Favorite creative baby shower gift for good friend-around$40-$50

[mainemommy1]

She's registered at babies R Us. This is her first child (does not know gender). Would like to do something special and meaningful and I won't be able to go to the shower so it needs to be shipped. She's pretty mainstream in terms of baby care and parenting (at least so far-I know I changed once baby was here). I personally loved Amazing Miracle Swaddling blanket-she is registered for the standard stuff. Anyone have some creative ideas for something creative with the oooo....ahhhhh... factor other than the typical diaper cakes etc......
What was your favorite or most useful shower gift aside from the typical swings, strollers, carseats, bathtubs etc???? Thanks Mamas!

[claras_mom]

If you're crafty, a beautiful handmade mobile could be nice. Or a Moby wrap.

Or a gift certificate for mama-pampering later.

ETA - probably the most useful gift we received for dd1 was a copy of the American Academy of Pediatricians Guide to Your Child's Symptoms. No wow factor, but definitely something we've used, mostly in staying away from the doctor's office. :

[MadiMamacita]

not really a wow gift in itself, but a moby is my go-to shower gift. the front part where the moby tag is would be a good place to sew on a decorative panel in some cool funky fabric if you want to jazz it up and make it a bit more interesting.

the other thing I found recently for a shower was a onsie set with iron on letters.
http://www.flyingpeas.com/mey-green.html

my mom got me these cool crocheted booties with a sheepskin sole-
kind of like these, but mine are cooler as they are wahm! http://crochetroo.blogspot.com/2007/...t-booties.html if you are crafty you could try to make some!

or... a belly cast kit? not really for the baby but a fun way to remember the last days of pregnancy.

a nice framed photo of the parents to hang in the nursery? Like a hand colored black and white?

[texaspeach]

of all the 'gear' we have, I've gotten the most use out of the moby - other than the carseat of course. The two most special things we received were a knit hat from a knitter friend, and a good friend's favorite book from her childhood (it was 40 years old, very cool that she gave it to us) - we had a book shower and got lots of great books but that was the most meaningful.

If you knit or crochet, hand knits are alway wow gifts, I generally make a hat and booties.

[Michigan Mama]

I was totally going to suggest a moby wrap, but I see everyone else did, too!

If I think of something else, I'll post later...

Maybe a nice nursing cover if she is bf'ing.

[Punchy Kaby]

There are a tone of CUTE things on Etsy that can be gender neutral (you didn't say if they knew the gender.) Look up crib shoes, or hats, wooden baby toys, so many cute things! I love my Miracle Blanket and have given them as gifts. Moby is nice also. Or a mother's bracelet with the baby's name.

[April Dawn]

Everyone beat me to the Moby wrap idea. I gave a Moby wrap last week at a shower, and I wore my six month old in my own Moby to show it off. Many of the guests commented on how happy my son looked in it... which definitely encouraged the parents-to-be to want to try it out!

[MadiMamacita]

throw some hylands teething tablets in there too! you never know when they'll start teething and its a good thibg to have on hand. they are saving my sanity this week!

[Nate's Mommy]

One gift I especially liked was a beautiful cloth box filled with children's books. I'm not sure where my friend purchased the box, but I now have it displayed in my son's room and I'm using it as a keepsake box for him.

I also liked a gift which consisted of hand puppets and a portable changing pad made with a lovely fabric. I think she purchased these gifts from Etsy.

Some handmade gifts I received were a quilt and two hand-knit sweaters.

[Comtessa]

Any items geared towards older babies or toddlers are a great idea. We only received new-baby stuff at our showers, and now that DD is 6 months old we're grateful for the one friend who thought to get us older-baby stuff - kid-sized cups and bowls, a mesh teether, sippie cup, teething tablets and toys, etc. There are some great high-quality wooden things in that realm, too - check out Rosie Hippo for some ideas, or Etsy. How about a baby-food-making kit? Williams Sonoma has a really high-end one that I'm totally coveting at the moment.

My MIL often talks about a baby fabric box she made for my DH and his sibs when they were little: she filled it with squares of various textured fabrics and things and pulled them out to play when they were bored. That's an easy enough crafty project, if you're not up to quilting or whatever.

BFing supplies like cloth nursing pads, Mother's Milk tea, etc., would be nice. Or a basket of PP food supplies (like granola bars, etc. - stuff you can eat with one hand is great).

You could also organize a bunch of people to deliver meals PP - plan a calendar so she's getting a meal a day for two weeks, or whatever (starting a week or so after the baby is born is especially nice). Or make a lasagna she can store in the freezer - I would have LOVED more gifts like this.

Dr. Sears' The Baby Book is a nice mainstream-friendly book gift if you think your friend might be considering some AP methods, and would encourage her to move in that direction. And, it's a great resource in general. Or maybe The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding; that one's good, too.

If she's CD'ing, a few good diapers is not a very fancy gift but they're so expensive it would be much appreciated, trust me. Otherwise, you could buy a pack of biodegradeable disposables and wipes. I love the Nature Babycare brand, which doesn't use plastic.

[askew]

I never really liked my Moby wrap. I found it too hard to use and way preferred my Mai Tai. I have given Mai Tais as gifts, but I think baby wearing can be so personal and one person might love what another does not.

My favorite shower gift was a hat box filled with books. You can get board books cheap at places like Ross and Marshalls. They also put in a breastfeeding book and an organic baby food recipe book. (I did not use those so much, but they were a great thought) I still use the hat box for keepsakes for my son that don't fit into a babybook. Books are not cheap and they are so loved in my house. As a new mom getting a collection started was awesome!

[seafox]

instead of a moby, I got myself a stretchy moby-like wrap from here:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...lDXqsBf8aFc8Ug

a 'bali baby breeze' - I have the aphrodite (purple)

its gorgeous, and for that first month where I was wearing DS all the time it was nice to be in something so pretty! Its also a bit lighter than the moby which was nice (DS was a summer baby) but also good inside or if you are doing any kind of activity inside (housework) since it breathes nicely.

a bit 'wow' - especially if she has a moby on the registry - since it replaces it with some funkier look to it.

[seafox]

I should add, I got mine used at thebabywearer for only 45$. New they are a bit pricier. But I'd have loved to get a used one as a gift. Sometimes they have a discontinued colorway for that price.

[MadiMamacita]

how long were you able to use the stretchy wrap?
my lo is 10 months, and granted he's very small, but I still moby him frequently.

[seafox]

Originally Posted by MadiMamacita

how long were you able to use the stretchy wrap?
my lo is 10 months, and granted he's very small, but I still moby him frequently.

I started using woven wraps (instead of stretchy) around 15lbs or so, but DS was also *quite* the active wiggly leaner so it was kind of necessary to reign him in! He's actually calmed down a bunch in the last month, so I bet I could use it now, though I've come to love my storchenwiege leo marine

[fyrwmn]

not expensive but nice, i've been making taggie blankets. i just take 2 pieces of different colored fleece (usually one side is a bright pattern and the other is a plain color) and then do differnt colored silk tags around the edges. i actually made both of our kids full sized ones for their beds that only have the tags on the top edge.

[dachshund mom]

I like to give a mix of my favorite baby items that I wouldn't have known to buy. SIL gave me a diaper bag full of things like that at my shower and I used all of them. Swaddle blanket, waterproof lap pads, mylicon, orajel, lansinoh, natural baby soap, glass bottles, gowns, plastic bib, baby spoons.

[littlemomma]

a gift certificate for a house cleaning from a local service!!!

[Comtessa]

Originally Posted by littlemomma

a gift certificate for a house cleaning from a local service!!!

OOOh, good one! I asked for a house cleaning from a local environmentally-friendly cleaning service for a shower gift. We didn't get it.

If you're feeling really inspired, you could offer to DO the cleaning as your gift.

I thought of a couple more things I really liked that people gave us for our shower:
- homemade newborn-size hats
- hand-me-down and homemade nursery decorations
- a baby laundry hamper (if you wanted to get creative you could get a simple one and decorate it with the baby's name, or the colors of the nursery, etc.) - this is the sort of thing people often forget to get for their nursery and it's been GREAT for us.
- homemade maternity clothes
- hand-embroidered bibs
- toys with family photos in/on them (like a block where each side is a different photo of somebody)
- if you KNOW this person's a potential babywearer, go ahead and splurge on a sling (or an Ergo!) - but don't spend the money unless you're sure they'll use it. (IMHO)
- prepared already-frozen meals to throw in the oven later (mac & cheese was brilliant a few days PP when I just couldn't get enough calories in me)
- handmade baby blankets and sweaters

For a creative touch that eliminates waste, wrap all your gifts in receiving blankets and pin with diaper pins.

[brooklynbabymama]

Aden+Anais muslin swaddling blankets and a copy of The Happiest Baby on the Block! They function as swaddlers, light blankets, stroller sunshades, nursing covers... at 2yo, DD still pulls them out of the drawer nearly every day.