Last Friday, I threw my very own, very first baby shower! Yes, despite the unspoken rule being that friends usually throw one for the mom-to-be of the clique, I decided to throw one myself. For one, due to my bed rest situation, I knew I’d have to have it at home. The pandemic didn’t help either, so I needed some lockdown baby shower ideas. But in the end, who’s better to decide who should be invited, what kind of presents you need, and what it should all look like? I started wondering (and researching) – How do you throw a simple baby shower?
I wanted something simple yet cute, and that’s exactly what I accomplished – plus, all the food making and decorations took less than a day to put together. Because I wanted to make all the desserts myself, plus didn’t splurge on over-the-top decorations, it turned out so much more affordable than I could imagine.
With only 12 guests, the decorations, food, and drinks only cost me around $120 bucks. Here’s what I served, how I decorated it, and how it all created a wonderful intimate evening I will remember forever!
How do You Throw a Simple Baby Shower?
When you’re throwing a baby shower, you can’t skip anything important. If you do, the entire experience goes down. A short “planning a baby shower checklist” would be:
- Baby registry
- Food & Drinks
- Decorations
- Music
Here’s what mine were like.
Baby Shower Food
To start with, we served our guests some pastries. We bought it frozen, knowing which one is the tastiest. Alongside it, we had some dried meat, olives, and cheese. Finally, there were snacks – peanuts, Doritos, and the likes – and that was enough until the desserts came about.
Baby Shower Desserts
I am so proud of how each of these turned out! I made three types of sweets:
- Macaroons
- Muffins
- Oreos coated in white chocolate
Macaroons Recipe
Making a full plate of macaroons is super easy. All you need is 280g of white sugar and four egg whites. First, you mix the egg whites into firm snow, then you start adding the sugar bit by bit.
The trick is to mix it all together for at least 15 minutes. It’s dull, yes, but the results are so rewarding. Otherwise, your macaroons will have clumps of sugar on the inside, and won’t dissolve so fully and beautifully in your mouth.
I colored them blue and added plenty of sprinkles. They came out looking green-ish (I initially left them light blue), so be sure to make your desired hue a lot darker as it will lighten with baking. For ideal results, bake it at 100°C for two hours – yes, two hours! Bake it shorter andr at a higher temperature and they’ll likely burn. This is what mine looked like:
Muffins
For muffins, I bought a pre-made mix from Dr. Oetker. Whenever I have guests over, I make that one, as it’s delicious and so easy to make. All you need to do is add eggs, oil, and water, mix it, and bake for 20 minutes. For decoration, I whipped some cream and colored it – you guessed, blue! Once on muffins, I sprinkled it as well, and here’s the result absolutely everyone loved.
Finally, I bought four packs of Oreos and white chocolate. I tried to melt it in the microwave, but do not do that! Because the heat spreads unevenly, some parts stayed solid while others burned. Instead, place a metal bowl over a pot filled with boiling water. This will melt the chocolate with zero consequences. Once it’s melted, add the desired color, and start dipping Oreos halfway in it. Then add sprinkles and place them on a baking paper to dry. Here’s the result:
Decorations
As I said, I wanted to keep the whole event on the down-low, but I did not want it to be totally decoration-less. So I bought five regular balloons filled with helium (super cheap – they were like $2 per balloon), and two which were actual helium, heart-shaped balloon. My friend found this great place where they chose the appropriate shades and positioned them at the right heights. That was exactly what our small place needed for it to become a baby shower room!
So, how do you throw a simple baby shower? You get creative and put quality over quantity!
Extra Things to Consider
If you’re planning a baby shower, you’ll want to create a baby registry first. I used MyRegistry.com simply because it was available in my tiny European country, but there are so many options out there. Some of the other popular options include:
- Amazon baby registry
- Walmart registry
- Target registry
- Babylist
- Pottery Barn Kids
Not sure what to put on your registry? Here’s a nifty checklist!
Playlist
If you’re hosting a baby shower at home, you’ll want to create a happy atmosphere, rather than sitting in silence. I initially thought about picking baby-related songs, but then figured my guests should be properly enjoying themselves. So I added the biggest hits of all genres from the 2000s onwards, and they were a total win.
How to Throw a Baby Shower on a Budget – and Make It a Hit
My guests loved the decorations, we got so many more gifts than we expected, and they are all so, so wonderful! I spent very little money compared to the value of these gifts, and yet, no one could say I was being a miser. I simply used creativity and my wish for everything to be highly customized while not being over the top. The end result was a total hit.
