First off, the simplest handmade baby shower gifts are vouchers or coupons that you can give to the expectant mom. Either put the vouchers in a prettily decorated jar and have them all rolled up so that they can be surprises for her. You could put – I owe you an hour of babysitting time, I owe you an hour of housekeeping help, I owe you help in the kitchen this weekend... and so on. Just be sure that you can do all that you put down on the coupons!
You could also create a little voucher book with tear-out stubs when the time comes to claim your promise. Decorate the little book in the colors of the baby shower and put a title on the book – something witty like “Time Out!” Don't feel embarrassed about giving a gift like this, because you're giving the mommy-to-be very precious handmade baby shower gifts: some time to rest or to be alone.
If you're attending a pampering spa, you have so many choices for handmade baby shower gifts. A very easy gift to make is a salt scrub or a sugar scrub. For a salt scrub, you need fine sea salt or just plain iodized salt. For every cup of sea salt, put in a tablespoon or so of honey for its softening properties, and add up to half a cup of plain cooking oil (olive or sunflower are very good options) and mix it all up.
A sugar scrub starts off with a cup of half soft brown sugar and half refined white sugar. Mix them both together with up to a cup of oil. You can scent this with cinnamon for a really sweet, spicy smell, and also with some real vanilla extract. Don't use artificial vanilla extract with this – it stings! If you want it to be a warming scrub, add a tablespoon of dried, powdered ginger to the sugars. The smell should remind you of a really spice gingerbread. Yum!
Package the bath products in a pretty plastic container. It's preferable not to use any glass containers for any product going into a bathroom since it could shatter and cause a serious accident. If you're giving a set of the products, tie them all in together with a pretty cover of fabric and matching ribbons for the bows. Either put them together in a prettily decorated bag or a sweet hat box as memorable, pampering handmade baby shower gifts.
You could create a beautiful scrapbook for the baby with little more than a sheaf of construction paper in the color scheme of the baby shower. Decorate the inside with drawings and put in headings like “My New Favorite Foods,” “Places I Love to Play,” and “Toys I Love Chewing On.” Leave spaces for pictures and written notes that the mom can put in as baby gets older. You can have the papers book bound or simply put them in a 3-ring binder. Decorate the cover with more drawings, scrapbook scraps, and maybe little glittery sequins or flat beads.
There is actually no end to the handmade baby shower gifts you
can make – the only thing limiting you is your imagination!