It’s summertime and the living is easy. Unless, of course, you are carrying a baby in the heat. Pregnancy during the summer can be tough, so make your favorite new Mom’s life a little happier with a fun summer baby shower.

Most summer parties can be adapted to a baby shower, with one major exception. Don’t have a pool party. Most doctor’s won’t allow a late term Mom to get in a pool and there is nothing worse than watching everyone else have fun from the sidelines.

So, let’s look at a couple of fun ideas for a summer baby shower.

Bar-b-Cutie

This can be especially fun for a couple’s baby shower. But please remember: barbeque is a noun, not a verb. Real barbeque is a food, not the action of grilling out.

Start by choosing invitations that have a rustic, outdoor feel. Look for something that has a weathered wood background or bandanas on the front. Choose the words carefully, depending on whether you are planning a Southern barbeque, or a Western one. For example, if you are planning a Western barbecue, you might want to go with “Come help us celebrate a new little ‘pardner’!” While a Southern phrase might be “It’s a BaBy-Que Y’all!” Whatever you decide, go ahead and get matching thank you notes for the happy couple when you order the invitations. You can have the notes addressed when you address the invitations. At the party, keep the thank you notes with a pad of sticky notes. Write down a short description of each gift on a sticky note and put it with the appropriate guest’s thank you note. That makes it super easy for the new parents to say thank you.

Think rustic when you decorate for a shower like this. Barn wood, picnic tables and burlap all add to the rustic feel. Instead of a banner, try cutting out cloth letters that spell out the baby’s name and sticking them to colored onsies with washable glue. Then tie bandanas together until they are long enough to stretch along one wall and hang the onsies on the “line.” After the party, you can peel off the letters and launder the clothes to have another little gift for mom. Keep your tableware simple with mason jars for vases and drinkware.

The most important part of any barbecue is the food. Before you start building your own pit, check with the parents to find out what their favorite barbecue might be. There are a lot of different varieties and some are spicier than others. Even if both parents declare their love for a dry rub with hot sauce, be sure to have some milder versions for other guests. It’s also important to have the right sides. Barbeque goes with coleslaw and potato salad. Unfortunately, both of those dishes require mayonnaise. Be sure to keep these foods cold until just before serving and whisk them back into the refrigerator as soon as guests have finished serving. It’s often a good idea to have two bowls of both. That way one can go back into the fridge to re-cool, while the other is out for seconds. There are lots of outdoor games that can lend themselves to a baby shower. For example, pull out the corn hole game and put a large cardboard face on the board. Then, instead of the corn-filled beanbags, purchase or make beanbags with fruits and veggies, or paint giant pacifiers on purchased beanbags.

Pop in for a Shower

What is summer without those cool poolside treats: Popsicles, soda pop and popcorn. You can turn these into the theme of a colorful and fun baby shower for your favorite mom, or pop.

Start with the invitations. Look for images of soda pop, popcorn or even summer fireworks. Then you can use phrases such as “(Mom’s name) is ready to pop!” or “Look who’s going to be a Pop.” Along with the pertinent information. Like the barbecue, don’t forget to order matching thank you notes.

Use lots of different primary colors for decoration. Think of a seaside boardwalk or a summer fun fair. If you have the room, go ahead and create small awnings over different stations of your shower by hanging striped fabric or paper between two dowels. Then hanging the dowels from the ceiling with fishing line. Consider decorating the tables with large bouquets of paper flowers on a table runner made from brightly painted popsicle sticks glued to a ribbon of burlap. Just because it’s fun, doesn’t mean that it has to be simple. Instead of popsicles from your local grocery, why not freeze your own gourmet pops with fresh fruit frappe. Instead of cans of soda they can get in their local machine, why not serve bottles that you have re-labeled for the mom, dad, or baby. And popcorn doesn’t need to be something from the microwave. Why not think about serving flavored popcorn in all the colors of the rainbow. Of, you might serve white chocolate covered popcorn with multicolored sprinkles in giant waffle cones instead of paper bags. But you will also need something besides sweet treats. Think about some of the mom’s favorite foods, or go with carnival fair such as hot dogs, hamburgers or even corn dogs. But no carnival is complete without ice cold slices of watermelon.

There are lots of games that you can create for the shower. Think about setting up fun stations that you might see at a carnival, but all themed for the shower. For example, instead of knocking over milk bottles, what if your guest knocked over plastic baby bottles? Instead of trying to toss a ring on a pin, why not try to toss a pacifier on a picture of a crying baby? Instead of picking up a floating duck and getting a small prize, each duck might have a different number. When a guest picks up a duck, they get a card that goes with that number. The card might ask the guest to offer advice like: “#4: What is your best advice for getting a baby to sleep?” or something silly like: “#8: How long will (Mom’s name) go without a shower in (baby’s name)’s first month of life?”

Whatever you decide, just put your heart into the plan. Your favorite mom, or dad-to-be will feel your love as she enters into this new phase of her life.

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