A Gift for Her Majesty

[mrs_mandolini]

My dear, so-unlike-me SIL is having her 1st child. I am a hippie NFL mama who wears shoes until they have holes in them, she is a career professional with a closet full of designer attire. I feel obligated to get her a fabulous baby gift, but have no idea what would be a) appropriate, and b) fit in my budget. She has a huge amount of baby stuff from her family members that she gifted other family members with, then got loaned back to her for her baby. Help??

[EFmom]

Do you knit or crochet? A handmade baby blanket would be lovely. I made one for my niece's first child and it was a huge hit. Niece is an oncologist and her hubby is a big-bucks electronic industry exec, and they have everything they need and more. But they love the homemade blanket.

[rhiOrion]

A beautiful baby book?

Sophie the Giraffe (if you think she's the type to realize that Sophie is a rather expensive but awesome giraffe)

Diaper cake. This is a total over-generalization, but she sounds like someone who would love a diaper cake.

[mrs_mandolini]

What on earth is a diaper cake?

I do knit, but have no time to make anything.. the baby is coming like in the next day or two.

[Denvergirlie]

baby legs... always a good gift that gets more use than one would imagine.

[BetsyS]

We got a great gift for our newest baby that was less than $10. IKEA sells fleece blankets for $3.99. They come in 4 colors, I think. She bought this blanket, then had it monogrammed with the baby's name. So sweet, so personal, a nice large, lightweight blanket that will be useful for years to come (even just to keep in the car or snuggle on the couch or whatever). Monogramming around here costs about $5 for a name.

I'm totally going to steal this idea for the next present I give!

[rhiandmoi]

A gift card for a photobook.

[chely7425]

This isn't totally a for the baby gift but what about something for her? A gift certificate to a local spa in whatever your budgeted amount is with a coupon to babysit for a few hours? A few people got me things like that this pregnancy since we have everything and I thought it was very sweet.

[sunsetdancer]

Originally Posted by mrs_mandolini

What on earth is a diaper cake?

I do knit, but have no time to make anything.. the baby is coming like in the next day or two.

A diaper cake is a buch of diapers rolled up and arrayed to look like a cake ni am posting from my phone and cant put in a link but they can be as simple or elaborate as a person wants. The diapers are usable and it's a fancier way to give diapers than just giving a pack of diapers. I've seen them using both cloth and disposable diapers.

Maybe you can put together a basket of things like baby legs, travel packs of wipes, baby blanket, etc.

[mrs_mandolini]

Thanks y'all. These are all cute ideas. She is SO a spa person, don't know if it's in my budget or not but will have to check into that. And I love baby legs. :-)

[chely7425]

Originally Posted by mrs_mandolini

Thanks y'all. These are all cute ideas. She is SO a spa person, don't know if it's in my budget or not but will have to check into that. And I love baby legs. :-)

Even if you can't afford to get her a big enough gift certificate for a full massage or something most places will let you get a certificate in whatever denomination (20, 30, 40 dollars) and then make or get a really nice unique card and offer to babysit and I think she would really appreciate that! Good way to show that she still has needs too

[nadia105]

A gift card towards some spa stuff would be great! Myabe some one can go in on it with you if it's too spendy?

[zinemama]

Originally Posted by chely7425

Even if you can't afford to get her a big enough gift certificate for a full massage or something most places will let you get a certificate in whatever denomination (20, 30, 40 dollars) and then make or get a really nice unique card and offer to babysit and I think she would really appreciate that! Good way to show that she still has needs too

I second this. She'll be getting so much stuff for the baby. A gift for her would be really sweet.

[LuckyMommaToo]

I vote a mama's necklace from etsy with her new DD's name on it. I've often ordered from this shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bellabuttondesigns

Everyone has loved them!
-e

[goldingoddess]

How about buying crunchy stuff.

Like a Sophie Giraffe, organic clothes, a wooden teether, a wooden rattle.

[JessBB]

A cute picture frame with three slots - try tuesday morning, hobby lobby, marshalls etc or even thrift stores. Put a Copy of mama and daddy's newborn pics in the outer spots and leave center blank for baby.

[pitter_patter]

I love Trumpette socks, especially the Mary Janes or Johnny socks. Personalized blankets are nice too, or a gift card for dinner (a place that does take out), cute embellished burp cloths, the gift I would have loved the most would have been the gift of TIME! (Someone to come visit when I was at home trying to figure out what on earth to do with these brand new little babies.)

[sunflower.mama]

I was absolutely thrilled when a new friend sent me a gift cert for a pedicure along w/a note that she would watch the baby.

[rhiOrion]

If you go the babylegs route you can get them on Ebay for what equals about $3.80 each (I bought 6 for $23 including shipping). They shipped fast and where here in less than a week. I'll never pay $12 for babylegs again (well, to be fair, i never have). Not all are actually babylegs brand, but they're the same concept, and some were cuter than babylegs.

A google image search of diaper cakes will give you lots of choices. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get one! I have a coworker who makes them for baby showers, but it turned out that her baby shower and my baby shower were combined, since we were due only a week apart. Seeing as how she was hugely pregnant also, and knew I was using cloth (though I do use disposables, too), she never made me one.

[yukookoo]

ooo having a baby will change people I used to be professional designer clothes wearing, nursing is just gross and Im not doing it lady, until I gave birth to dd, looked into her eyes and became non vaxing, extended nursing, waldorf weirdo, clothes from 4 years ago with stains on them, soft start shoe wearing mama just saying htere could be hope haha

Anyway one gift that is not too expensive yet appreciated is the miracle blanket if she doesnt already have that... but i also love the spa idea! Some woman love to get a pedi before birth, you know cause your feet are so exposed up in stirrups or whatever....

http://www.miracleblanket.com/