15 Personalized Baby Shower Gift Ideas
I’m now at the age where my Facebook news feed is chock full of pregnancy photos, birth announcements and baby pics. This isn’t a complaint — it’s just an observation about the progression from the wedding and new apartment pictures of the past ten years, to the current baby boom in my newsfeed.
This infant-loving trend translates into a lot — 10 so far this year — of baby showers. While I might not be a fan of all the games (generally any game that involves a diaper is my cue to visit the buffet or bar), I’ve been known to take home a prize or two at baby bingo and complete-the-nursery rhyme. It’s so much fun to celebrate a new baby!
But, what should you bring to your friends, your daughter’s friends or neighbors when invited to their baby shower? What gifts can you give those new moms and dads who seem to have it all? Some are kind enough to sign up for a registry, but oftentimes the list is quickly picked over or has gifts that aren’t in the right price range.
So what is the answer for someone who wants to give a thoughtful, unique baby shower gift? Try personalized baby clothes, custom baby blankets or a host of other made-to-order personalized baby products! Towels & Home offers plenty of traditional and fun options that can help you pick the best gift for the new mom in your life.
1. Personalized Baby Bibs
To me, bibs are the go-to present. Moms and dads are always rummaging around for a bib or wishing they had an extra one on hand. Ours are available with a snap or Velcro closure, and since we have an embroidery machine and digital printing options, you can personalize bibs for everyday use! Why not use our embroidery option to send a message to baby and parents, “Grandma Loves Me,” “Future Baseball Star,” or “I’m saving that for later” (a nod to the mess inevitably splattered on the bib).
Alternatively, you can order a bib without personalization and turn it into an almost-too-pretty-to-wear masterpiece using fabric pens or your own sewing skills. If you are in charge of helping to plan a baby shower, order a few dozen bibs in various colors and make a game out of each attendee personalizing a bib for the new baby. You’ll be gifting the new mom with a practical present and letting attendees have fun in the process! You can even turn the finished products into decorations for the shower. How beautiful!
2. Fabric for Nursing Cover
For the craftier people among us, Towel & Home offers fabric that would be perfect to turn into a nursing cover or fleece blanket. As the call for more businesses and workplaces to welcome breastfeeding moms gets louder and louder, your mom-to-be may want to embrace the trend while having fashionable options to help protect her modesty. Breastfeeding covers are a great gift for new moms and it goes beyond the typical personalized clothes for babies! The best part is that you don’t need to sew!
3. Fleece Tie Baby Blanket
As we head into cooler months, another great baby shower gift is a fleece blanket. Again, no sewing machine is needed. I’ve seen these gifted at a few of the showers I’ve attended, and they are soft, cozy and perfectly sized for a baby. Moms love these cute baby blanket, especially since they are machine washable. Here is a helpful step-by-step guide to creating a no sew fleece tie blanket.
4. Custom Baseball Cap
Every new mom I know is vigilant about protecting their newborn from the sun. They lather on the sunscreen for a walk in the neighborhood, look for UV protectant clothing and keep their baby under an umbrella at the beach. So even if the dad isn’t a huge baseball fan, this adorable accessory is both functional and fashionable for the baby.
With that said, these custom baby hats are even more perfect for the sports fan in your life. Either go with a plain hat in the home team’s color or get it embroidered with the baby’s name or a cute message such as “Dad’s #1 Fan,” or “Team Smith” (personalize it with the family name).
5. Bathrobe for Mom and Dad
Let’s be honest, the baby gets all the good swag at a baby shower, but it’s the moms and the dads who will be exhausted, sleepless and near-tears for the first few weeks after birth. Even my most Zen, calm friends have a few weeks of utter bewilderment as their bodies and hearts adjust to this new life. One friend told me that during the first weeks of her baby’s life she slept only two hours a day and ached all over. Most new moms and dads can relate.
So, why should the baby get absolutely everything at a baby shower? A lush spa bath robe personalized with the new titles of “Mom” and “Dad” is the perfect gift for parents. New moms are getting used to a feeding schedule (hopefully) and their bodies seem to change before their eyes. New dads are on call to help with bottles, soothing techniques and anything else baby and mom might need. These bathrobes will allow them to walk around the house in cozy and convenient comfort, proudly displaying their new names.
6. Custom Baby Blankets
So we already talked about using our fabric to make a blanket, but not all of us may have the time to put our own creativity to work (sheepishly raising my hand). That’s why our custom baby blankets with the scalloped edges are a perfect personalized baby gift for your next shower. Simply pick a color combination and personalization technique, and be on your way! I like the wasabi/cocoa butter color combination for parents who don’t know if they are having a boy or a girl and the bright pink or the bubblegum/white color combo future princesses. The fellas usually order reef blue and white.
I purchased a personalized baby blanket for a friend of mine and was excited to see it displayed on the rocking chair in the nursery when I went to meet the little one for the first time. This is a gift that parents treasure and may even turn into the baby’s beloved blankie that they carry with them everywhere!
7. Personalized Tote Bag
For those of us who don’t have kids yet, it can be difficult to understand the amount of stuff a tiny little human needs. For a day trip, parents pack multiple changes of clothes, toys, books, diapers, wipes and more. An overnight trip? Suddenly the family van is filled to capacity with a pack-and-play, blankets, a bedtime noise machine and more.
So while you might not think of a tote bag as a baby shower gift at first, it really is one that the parents will appreciate. Our eco-conscious organic farmer’s market bag made from 100% organic cotton is the perfect gift for a dad who is hesitant about lugging around mom’s pink diaper bag. Embroidering our liberty bag cotton tote with baby’s name and filling it with board books would be a great way to help parents entertain their future little ones. Once the baby gets older, they can fill their durable tote with school books or beach toys, giving a gift that will last them for years.
8. Customizable Flour Sack Towels
What is so different about our flour sack towels?
These durable vintage linens are perfect for a wide range of messy household tasks!
You could personalize a couple flour sack towels for the newborn in your life, and they dry quickly and don’t create frizz or static. The durable features of flour sack towels make them an ideal candidate for a burp cloth. I gave my f friend a personalized, embroidered baby burp cloth that included the photo of the baby’s first bath, which was sent to use on her birth announcement.
But beyond the obvious, parents can use our flour sack towels as cloth diapers. Since they are lint-free and dye-free, they won’t irritate a baby’s sensitive skin. If you want to take your crafting a step further, you can make one-of-a-kind custom toddler clothes from the flour sack towel.
9. Knit Caps
If you have a baby shower coming up in the next few months, you are celebrating a winter baby. While this means you probably can’t purchase a swim suit for the newborn, it does open up a bunch of cozy possibilities for cozy winter custom baby clothing.
Our Rabbit Skins Infant Cap, made from 100% combed ring spun cotton comes in multiple colors and can be designed with an image from our database, an image you’ve uploaded, or personalized with a name or initials.
If the baby is born during the winter months, your hat might be what he wears for his homecoming!
10. Custom Toddler Hoodie
If a custom baby hat isn’t your thing, a hoodie is a great piece of clothing to transition between seasons and give the kids in your life a bit of swag. Any parent who has been showered with gifts knows that they receive plenty of outfits for the first year of the baby’s life, but very little that will still fit as a toddler. Enter custom toddler clothing!
Towel & Home offers a cotton/poly blend hooded sweatshirt in a variety of colors and sizes. They can be embroidered, digital or screen printed, or ordered plain. I attended a recent shower for a friend whose husband is a teacher, and the baby got a toddler hoodie that read “Class of 2032” in school colors. It was a thoughtful and useful gift that was passed around and will be remembered for years to come.
11. Personalized Layettes or Custom Onesies
In the harried newborn days of little sleep, a 100% combed ring spun cotton layette is just the thing to soothe a baby and encourage shut eye. When it comes to personalized baby clothes, the often overlooked sleep sack-style layette is critically important to lulling a baby to sleep. Why? Legless sleepwear helps keep babies warm at night and also won’t restrict a baby’s movements, allowing him or her to move naturally.
Our layette can be embroidered, screen printed or digitally screened, to feature nearly any message or design.
I recently pinned this amazing custom onesie on Pinterest (are you following our boards on Pinterest? You better be!). Onesies are worn by themselves or with pants and a sweater, so they are perfect for layering and stretching between seasons. Dressing them up with a necklace design, using a stencil to draw a design with a fabric marker, or personalizing them with a message through our website are great ways to take this basic to the next level. If you think onesies are too basic, try the two-tone rib onesie or this cute as can be tutu onesie.
For parents who despise the snaps in a onesie, we also offer baby shirts in white and black that are ready for customization. Since these are eligible for digital printing, pick a favorite family photo or your annual vacation spot photo and feature it on the custom baby shirt!
12. Pet Present
The arrival of a baby is a change for the whole family, so let’s not forget the new baby’s furry four-legged siblings as they await the arrival of their new buddy.
Giving baby-related presents to the four-legged members of the family is a great way to help family pets embrace what will take a lot of mom and dad’s attention off of them. This is also a great option if you know the mom-to-be has gotten lots of clothes for the baby already or is getting hand-me-downs from family. Why not get a pet bandana or even pet hooded sweatshirt in pink or blue to herald the new baby’s arrival? You could embroider the message “Big Brother” or “Big Sister” onto the pet’s hoodie. You could get a child’s hoodie, too, and the siblings would match. If that doesn’t make it on the Christmas card, I don’t know what will!
13. Toddler Apparel
We all know that it is more fun to shop for little kids! This is especially true when you can personalize the clothing to give it an original touch that makes the gift even more special. No matter if its t-shirts, sweatpants, or polos, customized clothing is a unique to surprise a new mother, even if it may be a couple years until the baby will fit into the new outfit.
14. Kitchen Oven Mitts and Dish Towels
Dish towels for a shower gift? Stay with me here. Some moms are moving back to glass bottles to avoid the chemicals that may be present in plastic bottles. Glass bottles have also been said to better maintain the nutritional content of stored breast milk.
I was visiting a friend last week as she pulled out a warm glass bottle from a pot of hot water. Due to the heat that is retained by these glass bottles, it is important to have a couple sets of oven mitts to safely remove the bottle without burning yourself.
A new baby in the house means that there is a new mouth. Many of my new mom friends are committed to giving their babies the healthiest food possible, which includes homemade baby food. Some use a blender or food processor, while others use a hand-turned food mill or specifically made baby food grinder. Feeding a tiny person means mom and dad will spend more time in the kitchen and more dishes to wash. Our brightly colored 100% cotton oven mitts and matching towels add style and functionality to the kitchen and can be paired with baby bottles, a homemade meal or a baby food processor for a complete gift.
15. Wine Bottle Tote
Yes, I’m ending this list with a cheeky gift. The new mom hasn’t had a sip of wine in nine months, and heaven knows that with guests coming and going for the first few months of the baby’s life, she could probably use an adult beverage. So why not give her a canvas wine tote embroidered with the words “Date Night” or “Mommy Juice.” Include two bottles of your favorite wine, and your present is sure to be a hit.
Personalized baby shower gifts from Towels & Home are a great way to give a present that says “We love you.” If you aren’t sure which custom baby clothing to pick or which printing process is best for your needs, contact us at info@cottoncreations.com and we can give you our professional opinion.
At this point in my life, I’m buying a ton of baby presents. And judging from the 10 showers I’ve gone to this year, personalized clothes for babies make the best gifts for new moms. Which of the above ideas do you like the best? Leave your favorite baby shower presents in the comments section below!
Photo Sources:
Nursing Cover by Grosgrain
Bibs by Hostess with the Mostess
Dog Bandanna by Molly Grace Photography
Onesie by Sweet Nothings Design
Onesie by Little Gray & Co
Onesie by Confessions of a Gluten Free Mom
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