You can make cute booties from styrofoam coffee cups. These are so quick and easy.Just cut down the front in 2 places to make the tongue. Then cut the rim off the top with scalloped scissors.Punch 2 sets of holes on the sides where you cut the tongue for lacing. Add the ribbon for laces,tie a bow and curl it. You can fill them with little goodies and add a little tag with a prayer to the tie. Best wishes to the new Mommy : )

Lisa, Some ideas from an "older" woman! Please take them in the vein they are offered, and do what you please. I'm not really that old, but I can get considerably grumpy at times, LOL. BTW, I just turned 50. The only baby showers I expect to be invited to anymore are for my son's wife if he ever has one, or one child of my very best friend. I know the idea of having the guests address their own thank-you envelopes is an idea that has taken off among the younger set - but seriously, as an "older person", I was shocked the first time it happened to me, and a bit offended, too! Reasoning - I've been invited, I've taken time to either make or shop for a gift, and the bride (in my case) or mother-to-be can't take enough time to write her own thank-you notes? Either thank me, or don't, but don't make me work for a thank-you note. I'd rather not have it. If you're going to be having a large number of older people, you may consider having (assigning) someone to fill out those envelopes, or have it done in advance, or just skip it. The older folks will be offended. And you or your daughter will all ready have the addresses if you've invited the people. Use a computer and print out the address labels in advance. Also, JMHO, favors are not necessary! I came for the party to "shower" the mother-to-be with a gift, and I really don't want a "thing" to take away. A thing means I have to store it, or use it, or pitch it - in other words, it puts an additional obligation on me. And a favor that is a food item will be left by more than 1/2 the guests - been there, seen it happen too many times. Save the money and start a savings account, LOL. If you absolutely must do favors, please, an unscented candle (I have asthma), wrapped in the tulle with a ribbon, but I don't want to have to throw out a plastic safety pin, diminutive bottle or other "baby" thing. And I will throw them out, and so will your guests! But I could possibly reuse the ribbon. I find it wasteful of both money and resources to stick little plastic things on gifts. I much prefer to be provided with a beautiful chocolate truffle to eat AT the shower - and one is enough. I LOVE, LOVE the idea of a clothesline on the wall to pin the outfits on!! I think that's brilliant! I also think the decorated onesies are a wonderful idea! Also great is the idea of having guests sign or draw on a quilt block. Have them all over-sized, with the freezer paper already ironed on. Draw the border, so they don't go into the seam allowance. Have fabric crayons or pigma markers ready, as well as some ideas for simple drawings from coloring books, or a list of "baby sayings" for them to write. As to the games - I'm not hard of hearing, but I also have little tolerance of shower games. I would not participate in a measuring of the mother's belly. I was 29 when I had my baby, and I was horrified when people at work wanted to touch my belly - and work people threw me a shower. Fortunately my DH worked at the same place, and he stopped them from playing that game. LOL. They still made me a fricking hat from all the ribbons, and insisted I wear it for a photo. I didn't like that either, but tolerated it with good grace. Bingo might be tolerable. Understand, all of these shower games started when it was giddy 18 and 19 year old girls having babies, and the people who attended baby showers were all the same age, and the only older people were the mums and grandmums. Friends of the parents didn't usually attend. They showed up AFTER the birth with a lovely blanket or outfit, several days after Mother and baby were home. So I don't know how old your DD is, and you have to consider both her and the audience. I was a good 10 years older when I had my first than my mother was. My sensibilites and preferences were too. Shower food - crudite and dip, fruit and dip, finger sandwiches if you wish, cake, punch, tea and coffee. Maybe a truffle. Please take this in the way I intend it - tongue in cheek for the most part, but also trying to save you some money. I would concentrate on nice food and drink, no favors, only one game at the most. Sit around! Eat! Open presents! Nothing more is required of a good shower. Hoping I didn't sound too grumpy, LOL. Mary

Myfampg, it was I who was referencing "always buying a gift" - and maybe if I explain further you'll understand. I was not talking about showers for close friends and family, but rather the constant onslaught that I went through in my twenties and thirties of showers for co-workers (held at work), neighbors, long-lost friends from high school. I'm talking about being invited to a shower for my boss' fiancee, whom I had barely met, and the least expensive thing on the registry was $150. I'm talking about the sense of entitlement that some people have regarding showers. I started to lose some of my happy feelings regarding showers the first time that I happily spent all of my "fun money" for the week on a bridal shower gift, and the bride to be (who still lived with her parents, by the way, and had few bills of her own), proceeded to complain about how she'd been hoping to get more, and of all of the things that she was still "going to have to buy" for their new house - said house being a wedding present from her parents. Apparently she was under the impression that getting married entitled her to a free start in life? I went to a shower once to hear one of the other guests, whose shower I had also been to, explain in all seriousness how she felt that everyone should get to have a five year anniversary shower because her sheets and towels were wearing thin. I found out years later that, at least here with some of the various ethnic groups, one of the reasons that I was invited to so many showers of people I barely knew was tradition. For some people here, for bridal showers hostess invites close friends and family only, except for never-married women - where hostess invites pretty much every never-married woman the bride knows. Apparently the theory is that then when I got married, I'd "get my turn" to do the same. I've got to say that this tradition would have been great if I'd gotten married at age twenty - but tends to become a bit pricey after twenty years of being invited to showers for next-door neighbors' niece whom I'd met twice. (Yes, I did have a small shower but only family and close friends of years standing.) So perhaps I am just jaded. I still love showers for friends or family, and I actually don't mind showers for new mothers who really need and will appreciate some help, even if I don't know the women all that well. But best believe that unfortunately there are plenty of women out there who are more than happy to receive a gift given out of "obligation".

That is the bride's parents problem, not the groom's. It is also not a good teaching moment for their daughter (or the groom) to live within their means and be financially responsbile. Some would say it is enabling. Will this young couple go into credit card debit because they want X but only earn Y? Will it take them decades to buy a house instead of paying rent because they don't have the discipline to save for a downpayment? Yes, of course it's the bride's parent's problem. I was just shocked knowing the financial situation of the groom and his family as well as the financial situation of the bride's family. The bride/groom did not contribute anything to the cost of the wedding. The groom works in the family business and was/is very well off. I'm sure he could have paid for the wedding if he wanted to. I do not know, of course, if that conversation happened. Knowing the bride well, I would guess it did not. It did not take them decades to buy a house. Groom bought a house when they got engaged. They then built a brand new house. If I remember correctly, it was ready soon after the wedding. Lived there for a few years and then built an even bigger brand new house. I know the bride well. She wanted what she wanted and she clearly didn't care that her parents leveraged their home to pay for it. And yes, if the grooms parents didn't want to contribute more, that is their choice. They get to choose how they spend their money. Knowing the bride well, I should not have been shocked at any of this. I just find it so sad that she allowed her parents to do that instead of adjusting the wedding plan. When my DD got married (one year prior to this wedding), we set a budget. She knew what her dad and I could afford. She would never have been OK with either one of us (we are divorced) mortgaging our home or going into debt in any way. In fact, she had to reign me in a couple of times when I wanted to do something and she didn't think it was necessary for the cost.