Handmade Baby Shower Party Favors and Decorations

Diaper cakes are the latest craze at all baby showers these days. And the best thing about them is how easy they are to make. They make beautiful centerpieces that can be given to the mother to be at the end of the shower. Or if your not the hostess, they make a wonderful gift as well.
Instead of trying to give you step by step instructions, I have enlisted the help of two youtube videos that have excellent walk throughs and great information. There are several ways to make a diaper cake, but this one is my personal preference. I have tried the other way, without rolling the diapers, and I just didnt like the end result as well. Either way though, it still makes a beautiful cake.
You will also notice that I decorate my cakes with items that the mommy to be will use everyday. Things such as, a pacifier, thermometer, baby spoons, rattles, booties, socks, hairbrush and comb set, nose syringe, and othe small useful items. This just adds a more practical approach for a gift.

These are one of the easiest and quickest to make of all the party favors on this page. I put one of these into each thank you/party favor bag at every baby shower I host.

Items needed:
tea lights
ribbon
card stock
tulle

(I buy the tulle on a spool at Wal-mart for these favors. They come in a choice of colors and are already the correct width. about 6in by 100ft)

1. Cut an piece of tulle about 6 x 6 inches. You may choose to cut this square or round, it does not matter. You may also want a longer topper on yours, if so, just cut it a little bigger.
2. Place a tea light candle in the center of the tulle. Pull all the edges up around the tea light and tie with a ribbon. I like to use curling ribbon, but these are adorable adorned with lace ribbon and a small flower. Leave enough ribbon to lace through the card with the poem on it.
3. Now its time to select the poem you want to use.
See candle poems here . Simply copy any of the poems from this page and paste them into the program you will be using. Microsoft word is my program of choice. It easily lets you change the color and font of the poem.
You may need to resize the poem several times in order to get it to fit into the size you desire.
5. Print this page and cut out the shapes you would like your poems to be. You may want square, oval, heart or other shape.
6. Cut a small slit or hole in the card and lace the extra lace through it and tie off. And there you have it. A quick, inexpensive, personal and beautiful baby shower party favor gift.

These little baby bootie candy dishes are absolutely adorable. They are very easy and inexpensive to make. Once again I will do my best to give detailed instructions without pictures, but I will add a link with pictures at the bottom.

Items Needed:
Styrofoam Cups
ribbon

1. Starting at the top of the cup, measure one inch down. Cut the top one inch off of the cup.
2. Start at the top of the cup and measure to about 1/2 inch to the bottom of the cut. You will cut two slits approximately 1-1/2 inches apart running in the same direction, from top to bottom.
3. On the uncut portion of the cup, right next to the slits, using a hole puncher, punch two holes. You will need to do this on both sides for a total of 4 holes.
4. Push the cut tab back into the cup a little. Using ribbon, lace the bootie up as you would a shoe.
And there you have it.

Instructions for baby booties at Creative Baby Shower Ideas.com

These are a little more time consuming and a little more expensive to make, but guests absolutely love them.

Items Needed:
candle wax or candles cut into chunks
essential oil or wax candle scent
wax colorant or crayons
wax molds
wooden skewer
Double boiler or two different size pans

Ok, here is the way I make my tarts. I have added instructions for a different way at the bottom.

1. Place a large skillet on stovetop. Fill this skillet or pan about 1/3 full of water. Now place a smaller pan in the water. The smaller pan needs to float on the water without touching the bottom or sides of the skillet of larger pan.
2. Cut the candle wax or candle into smaller chunks and place in the smaller of the two pans. Melt the wax over medium heat. Stir with a wooden skewer. This is when I add the colorant as well. You can buy wax colorant at the craft store, or you may want to use liquid colorant. I use crayons. Simply break off a piece of the desired color crayon and add to wax while melting on the stove.
3. Once the wax is completely melted remove from heat.
4. Add the scent. You may choose to add pure essential oils or wax scent. If you use the oil be careful not to use too much. I prefer the wax scents purchased from the craft store.
5. Let the wax cool for just a few minutes and pour into molds. I personally use shaped ice cube trays. They are made of durable plastic and cost much less than soap or candle molds. Just make sure that the wax has cooled some before pouring into the plastic molds.
6. Let the tarts dry. They will dry a lighter color than wet wax. (this is where it gets a little time consuming if you only have 1 or 2 molds)
7. Once the tarts are dry, turn molds over and pop out the tarts.

These always prove to be a favorite party favor. They are well worth the extra time, effort and money.

More instructions for making your own wax tarts

Again, these are so simple and inexpesive, you will wonder why you havent made them before. These are designed for two people. Each person or child grabs one end of the candy cracker and pulls until it cracks open. This is a huge hit with children. Dont limit this favor to just baby showers.

Items Needed:
wrapping paper
ribbon
assorted hard candies

1. cut the wrapping paper into 3 in wide x 6 in long pieces. You may choose to make yours larger for birthdays parties. This is the perfect size to fit into a favor bag for a shower.
2.Roll the paper into a tube and tape the seam. You will have a 6 in long tube.
3. Place 5-6 pieces of the hard candy in the center of the tube and secure the ends with ribbon. You should have what looks like a really big tootsie roll.

And thats all there is to it. To change this party favor for a different occasion. Simply select a different wrapping paper.

Here is another very quick and easy party favor. I will first tell you how I make them and will also add a video with and alternative method. I make my salts in larger quantities for parties and showers, so the following method works easier for me.

Items Needed:
1 gallon freezer bag
skin safe essential oil
liquid food coloring
epsom salts
sea salts
vitamin E oil

This recipe makes 5 cups;

1. In the large freezer bag, place 4 cups of epsom salt. Seal the bag and shake to undo any large clumps.
2. Add 1 cup of sea salt to the epsom salt, reseal and shake again.
3. Once you have gotten all the clumps out add a few drops of your favorite essential oils. If you are combining scents, place a total of about 20 - 25 drops of essential oil. Make sure the oil is skin safe.
4. Add 1 tsp of vitamin E oil and a few drops of desired color.
5. Reseal the bag and shake until color and scent is equally distributed. You may wish to add additional coloring and reshake. Just start with a couple of drops first, you can always add more.
6. Store the bath salts in airtight containers. I place mine in small sealable bags purchased in the craft department at wal-mart. You can then tie the bag with ribbon or add a special or personal note to the front of the bag.

These are going to be a little hard to explain without pictures, so I will add a link at the bottom that has pictures.

Items Needed:
baby washcloth
2 sm rubber bands

1. Fold the washcloth from corner to corner forming a triangle shape.
2. Roll the washcloth up starting at the tip of the triangle and rolling towards the long edge.
3. once you have a tube like shape, fold this in half. Simple double it at the middle. You will now have two loose ends on one side and a rounded end on the other side.
4. Take the first rubberband and place a couple of inces up from the rounded ends. This forms the body of the bunny.
5. Take the second rubberband and place it a couple of inches down from the end with the loose ends. This rubberband forms the head and the ears. Now shape your bunny simply by pulling and bending it into the shape you desire.

As promised here is a link to a site with visual aides.
Bunny instructions at Creative Baby Shower ideas.com

This party favor requires only a printer and paper. How easy is that.

1. Choose a poem for your book mark
View poems here
2. I like to add a picture as well, but this is optional.
3. Lay out your design in microsoft word, or other program.
4. Print on plain white printer paper and cut out. I like to use a pair of scissors with decorative edges.
5. Cut a rectangle shapes from card stock, a little larger than your design. It should be around 2 x 5. But that is left completely up to you.
6. Now glue the white paper with the design onto the colored cardstock paper.
7. Use a decorative hole punch, or a standard hole punch to make a hole at the top of the book mark.
8. Lace a piece of ribbon through the hole and tie it off.

And there you have it. A quick, easy, inexpensive, beautiful party favor.

You may also choose to personalize these with the parents name, childs name or other personal information.