10/12/09

Baby Shower Gift Ideas

I got this email from a reader recently. I hope I'm answering her in enough time for her to get a good gift....






"I go to your blog often (almost daily) and I love it. Well I have a few friends on mine that are going to be having baby showers soon. I have been looking for deals on baby stuff. Do you have any recommendations or ideas? I want to get them great gifts without spending a fortune. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Cari"






Cari, I love that you don't want to just drop your dough on anything. I feel like part of the perks for the recipients of my gifts (besides the fact that I think outside of the box), is that they're getting more from me, than if I'd paid full price for something.






First of all, consider that you may be able to find Baby's gift in not thought of places. I've been to garage sales where there are so many brand new/packaged things, for like 1/10th of what originally paid. As a matter of fact, at one of my garage sales, I had a FULL SIZED TABLE FULL of BRAND NEW things (some were baby gifts, wedding gifts, etc.), that many people were buying to give as gifts.



Does that idea turn you off? Embarassed to give a gift that you only paid $1 for? Your recipient would quickly forgive you if a giftcard to BRU or Target accompanied said garage sale treasure.



Still turned off by the idea? (keep reading)...






Want a practical gift for the Baby Mama? Use some of those great scenarios I've shown, where you're "buying" J&J Buddies soaps for just the tax. Buy about 3 of them & put them together with some cute wash cloths (Dollar Tree & Dollar General has cute ones for a buck for like 4-5). Throw a rubber duck in w/ the cloths & soaps & put it in a little bucket (cute buckets at dollar tree).

Or take the above idea & add a cute frog toy that just so happens to be FREE right now (when you buy a Johnson & Johnson item. See more details on this HERE. Oh yah, need a J & J coup? Go HERE.

Or start now with your own signature gift. Create a gift that you are known to always give. It doesn't have to be elaborate. How about a lovey? Find a grandma or someone who will hem for you. Go buy a few yards of a soft/neutral fabric & have that grandma hem/trim it with a super wide satin. Said sewing-Grandma might do it for a small amount if you ask her to do 10. You could probably get away with just that & it only cost about $5 per lovey.



Or step it up a notch & find a reasonable price for embroidery (some people buy a machine & are happy to do it for a really small amount). Put baby's monogram on it & the gift is PRICELESS (actully there is a price, but's really small).






Or offer the mom-to-be a gift that costs you nothing. Make "coupons" for a home-cooked meal, to be cashed in at the new mom's disposal. Or a "ticket" for a free night of babysitting. Along that thought, your created coupon could even be for an hour of errand runnning or even cleaning.


Maybe you have more talent or time than you do moolah. For a few wedding gifts, I made a scrapbook for the recipients. I added stickers & die cuts. Then all they had to do was to add the appropriate photos (you could make a page that says 'First Bath' with cute bubbles & duckies, then they just add the photo of the first bath). If you're a mom, you know you rarely have time to scrapbook & how precious that would be.


I hope you liked at least one of these ideas Cari. Good luck with the shopping & happy gift-giving!






1 comment:

Racheal1977 said...

Diaper cakes are also a great gift, I have made quite a few of them for showers & they are always a HUGE hit, the mom to be & the guest always love them, & they can be made fairly cheaply