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Party Ideas – Adoptive Child’s Baby Shower

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baby-shower-ideas

baby-shower-ideas

Although adding a special member to your family through adoption may be a nontraditional way to build a family, it still deserves a traditional celebration. Whether you already have your bundle of joy or you’re bringing home a 4-year-old child, a baby shower celebrates the beautiful life-changing occasion and the little one who’s your family miracle.

Since the adoption process can be a demanding and strenuous process, plan a baby shower as an exciting reminder for the happiness this child will bring. Here are ideas for how to welcome the little girl or guy into your home with a party, friends and family.

International Theme

If you’re having an international adoption, decorate the shower with the flag of the country of your child’s origin. Decorate the cake’s frosting with the country’s flag or stick toothpick flags into home-baked cupcakes. Make the home country the theme of your shower. Bake a heart-shaped apple pie with Antonovka apples for a Russian-themed baby shower. Cook up a South Korean spread full of white rice, noodles, kimchi, pickled vegetables, seasoned bulgogi and galbi for a little babe coming from East Asia. Plan a festive affair that honors the homeland of the child traveling so many miles to be yours. You can find a ton of international adoption themed baby shower ideasat Adoption Magazine.

Welcome Home

For an older child, use the baby shower as a welcome home party for introducing the child to friends and family. Focus on making it a warm and loving environment with items that would comfort the child. Decorate with a soft color scheme, stuffed animals and children’s books. Invite your closest friends and family members to make it an intimate gathering that doesn’t overwhelm or scare your new son or daughter.

Personal Gifts

Ask guests to include the name of your child on the gift or monogram the gift to provide a sense of permanence. A monogrammed quilted blanket or initial decorations to hang on the wall show the adoptive son or daughter that this loving home and family is for forever.

Belated Baby Shower

For a newborn baby, plan a traditional baby shower just like you would for a non-adopted child. The only difference is that the party may not be before the baby’s arrival, and the new babe may be the guest of honor of his or her own shower. Create a love theme and tailor the decorations to be for a boy or girl.

 

You can find blue and pink baby shower decorations online from retailers like PartyPail.com. Complement the baby shower favors, floral centerpieces and balloons with homemade decorations and desserts. Hang 3-D paper hearts with beads and bake confetti-frosted, heart-shaped sugar cookies using the Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookies recipe from TwoPeasAndTheirPod.com. You also can bake a teddy bear cake and set clusters of teddy bear stuffed animals on the food, drink, dessert and gift tables.

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Coffee Cozy Knitting Patterns

During the summer (which is what it is where I am writing from) I like to share patterns for things that you can knit and use even when it’s warm out. And sometimes they are things you can use when it’s cold, too, like this collection of coffee cup cozies. Because hot coffee is a must almost any time of year. 

This simple pattern form Darling Jadore is a great one for beginners and could be a good first knitting in the round project. It uses worsted weight yarn and includes video tutorials if you need extra help. 

If you want a perfectly plain cozy that you can jazz up with your own designs, check out the Base Doodle Cup Cozy from Jamie Lomax. This free pattern on Ravelry comes in two sizes (short and long) and is meant to be used with her doodle charts to make it your own. You could also keep it plain, add stripes or design your own motifs to stitch on it. 

Most coffee cozy patterns that I see are just sleeves meant to go over travel mugs, but what if your mug has a handle? This pattern from Stacey’s Knit Wits has an I-cord loop and button so you can use it on a mug with a handle or a travel cup. It uses DK weight yarn.

Coffee cozies are a fun way to play with stitch patterns and learn new techniques. If you’ve never knit cables before, this cozy from Purple Wool Co. would be a great first cable project, as it features simple braided cables all the way around. It uses worsted weight yarn and is worked in the round. 

Try double knitting to make an extra-insulating coffee cozy with this pattern from Tracy Leming. It includes little color changes so you can get the concept of how double knitting works on a small scale. It also can include a little pocket for a tea bag if you want. This one uses worsted weight yarn and is a free pattern on Ravelry.

Or try stranded knitting with the Love in the Air cozy from Danielle Thuen. It features hearts of different sizes and is worked in sock yarn. You’ll need to make sure those floats are nice and loose so it will stretch to hug your cup. You can find this pattern on Ravelry. 

They’re also a fun way to add a bit of flair to an otherwise plain cup. KnitnKaboodle Designs has this lovely leaf-shaped cozy pattern, which you could use for hot or cold beverages by changing up the fiber you choose (that’s pretty much always true). It is made in pieces that are stitched together and can be worked in a single color or choose different colors for each leaf.