I already have a boy and a girl and will have my next in June. I really dont think I need a baby shower and I really dont like traditional baby showers but I still want to have some sort of celebration of the pregnancy and birth. I hate the shower games, I hate the whole feeling of showers. I would love to have a 'birthing way' but the people I know are not the kind of people that could appreciate it. (I'm a hip mama afloat in a sea of 'prep' lol)

with my last baby I really wanted to have a party where everyone came and each painted a small canvas that I'd hang in the baby's room but my sister ( who was throwing the party) wouldnt hear of it.

So do you have any unique ideas that fall outside the traditional baby shower description? Post them please!

Have each woman bring to the party a special bead that you string together to form a bracelet or necklace (depending on the number. Your beads are then used as a focus tool during labour - something to focus on through a contraction, something to remind you of all the loving and supportive women in your life who are wishing you a good birth.

Or, you could just have a get together after the birth to meet the new baby. Have everyone sign a "blessing" for the baby into a scrap book which you can then fill with photos and cards from the party. You could get those instant sticker photos and have someone take a snap of each party goer and stick it in right away beside each person's entry.

Try hiring a hula instructor. i saw this once on a baby story (so it's not too original) but it's not traditional. You can have pregnant hoola party. then you can make invitations with a cute pictue of a pregnant lady in a grass skirt. Have it like a luau(sp?) fruit smoothies, pinaple terriaki kabobs, etc... You can use the lai's for the cross your legs game. (if you see someone with hteir legs crossed you get to take their lai) Look on up oriental trading company online to get really cheap lai's and other cheesy hawaiian type decorations and even hula skirts. I think it would be fun.

You could have a scrapbooking party (if you have prep friends, you know that they are into this!!) or a quilting party...

Hula dancers! That's great!

And it reminds me of an alternative: BELLY DANCERS! One type of bellydancing was actually "invented" as a labor tool, after all, so it's got relevance! (And it feels great, the softly swaying variety, when your belly is heavy and your back is aching! And then all your attendees can do bellydancing in their homes when they find out you're in labor ... it'd be a sort of funny fun psychic support system!

There are other blessingway things you can steal even if you're not doing a full-fledged b'way. Or you can hire somebody like me to design one for you that's not too woo-woo (or maybe at least ecumenically woo-woo!) I threw one for a friend of mine who's pretty Lutheran, and she (and her mom, among other attendees) really dug it.

what is a blessingway?

I've got a bunch of links I could post here if I had the time (ask me and I'll do it later).

Essentially, it's a ceremony that celebrates and encourages the woman becoming a mother, rather than offering gifts for the baby. It comes from a traditional Navajo ceremony about woman in transition. Really beautiful: can be really woo-woo and spiritual, but can also incorporate a woman's own "brand" of spirituality, selecting different sorts of readings to quote, etc. The friend who I first "pitched" one for said that there were elements of the ceremony that REALLY helped in while she was laboring (her vaginal-born, natural-childbirth BREECH baby girl!).

Lemme know if you want to know more.

hey there fellow mamas and crafters,

I'm new at this "get crafty" posting but I just wanted to let you all know that I am here in response to there being too much cutesy Carter's in the world!! I make unique and hip baby clothes which make original baby shower gifts, if you or anyone you know is interested check out my site-
www.geocities.com/dmiette/loveplusone.html

and feel free to email me with questions and orders!

some patterns are by jenny hart
all designs by danielle aka loveplusone 2004

thanks for looking!

as this is my first, i am having a big baby shower but it's going to be in a swimming pool so everyone has to get into bathing suits. i couldn't imagine anywhere i would be more comfortable at this point. i'm getting a bit of flak about it but c'est la vie.

thanks

tsia
getcrafty

What a fabulous idea, Tsia! How fun! And you're right: as the guest of honor, YOU should be the one whose comfort is primary!

i LOVE it! that's so great! i wanna come :)