70 Baby Shower Ideas on a Budget! {Fun Games & Food}

Another fun idea is to hand out 1-2 diapers to each guest with a variety of permament markers and have guests write something on the front of the diapers like “daddy’s turn”, “what a blessing”, or a Bible verse.”

Newborn Diaper Deals

Baby Shower Diaper Cakes

Diana said: “I bought a Box of Diapers. Part of the box was used to make a diaper cake and some more diapers were used to make a diaper banner. I used some of my SwagBucks to purchase baby items for the diaper cake. This way I had both a gift for the mommy-to-be and two cute decorations. I also bought two packs of socks (buy one, get one half off) and made baby sock roses – another gift/decoration combo.  For prizes for games I used some of my free coffee samples I found from The Frugal Girls.”

Diaper Cake Kits

Jennifer said: “Diaper cakes are easy and so cute! I found some cute ribbon, a bottle of lotion and a bottle of baby powder. Stuck some onesies, bibs, pacis and toys in the outside rolls, and it came out super cute! Only took about 2 hours to make.”

Megan said: “When I host a shower I do all DIY games/activities, make all the food, and have it at the mom-to-be’s house (if possible). I make things like finger sandwiches, carrot soup, pasta salad, fruit salad, and sparkling lemonade.  I love word-search and jumble kind of games with baby theme, you can just make them yourself and print them out.  Also, I like to get a couple packs of fabric markers (and then re-use them for the next shower!) and have everyone decorate a onesie for the baby.”

Barbara said: “For a fun free game, ask the guests to come up with as many names as possible from the letters in the parents names. Prizes can go to the prettiest, funniest, and longest.”

Nancy said: “I did a Victorian tea party wedding shower but could also be for a baby shower I found tea cups at thrift shops in 1 color they didn’t match also found tea pots there also . I made tissue paper flowers for napkin rings I used the colors of pink and silver. I made plastic canvas Mini picture frames of the couple as favors witch was very inexpensive 1 thing of yarn and some plastic canvas. Pink punch for those who didn’t like tea, finger sandwiches, and fruit cake.  It turned out beautiful.”

Amy said: “Instead of wrapping paper, my mom taught me years ago to use Baby Receiving Blankets to wrap presents! They work great, are usually cheaper than wrapping paper, and are another gift! Everyone loves the idea, and it has been a big hit at all of the baby showers I have been to!”

Baby Receiving Blanket Sets

We did a sign on the wall with 5 common words relating to baby and everyone started with a clothespin on their clothes. If you heard someone say one of the no-no words (baby, crib, bottle, labor, poop or whatever you want) you get to take their pin.  The person with the most at the end of the party gets a prize.

We also made it a tea party. Made small sandwiches (cream cheese/dill/salmon) (chicken salad) (cool cucumber salad) and had a couple pots of hot water with a selection of teas. We also did a relish and a veggie tray.  We ate small petifours for desert.  Congratulations and have fun!!”

Melanie said: “Diaper cake! get a few packs of diapers, roll them up rubber band them, then rubber band a group of 5, put 4-5 together for bottom tier, 3 for middle and 1 for top. you can decorate with pacifiers and rattles and such. A great center piece/present for about $20-$35.

Ask guests for a baby photo of themselves or their baby and a cute saying, or some words of wisdom and make a photo book.”

Emily said: “For prizes/favors, try Michaels (if you live near one) – they always have cute little things in their dollar bins that are targeted towards women.   Also the One Spot at Target, although typically items you find there are geared more for kids.   I agree with some of the other posters here – have the decorations double as your gift(s) to the mom-to-be and play games that don’t require you to incur any additional cost.
One activity I like (I know some may find it controversial, but it really helps out the mom-to-be!) is to have all the guests address thank-you note envelopes with their name/address (or you as the hostess could do it beforehand, as well) and then put them all in a bowl. Then you can draw one or more out for prizes. Kind of like a raffle.

One inexpensive but fun/festive thing I like to have at parties is dipping chocolate w/marshmallows, bananas, pound cake and maybe strawberries (although strawberries in the winter are pricey). The dipping chocolate you can get in the baking aisle of any grocery store and it’s only a couple of dollars for one container. Marshmallows and bananas are very inexpensive. You could make your own pound cake (or some other firm cake) or buy a frozen one. Everyone seems to like dipping things in chocolate! ”

Tamara said: “I’m having a shower for my daughter in law very soon. My theme is vintage. Lots of lace (doilies) and balloons hanging from ceiling with a marble in them so they hang still. Make a banner out of doilies. Spray sticks from yard and pine cones white and pink ( or blue) tulle is cheap for bows. So many nature themes things to do. My invites asked everyone to bring an unwrapped gift for the mom’s clothes line. Also bring a book to add to babies reading nook! Homemade food such as pasts salad and tortillia roll ups are very cheap. I’m making the cupcakes too. It means more that way. We are only doing words of wisdom in place of games. By the time we look at all the books and hang the clothes it will be time to go. You’re only talking 2 hrs!”

Cherry Vanilla Party Punch Recipe

Easy Blue Baby Shower Punch Recipe

Tracy said: “An inexpensive activity idea: I am planning my Son’s now, I’m planning to buy a couple dozen cupcakes w/o frosting or decorations. After other activities, mom n dad to be get a bit to rest while the guests decorate the cupcakes. Then we can select the favorite cupcake as “best in show”, who’s creator wins a prize then we eat ‘em! game, rest, and “cake” all in one.”

Lahni said: “I take cheap/clearance/cute baby bottles, take the nipples off, tie a pretty ribbon around where the nipple ring would go, and use them as vases… a few roses, trimmed up, go in each baby bottle, and then decorate throughout the party with them.. very very pretty effect and very cheap.”

Celeste said: “My sister placed mints in bottles.  An icebreaker we had was Hot Potato.  We gathered all the guests in a circle and tossed a Baby Doll (I know it may sound mean, but it was funny because everyone was trying to gently toss it but at the same time win) – it was a great icebreaker!”

Baby Shower Donuts with Pacifier Idea

These Baby Shower Donuts with Pacifier make the cutest little treat for a Baby Shower… plus the pacifiers double as a fun gift for Mom and her sweet Baby!

Roxanne said: “When it was time for my son’s baby shower, the idea I had was so original, I couldn’t believe it was mine. hehe  I have always loved reading, so I decided to have a book shower.
I had everyone bring a book from their childhood that was special to them, then had them write their name and why it wa special. Not everyone was able to find a book, and some brought clothing too. Others brought books that they enjoyed with their own children.
I was able to amass a collection that would have been very pricey to buy myself. The books hold more meaning than a cute little onsie ever could.
As for decorations, the sky’s the limit if you want to go with a book theme. I didn’t do a book themed game as I was not the hostess, but you could try book Jeapordy based on Dr. Seuss or other very common books. Yes, I did just think that up. 🙂 ”

Carrie said: “For a baby shower I hosted for my friend, we had a Guess That Celebrity parent game. I took old US Weekly and People magazines and cut out the baby pictures and numbered them (also with numbers from magazines) on a piece of poster board. I turned the board over and each guest had paper and pen. They had maybe 60 seconds to write down as many “celebrity parents” they could. I had some easy pictures that everyone could guess and some were harder that only a few guessed. It was super fun and super cheap!”

DIY Party Napkins

Here’s an easy party napkin trick for customizing your napkins… with rubber stamps!  Grab your favorite stamps and an ink pad to create your own personalized napkins on solid paper napkins!

Corinne writes: “I’ve done this and also use embossing powder and heat to set them.  It does not come off.”

Meredith said: “The last baby shower I threw, we made the cake from scratch. We styled it to match her bedding. We also made cake pops for the favors. It was a huge hit, the mom to be was thrilled we put so much effort into it and the guests loved their favors. We also made most of the food, but there were 3 of us hosting and that made splitting up the tasks easier.”

Jaymie said: “We recently held a shower for a coworker at work. We held a ‘She’s About to Pop’ theme. So fun and relaxed.  We served popcorn, popscicles, tootsiepops. We did brownies and chips and dip too.- not in the theme. You can stay in the theme with soda pop and cake pops! You can decorate with balloons and bottles of bubbles that you can personalize. We also made a pop art poster. 🙂  I hope to use this again theme again soon.”

Ready to Pop Baby Shower Decor

Judy said: “Just went to a baby shower yesterday and we played a fun game. Hostess had little candy bars, which were answers to baby questions, example hos much does it cost to have a baby? 100 grand candy was answer. Baby giggles, Snickers…the women who it was for has big babies, so Whoppers was answer for size of baby…. something about breast feeding was Milky Way. If you are creative, you could do this or maybe find it on a web site.  For favors, they had Starbursts wrapped in tissue paper, with the saying, we are bursting with joy for your new star.”

Nancilee said: “We are planning a baby shower and we are planning on making a scrapbook for the mother, instead of games.  The guests get to decorate a page and it’s more relaxing.”

Alex said: “Here are some ideas for decorating and food.  I did a natural theme.  I collected many different types of clear glass vases from friends.  In each vase I filled with mardigras silver, pearl, and blue bead necklaces (I live in New Orleans so this made it free, you could use some pretty marbles or even river stones). I spray painted branches white that I got from the yard (take leaves off or leave on) and stuck them in the vases.

Then, I traced the outline of baby related shapes on cardstock (baby bottles, rubber ducky, teddy bear, baby rattle, and an old school type stroller) cut them out, made a hole, tied a loop with pretty{cheap} ribbon, and hung them on the tree (or you could use a Cricut and save a lot of time!) The ornaments can be later used for a game where people would have to collect as many as they can or not have any at all.

I did a pot-luck. It was at a church so I really had to decorate to warm things up. I used some white plastic tablecloths from the Dollar Store (or borrow some) and covered the food tables. Under the tablecloth I put sturdy boxes ranging in size in random spots. Food was placed on the table and on top of the boxes (this added heigth and definition. I added a few before mentioned vases on the food tables and laid throughout randomly some ice cycle lights.

Next, I did streamers in a centric pattern for the ceiling. I spray painted a bird’s nest white and gave each person a blank 3×5 card and a pen–each person wrote down advice for the mother (you could make it funny) and then place the cards in the nest for the mom to keep words of wisdom and encouragement.  The best thing I did was to appoint someone to help with the shower. I was good at decorating but a friend of mine wanted to do the games. We split the responsibilities and that helped a lot with stress.

A great looking and tasting drink is sweet iced tea with lemon wedges and blueberries floating on top, lemon and strawberries work well too! All in all I spent $30. On a budget the best thing to do is to come up with a theme, look at your friends and pull together your resources. What are you good at, what you are not good at, which of your friends is good at what you’re not, ask them to help. What they contribute can be put in a card and they can say what they contributed to the party as their present.  I hope this helps.”

Creative Coffee Gift Card Holders

Sonita said: “Have it at someone’s house. This saves rental fees. Borrow anything you or the host house doesn’t have.

DIY 2-Tiered Party Tray

Courtenay said: “I just recently threw a baby shower for my best friend from high school (who is having a girl.)  Her sister and I got all of the decorations and most of the food from the Dollar Tree (they have TONS of adorable decorations, and the drinks and food are sometimes better tasting than a store brand!)

We held it at her mom’s house since she is from out of state. We also sent out invitations via facebook instead of mailing them. This is also very handy if you don’t have access to addresses for all of the guests.

It is very possible to be on a budget, I believe we spent less than $40 on the entire thing! Just have fun with it and be creative!!!

Baby Shower Favors:

At the end of the party, pass out wrapped candy bars in pink or blue as a sweet little party favor for guests as they leave!

 Baby Gender Reveal Party Ideas:

Baby Gender Reveal Parties are such a FUN way to share the big news with friends and family!

Monica said: “I put white stickers on a canvas that said “It’s a Girl”, so “It’s a Girl” was covered.  Then I took pictures of our other kids painting the canvas blue and pink (you could not see the stickers). Next I took pictures of them peeling the stickers off (just enough to where it didnt give it away). Then took a picture of them holding the finished product – the canvas revealed that said “It’s a Girl”.  I also made a video out of it.”

Team Blue Team Pink Reveal Party

• Have guests attend the party wearing either Pink or Blue.  {in the invites… explain that they’ll need to wear Pink if they think it’s a girl, or Blue if they think it’s a boy.}
• Tally up votes at the party for Team Pink vs. Team Blue.
• Then, have fun little goodies, so the each member of the winning team can take home a little prize or treat!

Silly String Baby Reveal

• Molly said: “We did a silly string reveal!”
• Purchase cans of Silly String in pink {if you’re having a girl}, or blue {if you’re having a boy}.
• Then cover the outside of the cans in brown paper, so your guests won’t know what color they are.
• Near the end of the party, head outside and have each guest grab a can.
• On the count of 3, have the guests go wild and start spraying.
• They’ll instantly notice you’ve got a girl-on-the-way once they see all of the Silly String is pink, or they’ll know it’s a boy if they see all the Silly String is blue!

More Baby Shower Drink Ideas:

30 Party Punch Recipes

Crockpot Hot Chocolate

More Baby Shower Food Ideas:

Oreo Pops = Tasty Party Treat

BIG List of Easy Crockpot Dips

Deviled Egg Recipe with Bacon

Crockpot Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Overnight Breakfast Sausage & Egg Casserole

Crockpot Cheesy Bacon Hashbrowns

More Baby Shower Gift Ideas:

Free Baby Stuff for Expecting Mothers

I absolutely LOVE this huge list of fun freebies for Baby and New Moms!  I’ve given so many of these adorable products as presents… and they really make the BEST Baby Shower Gifts!

Flower Hair Clips and Headbands Tutorial

How to Make Hair Clippies for Babies and Little Girls