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Painted Onesies: A Creative & Alternative Baby Shower Activity That’s Useful, Too!
by Cherie Hammer
Owner of Cuddle Bug Baby Products and frequent baby shower host
I love giving baby showers! What better event in life to celebrate than the arrival of a new little one? I’ve hosted many showers over the years and early on I learned one simple fact: most people cringe at the thought of baby shower activities. Tasting baby food from unmarked jars and guessing the contents? Yuck! Playing a memory game with a tray of bottle brushes, safety pins and pacifiers? Not necessarily everyone’s idea of an entertaining afternoon.
I attended a baby shower years ago and the host did what I thought was the most brilliant and fun baby shower activity I’d ever seen: she had each guest “make” for the mom-to-be a onesie by painting them with fabric paint. The new mom picked her favorite work of art and everyone had a ball! This simple concept was not only a great bonding activity for the guests, it gave the new mom a full supply of a much needed layette item.
(For those who don’t know, onesies are cotton t-shirts that have an extra flap that comes between the baby’s legs and snaps to the front. They are indispensable items as they stay put and don’t ride up baby’s back, and are an extra warm layer of clothes, especially during the winter months.)
For this activity, you’ll need the following supplies:
• Onesies, enough for 1-2 per guest. I’d suggest getting a variety of sizes from newborn to 24 months (available usually in packages of 3 at baby stores or in the baby section of larger department stores such as Target or Wal*Mart.)
• 6-10 bottles of fabric paint in various colors (available at craft or art supply stores. Just make sure it is marked as “fabric” paint, so it is permanent). One little bottle per color is usually sufficient.
• Pieces of cardboard or tag board cut large enough to slip inside the body-section of each onesie.
• A door prize for the winning artist.
Before the party, slip a piece of cardboard or heavy paper inside each onesie to prevent paint bleeding through the shirt. I always paint one shirt ahead of time to provide guests a little encouragement. Set up a table with chairs off to the side of the party with the shirts, paints and sample shirt.
As each guest arrives at the party, invite them to paint a shirt sometime before the end of the party. Let them know the mom-to-be will be picking her favorite and a prize will go to the winner! It usually takes one brave person to break the ice, but I find once one person starts, everyone soon joins in the fun. As people chat and visit, people seem to naturally gravitate to the table in groups of two or three to paint their shirts. Assure guests that they don’t necessarily have to be Picasso to participate! They can just paint a pretty abstract design, or even just letter a funny comment or phrase.
Once all the shirts are completed, invite the mom-to-be to look at all the beautiful creations and select a favorite (sometimes the hardest job of all!). Then present the “winning” guest a door prize (I usually give a bottle of wine, gift certificate to a local restaurant or small gift basket of bath soaps).
One critical thing: fabric paint takes 24 hours to fully dry and smears quite easily when wet. As the shirts are completed, carefully move them to a place they can lay out and dry without touching each other or folding. I usually tell the mom-to-be I’ll deliver them to her in a few days after they fully set.
Every time I have hosted a shower where I did the onesie painting activity, it has been a great success. The guests loved the idea of doing something special for the mom and not having to play silly games. The moms were thrilled by these special gifts. Every time for the next two years they pulled a onesie out of the drawer, they thought of their special shower day and the dear friend or family member who made the shirt.
I can’t think of a better way to shower a new mom and welcome baby!
Cherie Hammer is a mom and business owner in San Mateo, California.
©2001 Cherie Hammer. All rights reserved.
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