We’re adding the finishing touches, so be sure to look for this new addition to the shop in the next few weeks! UPDATE: Our Sweet Confections and Birthday Sing-Along party lines have arrived!

IDEA #1: A Little Encouragement Goes A Long Way

I was watching Oprah several weeks ago and it was one of her ‘Favorite Things’ episodes. Usually she gives away an obscene amount of free stuff to the audience, but because of the economy, she was introducing ‘thrifty’ gift ideas. Anyway, she was talking about how (years ago) one of her producers had asked each member of the staff to write down what they liked about working at Harpo. They collected all the notes, put them in a simple box and gave them to Oprah as a gift. It was something she still cherished years and years later. Inexpensive but priceless.

That really struck a cord with me. I’m a sucker for sentiment. And then it hit me — baby showers! And after some brainstorming and staying true to my love for vintage, I came up with these: Baby Silhouette Encouragement Cards for the New Mom — now available exclusively at The Baby Gardner.

How to Play:

1. Pass these out to each guest as they arrive at the baby shower. Ask each of them to write a special message of encouragement for the new mom.
2. Collect all the cards towards the end of the shower. Place them back in the coordinating archival envelope.
3. Present the envelope to the new mom as a final gift and watch the tears flow! Allow her to read each one aloud if she likes.

Of course, you could always adapt this idea using your own card design (please don’t copy ours). Either way, you’re looking at a great alternative to the same old baby shower games and you’re giving the new mom something she’s sure to cherish for years to come!

IDEA #2: When Will Her Water Break?

Can’t take credit for this clever game, but it’s one of my favorites. And of course I love the fact that the little babies give it a vintage twist.

How to Play:

1. The night before the shower, fill ice cube trays with water (one cube per guest) and place a baby (available in packs by Wilton) in each slot. [Bonus: Make extra baby cubes to place in the punch bowl as an added touch.]
2. Pop cubes out right before the shower and place one baby ice cube in each drinking glass. Distribute a glass to each guest and point out their impending ‘birth’. Tell them it has to be a natural birth. No biting the ice!
3. The first to ‘deliver’ a baby floating freely in their glass wins a door prize!

IDEA #3: No Thanks Necessary

Here’s another great baby shower ‘game’ that actually gives a helping hand to the mom-to-be.

How to Play:

1. Purchase thank-you cards for the guest of honor before the shower. May we suggest a few vintage-inspired choices at The Baby Gardner?
2. At the shower, give each guest an envelope (those that came with the thank-you cards) and ask them to write their name on the envelope.
3. Collect all the envelopes and place them in a bowl. Draw one name/envelope to win a handsome door prize.
4. After the shower, give the thank-you cards and envelopes to the mom-to-be. She’ll have a helpful head start on her thank-you notes.

In the spirit of this historical election, last Fall we started our own Vintage Election 2008. We asked for your vote to select a new design to be incorporated into our line of vintage-inspired birth announcements and baby shower invitations at The Baby Gardner. Voting ended on Election Day, November 4th, and we announced our winner!

Now, we’re pleased to introduce and inaugurate our brand new design, Baby Bells! We liked your choice so much, we decided to create coordinating thank-you cards as well. 

Thanks to all who participated in our election! Let us know what you think of the results!

Tonight the temperature here will drop to 10 degrees with a sub-zero wind chill. For the south, that’s pretty rare and darn chilly! Blankets all around!

Leah’s down-under, so these little treasures should be arriving in the states very soon. When they debut, you can find them here.

If you’ve been keeping up with the blog for a while, you’ll remember Baby James (brand new son of my dear friend, Renee) and his arrival back on 11/11. I had been itching to get my hands on him (5-hour commute) and was finally able to do just that over these last few days.

I took every opportunity to spoil him rotten. Sleep on my chest for over an hour so you can get away with sleeping on your stomach? No problem. Christen me during diaper changing? You got it. Want to be held ALL the time? Your wish is my command. I loved it. Every second with him reminded me of the first few fleeting months I had with my own sweet little man, Aidan.

Renee is totally smitten with her new little boy. No surprise there. But what I think catches every new mom off guard a little, is when that tiny fist wraps around your finger for the first time and you wonder how your world could have ever been complete before he came into it.

As for James, he’s already charming the ladies. See for yourself… (Check out his personalized elephant onesie. You’ll never guess where that came from.)

The ‘elves’ are crazy busy these days, but allowed me one sneak peek of a brand new product coming soon to the shop. Imagine these vintage reproduction fabrics transformed into an insanely-cute garland pennant for little one’s room. Now imagine that pennant accented with hand-embroidery too. Drooling yet? Yep. Me too. Can’t wait to see what Laurie at Old School Acres has up her sleeve. It’s sure to be fab! When it’s ready, you can find it here.

We knew we wanted to give the bracelet a vintage flair and pandas seemed the perfect choice. The obvious first question was, “Do vintage panda illustrations even exist?” No clue. We searched high and low and everywhere in between. And sure enough, we found them on vintage birthday cards, vintage baby shower invitations and vintage children’s books.

Once we found the illustrations, Crystal began to create — adding authentic vintage cabachons, glass beads, adorable lampwork pandas and more. The result? It speaks for itself…

I’m not adopting from China, but luckily it’s not a requirement. I fell in love with this all the same. The pink and black color combination is to die for. And the best part? Crystal created the original design for moms and a perfectly-proportioned version for little girls as well! Gracie and I will be sporting these by Christmas for sure!

Here’s an idea! Know someone adopting from China? Give the mom-sized bracelet to that special mom-to-be while she waits for her little one from China. If she’s adopting a baby girl, surprise Mom with the matching daughter bracelet when baby arrives home!

You can see more photos of these fabulous bracelets here.

Shopping early has another benefit too. It gives you the option of selecting personalized gifts that are usually out of contention for the procrastinator-types out there (myself included). But I do love to buy personalized gifts when the stars align and I still have the time to make it happen. There’s just something about making a gift personal that makes it personal. The only thing that tops it in my book is handmade gifts. And what? What’s that? Oh my gosh! You’re right! The Baby Gardner offers both! (Yes, insert shameless shop promotion here.)

So even if you are a notorious procrastinator like I am, here’s your chance to get ahead of the curve this holiday season. We’ve made an easy reference list of all the personalized gift ideas currently available at The Baby Gardner. Just click and go! Easy peas-y!

Personalized Book Plates & Name Labels (Vintage Illustrations)

Baby Boy Elephant Personalized Onesie Set

Baby Girl Elephant Personalized Onesie Set

Monogrammed or Personalized Scalloped Hair Clips

Personalized Hear Me Roar Little Lion Blanket

Personalized Playful Monkey Blanket

Personalized Vintage Red Soft Block Set with Bag

Personalized Nautical Soft Block Set with Bag

Personalized My First Christmas Bib

Monogrammed or Personalized Holiday Toy Bags

Personalized Bluebird Greetings Note Cards

The nautical little boy on the seashore was a request from my friend, Renee — you know the one who wanted the vintage / nautical / Navy – themed nursery? Luckily, designing a birth announcement for Baby James was a much easier assignment. She’s due 11/11 and is in serious nesting mode. Let’s just say she did a really good job of ‘nudging’ me along to get this done. Hey, if it eases her mind to know it’s finished (even before the baby gets here), then what kind of friend would I be if I procrastinated? (I’d be the exact kind of friend she’s had for the past 20 years — she knows me too well.)

On a personal note, I’m having minor outpatient surgery on my wrist tomorrow. It’s a long story. I won’t bore you with the details (ok, well maybe I will if I get really desperate for posting ideas). I just wanted to mention it in case you guys start wondering if I disappeared. We’ll catch up next week! If you need to place an order over the next few days, no worries. The elves are still working.