Mommies-to-be will undoubtedly want to commemorate their baby shower day in multiple special ways, and having a baby shower guest book is one way to immortalize the event. Instead of simply buying a book for guests to sign, consider these unique baby shower guest book ideas.
Baby Shower Guest Book Ideas Can Be Out of the Box
Baby shower guest books are traditional ways of keeping the thoughts of your loved ones all in one spot, but be honest: are you going to take this guest book out frequently and read it over? Probably not. Take the idea of the old school keepsake and change it up with these creative guest book substitutions that are both sweet and sentimental as well as practical and useful.
Have Your Guests Be Only a Stone's Throw Away
Smooth, round stones make for pretty room decor, and rocks are very versatile decorations in just about any space. They can be fashioned into candles, used in flooring, or create stunning centerpieces. Have your guests use permanent markers to decorate a clean stone, which you can purchase in bulk at most craft stores. Place them all in a decorative bowl and let them lift you up when you need to feel surrounded by love.
Be Creative With a Baby Blanket
Babies and blankets go together like peanut butter and jelly, so consider using this time of gathering to have your family and friends help with a custom blanket that your child will love for years to come. This can be as simple as buying a blanket and having guests sign it with fabric markers, or you can get really fancy and ask them to each design a blanket square. Commission someone to take the completed squares and fashion them into a quilt, or do it yourself if you are crafty in the quilting department.
Say It With Onesies
Babies go through tons of onesies in those early days, so why not make your shower guests' thoughts and well-wishes something that you see often, in the form of an outfit? In lieu of shower games, ask your guests to design onesies for your baby. They can draw pictures on them, write in sweet meanings, and even work in teams to create their fashion masterpieces. All you will need are white onesies in newborn and 0-3 month sizes, fabric markers, and cardboard to place inside the garment so that the designs don't bleed through. When guests are done, hang the outfits from a decorative line using clothespins.
Photobooks: Pictures Are Worth 1,000 Words
You will probably take tons of pictures at your baby shower. Use those images by turning them into a forever keepsake. Snap a picture of yourself with each guest. Ask a family member or friend to collect a sweet message or saying from each guest. After the party, visit one of the many websites that specialize in creating photo books. Make each picture of you and a guest a page in a photobook. Include the saying that your trusty sidekick recorded for you at the shower next to the correlating image.
Handmade Baby Instruction Manual for Mom-to-Be
Many first-time parents wish that babies came with an instruction manual. Between dealing with colic and figuring out how to get enough sleep, there's a lot to learn in those first few weeks. Fortunately, the guests at a baby shower can share their collective wisdom, and offer the mom-to-be some much-needed support in the form of this special idea for a baby shower sign-in book. Everyone gets a page and thinks of a challenging new-mom scenario. They then share their own funny stories and anecdotes or ways to resolve a particular issue on their page. This is like new-mommy therapy all wrapped into a guest book.
Children's Books From Those Who Love Your Little One
A book full of signatures from your shower guests might not get much face time in day-to-day life, but this novel idea, on the other hand, will! Have each guest choose a children's book to gift your baby. Ask them to write a message to your darling on the inside cover. Every time you read the book with your child, you'll see the message and remember your special shower day.
Create Art to Last a Lifetime
Give your closest friends and family a chance to help decorate the baby's nursery with a collective piece of art. Instead of simply signing their names to a traditional guest book, choose something that you may hang in the nursery. Consider a large picture that you want to be framed, a giant block letter of your baby-to-be's first name, or an oversized maternity photo, and have them sign that instead.
A Jar Full of Love
Think message in a bottle for this one. Choose pretty papers and pens and have your shower guests write their names, messages, and advice down on them. Roll them up or fold them and place them in a jar. The jar and paper will give a nursery a pretty pop of color. As a new mother, you can pull one message out per day and remember that you have a village supporting you.
Go Globe
While your baby won't be setting out to see the world any time soon, you can still inspire a love of travel early on with this idea. Buy a globe of your liking and have your guests take turns signing their names to it. This will be an excellent addition to any nursery.
Fingerprints Are Unique and So Is Fingerprint Art
Enlist your guests to help create a one of a kind work of art! Use their fingerprints to create a beautiful picture of a tree, balloons, or flowers. They can sign their names in their dried fingerprints or create a border of love around the artwork with their signatures.
Build Love With Blocks
Kids often have at least one set of blocks in their toy box, and your shower guests can help to create your baby's very first set! Purchase plain or alphabet wooden blocks from any craft store or online website, as well as paints or markers that are specific to materials like wood. Each party guest gets one block to go wild with. When all is done, your child will have their very own unique set of blocks to play with.
New Mommy Recipe Book
Being a mom is 24-7, and new parents often discover that tasks like meal cooking falls to the wayside. There will be plenty of days where mom will stare blankly into the refrigerator wondering what on earth to cook for dinner. Consider having guests create a new mommy recipe book. Ask each shower attendee to bring an easy meal idea with them to the shower, written on an index card. Paste the index cards into a blank book and voila! A personalized recipe book to help mom get through those exhausting first few months.
Beautiful Bibs to Remember Your Shower
If designing onesies doesn't suit you, try taking the creative concept to bibs. Purchase plain bibs and fabric markers and ask your guests to create designs on them. You can also buy bibs with images already on them and have friends write messages on the backside of the bib.
Create a Group Time Capsule
Time capsules are an excellent way to capture big moments in time and collect them all in one space. Purchase a container or box that will serve as your baby shower time capsule. Every guest then adds one piece of memorabilia from the year to the capsule. This way you can always go back and recall what was going on in the world during the year that you were expecting.
Count on a Calendar to Get You Through Year One
Personalized calendars are very popular. To create one to take the place of your baby shower guest book, you will need to buy a plain calendar or have a simple one fashioned for you that says something along the lines of, "Baby's First Year," or "Year Number One of Mom and Dad" on it. Guests add the creative element to the calendar. They can sign the front of it, or work in teams to add personalized touches to each Month's page. Throughout the year you won't be able to forget that you have tons of love in your corner.
Treasured Keepsakes
All of these creative concepts have the same purpose as a traditional shower guest book. The aim is to contain messages from those who helped celebrate your baby-to-be. It doesn't matter how they say it, in gift, craft, or written words. What matters is that their love and support surround you in some capacity as you enter the wonderful world of motherhood.
