What better way to celebrate your forthcoming little peanut than an elephant-themed baby shower? From cute centerpieces to adorable elephant cookies, these ele-phantastic ideas will make your party big, bold, and one your guests will never forget.
Invitations
A beautiful party starts long before the actual date—with beautiful invitations. Etsy offers hundreds of cute elephant-themed invites, including this one which you can edit yourself.
If you’d rather not mess around with editing in Adobe Reader, many Etsy shops will take the details and personalize the invitations for you. Whether you know the baby’s sex already or you’re looking for gender-neutral, Etsy is a good place to start.
Guest ‘Book’
The run-up to having a baby can be a blur, including a crowded baby shower where everyone wants to talk to the mom-to-be. But you want to remember who was there, right? Friends who threw my baby shower used a children’s book as the guest book, having guests sign the front and back blank pages with little notes.
It was encouraging to read before I boarded the crazy roller-coaster ride of motherhood, and now when I read my kids that book at bedtime, I can look back through their kind words. They gave me the book Are You My Mother, but in keeping with the elephant theme, you could get a copy of Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss.
Another guest ‘book’ idea which I love: this canvas/print, where guests create the elephant’s balloons with their thumb prints. Although you’re not collecting names or notes, it makes a beautiful picture to hang in the nursery.
You could always have guests contribute their thumbprints alongside notes in an actual guest book or children’s book.
Decorations
When looking at decorations, it helps to choose a color scheme. Many people go for blue/silver/grey for boys, pink/silver/gray for girls, although obviously, you don’t have to be so pink-and-blue about it. If you don’t know the gender yet, yellow and gray go a long way!
Stuffed toy elephants make great centerpieces, especially as they’re weighty enough to hold a balloon. If you set them on top of a diaper cake, you (or the new mom, if that’s not you) will get some practical use out of it later.
At the end, you can give away the toy elephants to other moms of young kids, but be sure to keep one for the baby! A lovely keepsake he or she can grow up with.
For the food or gift table, I like the use of different-sized balloons—an easy thing to do yourself. Tape or tie them together into a bunch, and drape gauzy ribbons down as the strings. You can use a cut-out paper elephant like the photo, or prop up a stuffed elephant to “hold” the balloons.
Games
Not everyone enjoys games at baby showers. Sometimes it’s enough to sit around eating intricately-carved fruit, drinking punch and exchanging birth stories out of earshot of the mom-to-be. But if you’d like a little more structure, entertainment, and an excuse to hand out prizes, this pack of 8 different games fits the bill.
It includes games like Baby Shower Bingo, Baby Animal Names, and Who Knows Mommy Best? (See the product description for details of all the games).
In keeping with the “little peanut” nickname, and with a nod to elephants’ much-loved snack, another easy, no-fuss game is “Guess How Many”, using peanuts in a jar. Guests can write down their estimates, and the number closest to the actual number wins.
The winner can take the jar home, but if you’d rather the prizes not be elephant-themed, gift cards to coffee shops or bookstores are always happily received.
Cakes and Cookies
You can’t have a baby shower without baked goods! Professional bakers can do miraculous things with flour and sugar. If you’re getting someone else to bake for you, here are some ideas to pass along:
Tiered cake, elephant holding balloon (boy) – more likely from a place that does special occasion cakes
Flat cake with elephant in icing (girl) – your local grocery store might do something similar
An easier, cheaper idea may be to get an ordinary cake and use an elephant cake topper or cupcake toppers.
I also loved these gender-neutral elephant cookies, as well as these personalized ones.
If you’re an avid baker and up for the challenge, try these delicious-looking elephant sugar cookies with royal icing, or check out these elephant cake tutorials on YouTube. For a quick and easy treat, make elephant rice Krispies treats by cutting out elephant shapes with an elephant cookie cutter.
Party Bags and Favors
For party bags or prize bags, one easy DIY idea is to use elephant cut-outs and a cute, gender-neutral color scheme. Use an elephant cookie-cutter or stencil to trace and cut out elephants on colorful, patterned cardstock. Glue them on paper bags, tie a ribbon on the handle, and you’re done!
Party favors are a nice gesture, a thank you for sharing in the celebration. And you can’t go wrong with chocolate! JustCandy sells these elephant-themed Hershey bars, with blue/silver peanut butter cups and kisses to match a similar color scheme.
Cookies are another popular party favor, like these on Etsy. The main photo shows a “It’s a Girl” message, but the seller can do bespoke cookies, even personalized ones.
I love the idea of giving out packets of wildflower seeds. The flowers will grow as the new baby does. Seeing them will remind you of that special day your friends celebrated your little one, if you’re the mom.
If you’re the friend who threw the baby shower, the flowers will remind you to check in with the new mother and ask, “How can I help you thrive in this new season?”
There’s nothing cuter than baby elephants—except the forthcoming baby, of course. I hope these ideas inspire you as you get ready to welcome your own (or your friend’s) little peanut.
