender of their baby a surprise! From the day she told me she was expecting, I began researching a theme for the shower. We chose ducks for our theme and compiled many different ideas to complete our total look. We started with homemade ducky and soap invites and finished off with custom postage stamps with the mom-to-be's picture and a custom ducky sticker to seal the envelopes! The invites included instructions for a drawing - All guests who brought a package of baby diapers were entered into a drawing for a Nail Salon Gift Card. Also included was a request for guests to bring a postage stamp to self address thank yous for the mom-to-be.
Centerpieces
We used 8" fishbowls filled with Styrofoam balls, clear plastic ornaments and a 2" rubber ducky.
Place Settings
To attempt to keep our costs down we used plastic table cloths, "silverware", stemware and paper plates from WalMart. To add color and sparkle, I glued glass beads to the small cake plates and set on the 8" yellow food plates. We cut the place mats out of rubber shelf-liner rolls. Every place setting was finished off with a homemade "Refreshments Menu" tied with a yellow ribbon and a silver "baby footprints" charm. Each "glass" had a lemon slice garnish on the rim.
Decorations
To decorate the cake table I purchased second-hand baby ducky bath robes and had my son construct a "form" to hang them on for display. I covered the wooden base with tissue paper and cellophane wrap. I grouped them with displays of yellow towels and baby bath items.
Serving a dual purpose, I used gifts as decorations. I purchased neutral sleepers and assembled them in yellow buckets with bibs, socks, washcloths and stuffed toys.
The Cake
In keeping with the theme I made a cake decorated with ribbon colored fondant and topped it with a fondant "rubber ducky".
Since Candy Buffets are all the rage, I decided a yellow and white candy buffet would make afestive and stunning display. I purchased old-fashioned type yellow & white striped paper bags and decorated them with ribbon and
homemade stickers with the mom-to-be's name and shower date!
I hung upside down balloons above the table to try to "lower" the ceiling and give my table an "awning". Alot of the candy was purchased at the Dollar Tree, although I did spend money on two or three special candies
The Menu
The menu was selected by my daughter (the mom-to-be) and myself. We wanted to keep our "yellow" theme in mind as well as foods celebrating the cool fall weather. The foods we featured at our afternoon shower were all homemade and consisted of:
Hors d' oeuvres
- Chicken Salad on Croissants
- Turkey Breast Cocktail Sandwiches with Cranberry sauce and Dijon Mustard
- Mini Provolone & Broccoli Quiche
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Tomato & Fresh Mozzarella Skewers
- Cheese Platter
- Veggie Platter
- Deviled Eggs
Beverages
Dessert
Finally...The Games
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| My daughter, son-in-law & Talented ducky sculptor! |
We played several games during the shower to keep guests from getting too bored! First, we raffled off the Nail Salon Gift Card specifically for those guests who brought a pack of diapers. Next, I had also asked each guest to bring a bar of soap either white or yellow. I did not tell them what it was for until they arrived at the shower. After each guest finished eating I announced that anyone who brought a bar of soap was to carve a ducky with their plastic knife for the mom-to-be to judge. The guest who's soap was selected was the winner of a "candy bouquet" and my daughter got to take home a variety of hand carved ducky soaps!
Notice that "Daddy" is wearing his tool belt! We purchased this at Lowes for like $2 and I painted over it to say "New Dad's Diaper Depot". I filled it with goggles, rubber gloves, an air freshener on a chain, tongs, etc. from the dollar store. It was alot of fun making him wear it at the shower!!
I found this adorable ducky planter at a flea market and
KNEW it would work beautifully for the shower! Again, I purchased these candy bars at the dollar store for .69 each as well as the cellophane that also served to cover the bath robe bases! All in all I think this prize cost me about $5 at most! The most expensive part was the Styrofoam used to stick the skewers into!
We also played the traditional "Baby Bingo" and I offered prizes to the 1st four guests to get Bingo. We used custom made bingo sheets to match our theme.
Finally, we played "finish Mommy's phrases" which was alot of fun! Guests had to try to answer the way the new mom answered.
We passed these out to his friends and asked that they dress according to the theme. They parked down the street and came in through the back door! Each guest was then greeted and given a choice of a "Name tag" for the evening..."Scar Face", "Itchy Fingers", "Machine Gun Louie", "Lips", "Fat Sally", etc...We also had mafia style party hats and sunglasses to hand out to those who wanted them!
