An innovative way to set the theme is by sending beach ball invitations. Get an ordinary beach ball and write the details of the party on it. If you have the equipment, you can print out the invites instead. Or, find one of those key chains that have tiny flip-flops attached. Print out the invitations on small cards and punch a hole in one corner. Attach the card to the keychain and you're all set. If you're feeling crafty, print out some invitations and on the cover, paint half in blue with watercolors and cover the bottom half with Elmer's glue and white sand. Before the sand dries, embed some scrapbooking embellishments like flip-flops, sand buckets and scoops, or shells.
Any summery colors would be perfect for this beach baby shower. Sherbety, ice-cream colors cool down warm temperatures while summer brights warm up cool ones. You can create beach tent stripes on your walls with rolls of crepe paper simply taped onto it. To decorate, anything that reminds you of the beach is fair game. Shells and star fish, sea glass, palm trees, sand (best used for outdoor showers only), fish nets, lounge chairs, snorkeling equipment, beach towels, beach umbrellas, lounge chairs...
The food for your beach baby shower could be oven-barbecued meat, seafood salad, or fried chicken. Add a traditional complementary salad like coleslaw or potato salad. Serve the food in clean sand buckets with the shovels for serving spoons or in coconut shells, if you can. Anything with coconut or pineapple in it is perfect for dessert, so think along the lines of pineapple upside-down cake, coconut cake, or coconut cream pie. Fresh tropical fruits like pineapples, papayas, bananas and guavas are a tasty and healthy alternative. For drinks – any fruit juice with a little umbrella drives home the tropical vibe.
One game that can be played by everyone is Musical Beach Blankets, which is a simple variation on musical chairs. Set out beach blankets or towels in a circle and dance around to some summertime music. Once the music stops, each one sits on a blanket and the one that doesn't have one is out. A classic summertime game is the Limbo. Let's find out – how low can you go?
Prizes should be beach related, too. Small boxes of shell-shaped
chocolates, small bottles of suntan lotion or little beach balls
are all good ideas. If you want to go all out, a little aquarium
decorated “Little Mermaid” style with a live fish in
it could serve as the grand prize. And for the favors, some
fun sunglasses or decorated sun visors would be the perfect
take-home gift from this fun time in the sun at your beach baby
shower.