With the increase of fertility treatments, there has been a huge increase in the number of multiple births throughout the United States. Throwing a baby shower for an expectant mom of twins or more is a little bit more difficult than a mom of a singleton. Quite frankly, the mom needs a baby shower in order to obtain more items for her upcoming children, so that focus should be more on the babies-to-be than the mother.
A terrific theme for a twins baby shower is "Two Peas in a Pod". It is a common theme among twin baby showers, but is the easiest to create and undoubtedly the most enjoyable simply because of the cuteness factor.
If you do a quick search online, you will be able to find "Two Peas in a Pod" shower invitations, thank you cards, napkins and more. The pre-made invitations are the easiest to fill out because all of the wording is already included. For $5.99 per pack of eight invitations, it is certainly worth it to get the pre-made ones and fill them out by hand. The standard information is required for pre-made invitations: name of honoree, name of host(s), time, date, place, RSVP information and so on. it is always a good idea to include registry information in the invitation, as well as the genders of the babies if they are known.
Once you find out how many people you can expect for the party, make a list of the items that you will need in the following categories: Food, Drink, Paper Goods, Favors and Prizes. The easiest way to take care of food is by doing it buffet-style. Set up the table with plates, napkins and plastic utensils on one end and all of the food down the line. It is a good idea to have a separate, smaller table for drinks. To go along with the "Two Peas in a Pod" theme, definitely have a crudite and dip. Other good ideas for food are a party hero, chips and dip, Swedish meatballs, cheese and crackers... anything that is a grab-n- go type of food will be a hit.
Keeping with the "Two Peas in a Pod" theme, a fun way to decorate the party areas is to make it look like a farm. Instead of using a table to collect gifts, go to a craft store and get some faux bales of hay to make the gift area. You can set up scarecrows around the room wearing baby clothes. A terrific idea is to set up a clothesline throughout the corners of the room and hang baby clothes from them. To make it more personal and interactive, ask each guest to bring at least one article of baby clothing to hang from the clothesline.
A new trend with baby showers is to have games for the guests to play. While this can be fun, do not overdo it as guests can grow bored with being told what to do. Play no more than five games. Three games is a good number, especially with a large crowd. A very fun game is "Guess Her Girth". All you need for this game is a few balls of yarn and a pair of scissors. Go around the room with the yarn and scissors, and have the guests cut the yarn to where they think the ends will meet perfectly around the mom-to-be's belly. The winner is the person who has the least amount of extra yarn.
Another great game, although a bit time consuming, is a trivia contest. Do a web search to find out facts about twins, and write questions accordingly. At the shower, hand out lined paper and pencils, then ask the questions. Do not ask more than ten questions, as your guests will lose interest. After the last question, give the answers. The person with the most questions correct wins. In case of a tie, have a tie breaker question ready. A great tie breaker question is, "What does the new mom plan on naming her twins?" Require the first and middle name with the correct spelling.
A third game that is a hit at a twin baby shower is a simple game of memory. Remember the board game Memory that we played when we were kids? Head on down to the local toy store and buy one. Or, if you are creative, make your own memory game by using photos of the mom-to-be and her family. Just scan them into your computer, and print out two copies of each photo and you are set! The guests will take turns flipping over two cards. If they make a match, they remove the cards and go again. If you are using photos, a fun keepsake is to have the guest keep one of the matching photos and give the mom-to-be the other photo. The player with the most cards at the end wins.
Of course, the winners of the games should receive prizes. You do not have to go crazy with prizes. There are so many everyday items that you can consider twin-themed. For example, use a pack of Doublemint gum, Double Stuff Oreos, Double A batteries or Dual End Crayola Markers. Anything that has two - such as a pack of Twinkies - will work as a prize. Wrap them up and stick them in a bag. Let the winners pick their gift and unwrap it in front of everyone. They will appreciate the creativity of the prizes keeping in the twin theme.
The best gift for the hostess to give to the mom-to-be is a basket containing thank you cards, a baby shower photo album, and perhaps a nice pen set. Make sure to keep track of the other gifts that the mom-to-be opens so that she can send out the thank you cards without worry. Other great gifts for the mom-to-be are the practical ones: diapers, wipes, washcloths, towels, baby clothes and so on. Having twins means needing much more of everything, especially diapers. Creating a diaper cake is a fantastic idea!
A twin baby shower is a lot of fun and certainly a unique experience for the mom-to-be and her guests alike. After all, how many twin baby showers have you been to?