How to throw an Asian Themed Baby Shower!

The best thing about being pregnant (besides the bundle of joy growing in you): the Baby Shower! In this article, I have a complete game plan of the big day filled with decoration ideas, to food, to gift items, and even games.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Open space/area
• Tea items ceremony items
• Fire crackers
• Asian themed invitations and decorations (see steps below)
• Small water fountain
• Japanese garden (optional)
• Big throw pillows for seating
• Asian inspired clothing
• Red/gold string
• Thank you gifts for guests

1. One of the many exciting things to come once you are expecting, is the baby shower. It's a time to celebrate the future addition to your family and an all-girls soirée. If the expecting mother wants a unique and exotic baby shower, a great way to go would be an Asian inspired theme.
2. Kimono To begin, you will need to have your invitation cards created to have an Asian inspired appearance. Request rice paper, if the company carries it, or else find a theme with either bamboos or dragon flies or anything that has an oriental feel to it. Make sure all names and contact information are correct, address of the baby shower location (sometimes a small map will be helpful), include time and date, if the expectant mother is registered anywhere, and if required, RSVP. It would be a fun suggestion to have all guests' attempt to wear an oriental outfit to the party. Any oriental nationality would be fine, but the hostess should wear an outfit if it has been requested.
3. Once the invitations have been sent out at least three weeks before the party date, you should begin planning and obtaining the necessary supplies and decorations for the party. A neat way to really get an Asian feel to the party is to have all couches removed from the room (if possible) and replace them with either bamboo mats or large cushions on the ground for guests' to sit on. When they enter, they should remove their shoes and wear slippers inside of the house. If possible, for entertainment, try to conduct a traditional tea ceremony for your guests' to observe and to learn (please see my article on performing tea ceremonies). Traditionally, in some oriental homes, they eat off of a table that is slightly lower than a coffee table while seated on the mats.
4. Center piece For decorating ideas, hang Chinese paper lanterns through out the room, set up vases with bamboo shoots, and if possible, use a paper-screen room divider in a corner for a more oriental feel. With an oriental paper fans, hang some along the walls as art and hand out the rest to the guests. For an amazing center piece, and can double as a gift, use a cooking wok filled with fun baby items, such as socks, bibs, onesies, shampoo, lotion, and diapers. If you want to get really creative, use Chinese take-out boxes and use them to hold chopsticks or sweets or cookies. Asian inspired plates are also a great idea for the party and instead of silverware, you can use chopsticks. Another great idea is to use a small fountain where all the guests may throw coins inside and make a wish for the baby (this is also a great way to start a small savings for the baby).
5. To keep the party going, some fun games should be on-hand. You can play the Name That Baby Challenge where you have all of your guest's bring a baby picture of when they were young and try to match them up with the right person now that they're all older. Guess The Oven Size is also a fun one where all of the guest's take a string (any color, however, for the purpose of the Asian theme, a red/gold ribbon or red/gold string) and pull however long they think the string needs to be to fit around the expectant mother's growing belly. The person whose string fits the closest wins a prize. Another always fun and challenging game, which can also double as a gift to the expectant mother, is the Match the Socks game. In this game, buy several pairs of baby socks and throw them all into a big pile. Two people will play head-on at one time and given one minute to see how many pairs of socks they can match up. Who ever matches the most is the winner.
6. Once all the fun and games have begun, the expectant mother is bound to be hungry. Some tasty treats would be chocolate covered fortune cookies, teriyaki or sesame chicken on a skewer served over white rice, cheese puffs, and almond or sugar-wafer cookies. For the main meal, either ordering take-out from a local favorite Asian restaurant, or if you feel up to the challenge, any Asian dish will do. Some suggestions are: Beef and Broccoli, Fried Rice, Lo Mien, or even Pad Thai.
7. To wash down the food, and if you have the cooking skills or an Oriental Market in your area who can make it for you, a Tapioca coconut drink is always a fresh idea. If you want something simple you can try Chinese Kool-Aid (sold at almost any Oriental Market) or serve hot tea.
8. For a thank you gift to your guest's, small Asian coin purses or make-up bags with a tube of lipstick and a small picture frame with a photo of the expectant mother's sonogram, or change some of your money for some Yen as a token to remember that day.
   
   Some great baby gift ideas for the expectant mother would be baby kimonos, an Asian designed diaper bag, or an Asian inspired baby blanket (sold at many Oriental Markets).
9. When setting up an Asian themed baby shower, you can try for a soothing and calming atmosphere with a traditional tea ceremony and buy a Japanese garden set to work on (or build one). Or you may have a more rambunctious party where the guests may sip on Sake and at night you can light fireworks (if the season's right). Either way, it'll be an unforgettable baby shower.
10. All decorating items are sold either on-line or at a party supply store. Expectant prices for all decorating ideas and food is subject to size of room required to decorate and expectant guests.

Tips & Warnings

• For a more rambuctious party, allow the guests' to sip on Sake (rice wine) and light fire works in the evening.
• Chocolate covered fortune cookies taste great and goes great with the Asian inspired theme party.
• Be a responsible host if you will be serving alcohol.