I just had a baby shower for my daughter. We passed around ribbon and each guest cut one as long as they thought they needed to go around my daughter's tummy. Was fun to actually measure them and we saved the pieces of ribbon that they cut. Each person signed their piece of ribbon too and we saved them for her babybook! I made some premade scrapbooking pages that would include pieces of advice from each person attending. When I sent out the invites, I included the small cards for them to think of something to write to the baby or my daughter...advice for them! Something that my daughter and her daughter can look over whenever they want. A great way to include the guests/friends into her baby scrapbook! I bought some "babies" made out of blankets and sleepers on Ebay and they were adorable. The theme was Sugar and Spice, everything nice.....and it was worked into the menu.....lots of sweet(small cakes, molded mints, etc) and even some spicey appetizers! And almost everything was PINK! Just was fun! And of course...........LOTS of pictures! Just a wonderful memory made.......and expressions of support for my daughter! I hope you had fun.......and that YOU had time to enjoy it all! Julie

"I always thought you were not supposed to put where a person is registered on an invitation. And especially not ask for gifts. But oh well." The entire point of a baby or wedding shower is to "shower" the guest of honor with presents, so putting the registry information in with the invitation is typically considered appropriate. It's events that are NOT specifically oriented toward the gifts, such as the wedding itself or a graduation party, where open reference to gifts is inappropriate. Did anyone else think a shower invitation from the cousin's daughter-in-law, whom the OP has met maybe three times, is casting the "gimme" net just a tad far out? Maybe if OP and cousin were very close friends, sure, but good grief! My standard shower gift is onesies. Lots and lots of plain white onesies, because my baby brother (now changing his own kids' diapers, how time flies!) could easily go through a dozen in a day. Budget is pretty much always around $25 unless it's a really close friend, because that's what MY budget can afford. If you shop right you can get a lot of onesies for $25! (I think my record is 10 6-packs that had been put on clearance for $2.50 a bag, down from $10, because the packages were ripped up. So I took them out of the packages, folded them nicely into a pretty box, and went merrily off to the shower - where I got in a viciously polite whispered argument with the host because I refused to play the "baby food tasting" game *retch*). Kiddo often outgrows them well before they wear out anyway. No one I know has done the "clothesline" although I do think it would be pretty cool to do a clothesline specifically to donate to the local women's shelter, and put that right on the invitation; I do find it very ironic that my lower-middle-class family ("you might be a redneck if...") thinks wishing wells are tacky. Diapers can be tricky, unless a specific type is noted on the registry, because of that whole cloth-vs-disposable thing. There are some verrrrry strong feelings on that subject! I do appreciate registries, both for weddings and baby showers, if I'm not very close to the recipient because it tells me what the recipients are interested in - I don't necessarily need to purchase something off the list, but if I see 20 Winnie the Pooh items on a baby shower list, that tells me that Mum is diggin' Pooh and might appreciate some mint-condition vintage Pooh books to read to her child or decorate a shelf in the nursery. It also does indicate to me what's NOT really welcome. For instance, if I see on the registry that everything the parents chose is either khaki, sage, and/or cream (such as at the last shower I attended), it's a pretty good bet that the parents are unlikely to be overly enthusiastic over primary colors or the old pink/blue routine.

I've been pondering the idea of trying my hand at it professionally but I'm not sure. It's so highly competitive and I haven't perfected it to the point where it needs to be. Cakes that go for a premium are perfect and this one has little flaws. I'm pleased with it as a beginner but my technique definitely needs some polishing. :) Not to mention, I'm really slow so I would have to charge about $200 to make any money on it LOL. Maybe when I practice some more and I can be faster at it. But for now, it's a fun hobby!

My four-year-old daughter enjoyed listening to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Stuart Little" (her fave so far) and now I'm reading "Charlotte's Web" to her. I include reading chapter books to her along with picture books...she seems to enjoy listening to both. We have gone through several of the "Winnie the Pooh" books too, she loved those very much. I've ordered a "King Midas" book written by Lynne Reid Banks...my youngest son enjoyed this one and our copy of it has been lost somewhere. The "Indian in the Cupboard" series was fun too, I'll probablly read those to her as well. Her favorite pictures books lately are "Madeline", "Olivia" and "Trashy Town". We usually go through an assortment from the library, which is a "hit or miss" endeavor but we have found some great books this way that are not in the mainstream.