The Vintage Book Baby Shower

I attended a true Southern baby shower last weekend hosted by some of my friends from Alabama.  The theme was "vintage books."  And it was adorable!  The hostesses had stacks of vintage books and toys on display, and they served soda in glass bottles, ice cream, and vintage snacks.  Plus, most of the guests showed up in their party dresses to fit the occasion.  I wore a sleeveless black lace dress and brought my best accessory--Princess G in a long sundress with a big bow in her hair. 

In hind sight, I should have taken pictures to share with you all.  But, since the shower wasn't for me, I felt like it was a slight invasion of privacy to take pictures of another person's party for my blog.  I can't take credit for any of the creativity at this party, so instead of showing and bragging, I will share in words. 

The vintage book baby shower was inspired by the expectant parent's love of books.  In order to help them build a book collection for their baby, the hostesses asked the attendees to forgo buying a card and to instead bring a book with a letter to the family written inside.  Since cards these days cost about $5 each, buying a book instead of card wasn't really that big of a deal.  The biggest challenge with this request was to make sure we all didn't duplicate books.  So, in my case, I found a book that included trains, cats, dogs, and a story of friendship--everything that a little boy could want in a book!  It wasn't a classic must-have for a baby book collection, but it was the kind of book that I know will be appreciated by a little boy.

Instead of playing countless dumb party games, the hostesses asked the party goers to create a book for the new baby.  They passed out different sheets of paper that described events in a baby's life and asked the party goers to fill in blanks (mad lib style) on our sheet and then to illustrate our page. The end results were pretty hilarious.  There were stories that included everything from baby's first bath to baby's first trip to the zoo.  Even the baby's daddy and uncle wrote and illustrated a story about baby's first Alabama football game!

It's not very often that I attend a party where I think it was fabulous enough to write about. But this party was super creative and actually practical.  Not only did the parents not have 25 cards to trash or stick in a box in a closet somewhere, but they now have the beginnings of a wonderful library for their little boy.

I'm not sure everyone will take kindly to the idea of giving books in lieu of cards.  In fact, I'm sure the idea won't appeal to the old folks who must follow social decorum by purchasing cards.  And I doubt my techie friends, who shudder at the idea of holding an actual book, would adapt well to this concept either.  But if you want to stop buying me cards, I'll take a good book any day!