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“It takes a village.”
I’m here to affirm that it really does. My husband and I are expecting our first child soon, so we are starting from nothing. Have you seen how much baby gear costs?? And it adds up quickly. Luckily, there are lovely parties called “baby showers” that your village will throw for you and baby in order to take some of the weight off of you. This is also a chance to bless others–I fully believe blessing others (via a baby gift, let’s say) is a blessing itself. It feels good to be able to help new parents get their start!
So let’s say some of your village has decided to throw you a baby shower and you feel such immense gratitude towards them. What do you do to show you’re grateful? I personally don’t think you could ever repay your village, but you can certainly do something to show them this meant a lot to you. This is where I suggest giving host/hostess gifts.
A good place to start when deciding what to get is a theme, budget, or both. For my first baby shower, I went with a fall-themed gift basket because those ladies love all things fall. Another thing to think about is, will they use it? My sister still lives at home with our parents, so including kitchen towels or other home goods wouldn’t make much sense for her. In this post, I’ll break down some hostess gifts I’ve given (for baby and wedding showers) as well as some I’ve received in case you need any inspiration when your time comes!
Fall-themed baskets. This shower was actually in the fall, so I hit up Hobby Lobby for some low-price baskets that were on theme. I lined the bottom with some crinkle cut decorative paper shreds and filled them with a mug, fall scented hand soap, warm socks, fall-colored nail polish and hair clips, and a can of pumpkin spice coffee.
Some add-in ideas: kitchen towels, candles, candy, mini pumpkins, cookies, brownies, caramel apples, throw blankets–I could go on. They make sooo much fall-themed stuff now. And you could do this for whatever particular season it is at the time of your shower!
Tea/Coffee-themed gift. I had four hostesses, so I ordered a four-pack of everything for these gifts off Amazon. I ordered glass tumblers with straws, fancy stirring spoons, and tea towels. I tied them all together and wrapped them in tissue paper and they came out so cute. After buying all these items plus wrapping material, I was able to get all four hostesses a gift for around $60 total.
Some add-in ideas: tie an individually wrapped tea bag on as well, get some of those cool ice cube stones that don’t melt (perfect for iced coffee) and place them in the tumblers, get mugs instead of tumblers, add a spoon rest for that fancy stirring spoon–I could, again, go on. The world of coffee/tea-themed gifts has endless possibilities.
Home-y comforts. I’m struggling to remember the specifics of what went into this gift because it’s been a while (I gave it to my wedding shower hostesses–and truly got the idea from the hostess gift my sister gave me when I co hosted her baby shower). I know the centerpiece of this gift was a house plant. I would recommend accompanying this with other home items such as candles, throw blankets, a picture frame, coasters, or even their favorite candy.
Personalized gifts. I once co hosted a wedding shower and the bride got us the cutest notepads with our names and a water color-esque picture of our fur babies on the bottom of each page. We all geeked out, because who wouldn’t? And she included candles and fuzzy throw blankets as well. It was so thoughtful because she picked out different colors and scents she knew we’d enjoy based on our personalities.
Some other ideas I considered but ultimately didn’t go with:
An experience. A gift card to the movies, zoo, pumpkin patch, ropes course, skating rink, whatever you have in your area!
Cocktail gift basket. Fill a bag or basket with ingredients to their favorite cocktail (think airplane shot sizes to save $$) and maybe include a special glass that the cocktail is normally served in. A good example would be a Moscow Mule basket which could include ginger beer, fresh limes, vodka, and copper mugs.
Thanks for the “shower” gift bags. This would be items for shower or bath time like bubble bath, bath salts, bath bombs, exfoliating scrubs, face masks, shower caps, bath robes, slippers, you get the idea!
At the end of the day, it’s about making those hosts and hostesses feel appreciated! Remember, they probably had to cut their grass and clean their house–on top of buying invitations, decorations, food, food prep, and they probably got you a gift, too! Cater your hostess gift to that person’s interests so they know you put some thought into it and you’re grateful for their hard work.
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