How to throw a coed baby shower

Who says a baby shower is just for the mom-to-be? Celebrate the new arrival with all your friends and family in tow with this cool and casual celebration.

Decor 1. For these gender-neutral posters you’ll need: thin cardboard, an X-acto knife, a large piece of foam core, matte scotch tape or painters’ tape, a foam paintbrush and black paint.

2. To create a stencil, trace your design onto cardboard. Cut out the design with an X-acto knife.

3. Centre your stencil on the foam core and keep in place with painters’ tape. Using the foam paintbrush, dab a small amount of black paint to fill in your design. Work carefully to ensure no paint seeps under the stencil.

4. Let paint dry, then removethe stencil, and hang or prop up your design. After the soiree, the parents-to-be can hang these bold prints in the nursery. 

Drinks Toast the new parents with frosty root beer (or real beer for the non-gestating guests). Trim the top off a paper lunch bag, place the bottle inside and fold down the top of the bag. Tie a string around the neck of the bottle to secure. If you’re feeling fancy, create mini-stencils to paint onto gift tags and attach to the string around each bottle.

Food Looking for a wow-inducing treat? Check out these super simple Mac ‘n’ Cheese Cones.

Treat There’s no need to bother with plates or cutlery. Make (or buy frozen) waffles, and cut into quarters. Spear berries (we used raspberries and blueberries) onto a cake-pop stick and then top with waffle quarter. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Activities

The Price Is Right Pick 10 items the new parents will need, such as diapers, wipes and burp cloths, and lay them out on a table. Have every guest fill out a sheet with what they think each item costs. Reveal the actual retail prices of the items. Tally up the amounts, and the person who guesses the closest to the final total without going over wins. (Our shiny bottle trophies, on the next slide, make fun prizes.) Bonus: The parents get to keep all the items.

Time capsule Set up a table with a small box, colourful paper and pens. Have guests write messages, advice and stories about the parents for the baby to read when he or she turns 18. After the party, seal up the box with duct tape and tack on a note that says, “Do not open until 2034.” It will be equal parts hilarious and bittersweet to read these notes nearly two decades from now. 

Onesie decorating Set up a custom onesie station with stencils, painters’ tape, fabric paint, foam brushes, and plain onesies for guests to personalize. Create scaled-down versions of the  poster stencils, or try basic shapes like lightning bolts, safety pins or hearts.

Prizes Add some competitive spirit to the proceedings with a few fun trophies. Pick up different sizes of cardboard boxes with lids. Hot-glue a smaller box onto the top of a larger lid. Then hot-glue an inexpensive baby bottle to the top. Spray-paint with a metallic hue. (If you can’t find bronze paint, go with copper.)

Read more:
The dos and don'ts of planning a baby shower 18 baby shower recipes