baby shower favors?

February 22, 2016 3:38 PM

I'm in charge of favors at a baby shower, and I'm stumped. I've been to 1 million baby showers but I don't think I got favors at any of them. It's going to be a boy, and the theme is quite loosely travel since both parents like traveling. They are very progressive people who will not be too into "boys are like THIS, girls are like THAT" type stuff.

Most of the shower guests will be a generation older than those of us planning it - they'll be 40s through 60s+, so I think it would be ok to be a bit traditional.

So far I'm thinking boxes with little plastic toy planes strapped to the top, and what inside the boxes? I like the idea of little seed packets. Probably not enough time (2 weeks) to get custom packets but I could do something creative.

What else though? And how much do people usually spend on this? It'll be about 30 people, no children. I wanted to keep costs to around $3 per person.

posted by zutalors! to Grab Bag (30 answers total)

Maps.
Also...people could write on an old atlas their thoughts about the countries they have visited -like a guest book for the new baby.

E.g. "Loved Rome. Try the gelato in Giovani Piazza but avoid a grey dove near the fountain or you'll end up in jail like I did with your Aunty Wei Ying."
posted by taff at 3:42 PM on February 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I just want to add - guest book, etc all sorted separately. Specifically looking for favors - things people take home.
posted by zutalors! at 3:45 PM on February 22, 2016

How about tiny airplane shaped soaps, and then wrap them up in tulle with a map-like tag. Here are some examples. I did little bluebird soaps for a baby shower and everyone loved them.
posted by kimberussell at 3:45 PM on February 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

Quite frankly, I like shower favors I can use or eat. In this case I would go the traditional route of candy - prob Hershey's Kisses - wrapped in tulle, with a "showers of happiness" tag.
posted by lyssabee at 3:48 PM on February 22, 2016 [10 favorites]

How about some regional snack or candy, from a place meaningful to the parents?
posted by stowaway at 3:49 PM on February 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

Travel journals. Cheap but cute journals are available at Target, and you can draw, stencil, or trace a plane or other travel-related symbol on the front.

Target also has little travel bottles for taking toiletries through airport security, although that may be a bit airplane-specific.
posted by pie ninja at 3:49 PM on February 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

I personally hew to the philosophy that favors should be useful or consumable.

I'd do something like a little bag of cookies or chocolates shaped like planes, trains, and/or baby carriages.

Alternatively, luggage tags.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 3:49 PM on February 22, 2016 [15 favorites]

I agree with the useable/consumable items: nail polish, blue wrapped candy, notepads, soaps, tea, etc.
posted by cecic at 3:51 PM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

Buy travel-themed gift boxes and put any kind of candy you like in them.
posted by Ink-stained wretch at 3:57 PM on February 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

luggage tags is a really good idea.
posted by gaspode at 4:02 PM on February 22, 2016 [4 favorites]

My brother-in-law makes hand sanitizer so little 60ml bottles of that have been regular gifts at family events and showers. People love them. Also fits with the travelling theme.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 4:22 PM on February 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

Postcards!
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 4:31 PM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

World globe chocolates.

useful travel sized toiletries, like maybe toothbrushes? Or you could set the toy plans in travel sized melt and pour soaps.
posted by vunder at 4:37 PM on February 22, 2016

My favourite type of favour to "receive" is a donation-in-your-name to a good cause. Ice attended weddings where that's been presented as a cookie with a note attached, but even just a cute little card with a note is nice. It could be in support of a cause the parents value, a local organization that supports children in need, UNICEF survival gift, etc.
posted by bibliotropic at 4:39 PM on February 22, 2016

The last baby shower that I went to was a honey bee shower for the mom and dad. Everything was in yellow and black and we were sent home with homemade, honeycomb shaped, honey scented, shea butter moisturizer bar, as well as a hand labeled mini container of honey. It was darling! I loved that it fit the theme.

My mother recently went to a posh coming out party (debutante, not gay) and was sent home with a beautifully wrapped box of truffles. That may be easier for you. You could find small boxes that are just the right size for two truffles each. You can make the candy yourself to really save money. Wrap them up with a pretty bow that matches the napkins and you have a winner.
posted by myselfasme at 5:06 PM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

At a shower I hosted, we took a photo of every guest with the new mommy. Stuck my memory card in my printer and printed out a photo for each guest to take home in inexpensive frames I had purchased. I had a teenaged relative doing the printing so I wasn't pulled away from the party. You can print in whatever size you would like and the guests loved them! Easy and personal!
posted by fresh-rn at 5:29 PM on February 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

We did beautifully decorated sugar cookies - you could do planes, we did dragonflies.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:47 PM on February 22, 2016

Maybe a sleep mask and ear plugs in a little pouch. Attach a tag with something cute like "let the adventure begin." If they're more outdoorsy travelers maybe a bag of homemade(?) trail mix.

A quick search of Pinterest shows a bunch of ideas as well.
posted by melissasaurus at 5:52 PM on February 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

The last few showers I've attended have had a Bath & Body works foaming hand soap pump at each plate in the color of the shower with a tag. Useful, colorful.
posted by RoadScholar at 6:45 PM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

The last baby shower favor I received was a homemade birdseed ornament to hang on a tree outside. You can use a cookie cutter to mold it into something baby themed. I loved it since it never even entered my house - no clutter!

Or, use those baby themed cookie cutters to make actual sugar cookies. Little cellophane bags, curling ribbon, and a little tag with a silly saying are cheap but Pinterest-worthy.
posted by gatorae at 6:55 PM on February 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

I did foaming haand soap from bath and body works. Tied each with tags and a bit of ribbon. It was a wedding shower but would do for baby shower.

Consumables are always the way too go
posted by Ftsqg at 7:57 PM on February 22, 2016

Seconding the sugar cookies in little plastic baggies tied with a bow. Maybe airplanes and sailboats.(2 apiece per baggie?)
posted by salvia at 8:40 PM on February 22, 2016

If you have an international grocery nearby, you could do cookies from around the world. Buy some boxes of different kinds and give everyone 3-5 cookies so people can trade if they want. When ever someone talks about some cookie that's delicious and unique to their country, it always gets a ton of comments about people wanting to try it so I'd think it would go over well.
posted by stray thoughts at 1:38 AM on February 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Candies of the world was my thought - great minds, eh, stray thoughts? I like candies better because you can almost always get them individually wrapped, and they're cheap and always terribly fun. Ethnic grocers are a great place to go for them.
posted by Jilder at 2:19 AM on February 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

We started making magnets as favors for baby showers. You can buy whatever you need to fit your chosen theme and then buy double stick magnet rolls. They are always a hit. And I have seen them on fridges of folks who attended showers so they get used, too.
posted by narancia at 8:03 AM on February 23, 2016

How about tiny led flashlights - the keyring kind? Always useful.
posted by theora55 at 10:12 AM on February 23, 2016

Consumables or magnets are good. Little trinkets like tiny airplanes aren't great because people feel obligated to keep them but have no idea of what to do with them, so they end up in a drawer somewhere. Don't kill yourself over this project - for most guests it's like "oh, that's cute" and then they completely forget about it. Pre-wrapped candies of the world is good. Homemade cookies that you then have to package yourself, not so good. Get some cute stickers from Etsy that fit the shower theme (or make your own) to put on the package.
posted by vignettist at 10:16 AM on February 23, 2016

Cardboard suitcase favor box (just one example, etsy has dozens), cute customized tag, filled with candy from around the world purchased at Cost Plus or similar. Could do an "Oh the Places You'll Go!" theme too.
posted by Bella Sebastian at 10:34 AM on February 23, 2016

$3 per person is reasonable. You can easily go wild and spend a lot more on favors, but in my experience, unless it's something truly amazing most of your guests aren't going to realize or notice. You can also spend less, but in my experience, that is noticed by everyone. $2.50 - $4 per person seems to be where we've landed for favors in most of the showers I've thrown (6 of them in the last 2.5 years).

I'd probably do chocolates in a box with an airplane attached or stenciled on.
posted by loolie at 11:30 AM on February 23, 2016

I helped throw a travel-themed baby shower for my sister-in-law last year, and for favors we gave out mini bags of pretzels and mini bottles of wine, like you might get on an airplane (back when they used to actually give you stuff on airplanes).
posted by alyxstarr at 8:31 AM on February 24, 2016