Create a unique centerpiece: Make a big batch of blue jello and pour it into a large shallow glass bowl or container. Chill until firm, and just before serving place a mother duck and her babies on top. After the party, wash off any jello and give the duckies to the expectant mom.
Create a "Baby Garden Cake": Decorate the top of a chocolate sheet cake with chocolate frosting and ground-up chocolate cookies (to look like dirt). Make long "rows" in the "cookie dirt" with the handle of a spoon building them up with more cookie crumbs if necessary. Plant marzipan vegetables and flowers leaving room in the center for the inscription. And, pipe the words, "Baby Garden" with white icing in the center. Buy little 1" baby dolls and place them amongst the veggies, or buy stickers with the photos of babies on them and sandwich them (sticky sides together) on the top of toothpicks. Then stick the baby-topped toothpicks around the garden.
As the guests arrive, have them fill out name suggestions on slips of paper that have the baby's last name written on them already. At a recent shower the parents had not yet decided on a name so the guests suggested serious as well as humorous names. Have the mom or dad-to-be read the names out loud during the party.
Make a "Baby Time Capsule": Cover the outside, bottom, and lid of a large, empty oatmeal container with wrapping paper. Choose a baby theme wrapping paper that is general, like fairy tales or mixed pastels. Inside the capsule place a letter welcoming the baby and telling him/her how wonderful his/her parents are; an attractive envelope to contain all the name suggestions from above; a blank cassette tape labelled "Sounds of Our Baby" (with list of sounds to collect like crying at one-week old, laughing at 3-months old, etc), some prayers, like "Prayer for Expectant Mothers", and a nice little booklet like "Gift of Life" which has prayers for the baby. Make sure to enclose a list of suggested things for the parents to place in the capsule later, like: the front page from a newspaper on the day baby is born, a lock of hair, the baby announcement, the cards sent to welcome the baby, etc.
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