A Sibling Spin on the Baby Gift Basket

A Budget Friendly Gift for Your Favorite Big Brother or Sister

In families with multiple children, when a new baby is born – so is a new big brother or sister. With the popularity of the baby gift basket, suddenly, it is as if every visitor brings the new baby loads of goodies by the basketful. A sibling spin on the baby gift basket is a perfect way to help your favorite big sibling know that they too are extra special. Here are a few budget friendly tips sure to make the big brother or sister in your family feel just as celebrated as the new bundle of joy.

1. The Fanciful Princess Sister Basket
A wicker laundry basket is the perfect base for your gift. Start out by spray-painting your basket hot pink. Make sure to do this in a well-ventilated area away from little noses. You will also need some precut wooden stars, fabric paint and acrylic paint. Both are available at any craft store and are usually inexpensive. Paint the stars, allow to dry and glue them around the rim of your basket. You can also opt to go over each star with a glossy sealant such as Mod Podge. Use your fabric paint to spell out the siblings name putting one letter on each star. This adds a sweet personal touch and gives them something that is all their own.
Fill the basket with princess themed items, a crown, a wand, a princess themed picture book and anything else you wish. Creating a “fairy godmother book” to slip inside is especially sweet. It is a coupon book in sorts themed around granting wishes. Write out things such as – The fairy godmother grants “infinite hugs from mommy” or “one scoop of ice-cream with extra sprinkles.” Putting “wish glitter” on each page makes it extra special.

2. The Super Brother Hero Basket
Again, start out with your wicker laundry basket as your base and spray paint the basket a kid-friendly shade of blue. Let dry. As we have discussed in the sister project, you will need acrylic paint, fabric paint and precut wooden stars. Using your acrylic paint, color half of your stars bright red and the other half white. After painting the stars, go over each with a glossy sealant such as Mod Podge. Using your hot glue gun, attach the stars around the rim of the basket. You can also personalize your gift basket by spelling out his name across the stars. Fill the basket with a super hero cape, a superhero themed coloring book, crayons and perhaps, a cartoon DVD of his favorite super hero in action. The cape serves a wonderful purpose. When you need something for the baby and don’t have any free hands, you can call for “Super Brother”! Explain to him when you give him the basket that you will need a helpful hero to come to your rescue when you are in a “baby bind”. It will make him feel extra special and it will combat those feelings of competing for mommy’s attention.

The most important ingredient in creating the perfect sibling spin on the baby gift basket, hands down – is imagination. Some time and work is required but the end result is well worth the effort. A good option for moms and dads with little time to devote to projects is buying from an online provider. No work. No hassle and you never have to lift a finger. Now, if only changing diapers was that easy.

The Baby Gift Basket Toss And Other Unique Baby Shower Games

No baby shower is complete without a few games that lighten the mood and inevitably – make us look ridiculous. From the Baby Gift Basket Toss, in which guests scramble to toss stuffed animals into a baby gift basket, to The Mommy Dash, a baby shower relay race where mom’s rush to get “baby” ready for bed – we’ve got all you need to make your baby shower a memorable one.

1.      The Mommy Dash

The Mommy Dash is a shower relay race. Guests will compete to determine who can get baby ready for bed the fastest. There will be three stations – One for preparing bottles, one for changing the baby doll’s diaper and one for naptime. Sounds easy, huh? There is just one catch. You have to do it all with one hand tied behind your back! (That’s how most of us mom’s do it, right? Baby in one arm and only one left to work with!) Each guest will take turns preparing a bottle at the first station. You can use flour for “baby powder” and a jug of water to prepare the bottles. Next, the guest will dash to the baby changing station where she will give baby a fresh diaper and slip on his jammies. Lastly, she will have to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star as fast as she can. The guest with the quickest time gets a prize.

2.      Oh, No! Where’s My Keys?!

We moms know the phrase all too well. One minute our car keys are in our purse the next, they are swimming in the goldfish tank. For this game, you will need a set of baby keys for each guest and several old purses. Simply hide the keys along with classic scavenger hunt items for the ladies to find and place in their purses. Whoever can find all the contents of her purse first gets a prize. This will be the first and probably the last time any mother has every lost her keys and actually had a good time trying to find them!

3.      The Baby Gift Basket Toss

Ask each guest to bring in a used stuffed animal she is willing to part with. Scatter them on the floor and let each guest take turns “speed cleaning” and tossing those teddies into the basket. It’s the perfect refresher course on how to tidy up in a hurry when the in-laws are making a surprise visit! When the shower is over, have each guest write their name on a tag and place it on the animal that they brought in. Fill the basket with the animals and give it to the mom to be for a perfectly unique “guestbook”.

*Tip – A fancier way to mark each teddy with its previous owner? Pre-punch a hole in the tops of several pieces of sturdy cardstock. Write out at the bottom in small letters, “__________ loves you.” Loop with ribbon and you have instant teddy bear necklaces with an oh, so sweet message for the new wee one.

Baby showers do not have to be a bore. With imagination mixed with family and dear friends, you can turn any shower into a unique experience that everyone will cherish. The only down side to throwing such a fabulously fun shower – you will probably be nominated to throw everyone else’s from here on out!