Why not help the parents-to-be build up a library for their baby by having a book gathering for a baby shower theme? When each guest is asked to bring a favorite children's book (either one from their own childhood or one they love to read to their children), it's as easy way to start off that library. After all, despite the advent of e-books, there's nothing quite like having a real book in your hands as you read.
An easy way to kick off this baby shower is by printing your invitation on a book plate. There are quite a few designs that can be downloaded over the net or you can write the details on book plates that you purchase. To make the choices easier, you could focus on one author only, like Dr Seuss or Enid Blyton. This would also help you decide on the decorations. A Dr Seuss book-fest would feature the offbeat designs found in his books, while an Enid Blyton collect-a-thon may offer a British tea party instead.
Centerpieces for a “build a library” baby shower theme may be made extremely simply. A pile of beautiful hardbound books on topics that the guests find interesting may be decorated with dried flowers or artificial vines of ivy to call the library to mind. Topped with a plush toy that represents a wise animal like a lion or an owl, it will be a really brainy baby shower indeed.
If you're aiming for a library feel in the party area, you don't need much in way of decorations. A few potted miniature trees like ficus can be decorated with scrolls made from photocopies of old book plates. Tie them up with strings of abaca paper ribbons. Add in a few strings of fairy lights to make the trees sparkle and some dried or artificial flowers for a pretty effect.
At the entrance of the party area, position a bookshelf that will
go in the nursery. This is what will hold the gifts as the guests
arrive. Decorate it with a potted fern or three and a particularly
wise-looking plush toy. Have a few large floor pillows in front
of it and a desk lamp positioned nearby to give a feel of a book
nook.
The food for this baby shower would best be those that aren't messy!
Tea sandwiches, apple slices and cinnamon toast fingers with a fruity
cream cheese and yogurt dip, and a composed salad would look pretty
yet not create a mess. Cupcakes can have their tops cut off and
cut in half. Positioned with the narrow sides to the center, it
will look like the pages of an open book. Frost with smooth white
icing for the pages and lines of tinted icing for the “words.”
For fun, add on half a gummy worm to make a bookworm cupcake.
A great favor for this baby shower could be a bookmark. These are
simple to make and can be decorated as simply or as elaborately
as you'd like.