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How To Throw A Baby Shower On A Budget
By Jill Manty, Sat Dec 10th

So, you want to host a great party, but you have limited funds.Can it be done? The answer is ABSOLUTELY!!!

There are numerous ways that you can cut costs when planning ashower. Perhaps the easiest way is to split the hostess dutiesamong several friends. Homemade food, favors, and invitationsare another way to make things less expensive. The time of dayyou have the shower may also influence the cost. A mid-afternoonparty with cake, punch, and light snacks is much less expensivethan a dinner or a spa afternoon. Having the party at arestaurant may be less expensive if the guests all know eachother and are willing to pay for their own meals. This may besomewhat awkward, though, so it definitely is a plan that willonly fit certain situations.

Handmade invitations are a very easy way to cut corners. With acomputer, a printer, and cardstock or specialty paper, you canmake invitations that will look practically professional. Or youcan choose to make a crafty invitation that perfectlycomplements your theme. Another option for invitations is toemail invitations. Sites like sendomatic allow you to sendinvitations and maps, track responses, and even send weatherreports for the big day for less than $15 dollars for 100invitations. Sending email invitations saves on the purchase ofinvitations, as well as the postage.

Food for a shower can be very simple. If you have an earlyafternoon party that falls after lunch but before dinner, youcan serve cake, punch, mints, nuts, and perhaps a fruit trayvery inexpensively. The presentation is often more importantthan the actual food that is served. Use nice bowls and silverfor a formal atmosphere. If you do not have crystal or silver,you can usually get plastic that looks like crystal and silverand will still look nice. Finger sandwiches also add an eleganttouch and are inexpensive and easy to prepare. If you want amore casual feel to the shower, a vegetable platter and chipsand dips are always welcome. Or get everyone in on the act andask each person attending to bring a snack.

You might want tohave a sign up sheet, though, so that you don't end up with 5bags of chips.

Believe it or not, even if you don't consider yourself a baker,there are several alternatives to expensive bakery cakes.Cupcakes are very easy, and sugar or plastic decorations in babythemes are fairly easy to find. You can also use frosting to"glue" small plastic decorations to the tops of LittleDebbie snack cakes. These are precious, and they look like youspent a lot of time. Another option is to skip the traditionaldecorated cake, altogether, and go for individual cheesecakes(easy to make in muffin tins) or a delicious chocolate cake(make sure that the mom-to-be isn't avoiding chocolate first).Cookies can make a great sweet treat also, and there are somereally cute cookie cutters readily available. Finally, if youthink you can make and frost a rectangular cake but areconcerned about trying to do fancy decorations, you can findedible cake art images online. These are easy to apply to thetop of the cake, and they are the same images used by bakeries.

Many of the games and activities for a shower are free.There are printouts available online if you want to play gameslike bingo. While party favors are a nice touch for a shower,they certainly are not necessary. A personal thank you, inperson or written, is all that is necessary to thank the guestsfor attending.

Throwing a shower is a wonderfully generous thing to do. Itdoes not, however, have to break the bank. Remember, the mostimportant thing when hosting a shower is to create wonderfulmemories for your friend. Years from now she will remember thelaughter and the thoughtfulness of her friends more than shewill remember fancy favors or expensive cakes.

About the author:Jill Manty is a stay at home and co-owner ofwww.delightfulchild.com, an online business dedicated toproviding information about showers, breastfeeding, andnatural parenting.

This article can be reproduced in whole or in part, providingthis byline is included along with a link to: http://www.delightfulchild.com/baby_shower.htm