Baby Shower Ideas

Writen by Damian Sofsian

Baby showers are a beautiful way to celebrate the coming of a baby into the family. The baby shower party is thrown by friends or colleagues to get together with the mom-to-be and have a good time while bestowing gifts and good wishes on the mom as well as the baby. It can be a simple affair with a few close friends and family on an afternoon or it can be a big party with all the works including decorations, cakes, and games.

Planning a baby shower takes a lot of work. The hostess should ensure that the mom-to-be is as comfortable as possible and should take care that all the important people are invited. During the party, it is the hostess's duty to ensure that all the guests are comfortable. It is a good idea to serve a few appetizers when the guests start arriving. It is also important to know how the guest is related to the parents-to-be. There can also be a "Guest of Honor" who can be a grandparent or a god parent. The party can be based on a theme like nursery rhymes or anything else relating to babies. The party would be more interesting with a few games like Naming the Baby, Rice Bowl, and Baby Guests. Small prizes like potpourri, candles, and candy can be given to the winners.

The gift opening can also be a grand affair with someone taking down the details of each gift and who it is from. This will make sending "thank-you" notes easier for the mom. Baby showers also include favors which the mom gives to the guests. These may include small gifts like lotions or balms packed cutely in small bags. These are meant to say "thank you" to the guests for attending the baby shower. There are many websites that offer information as well as products for baby showers.

Baby Showers provides detailed information about baby showers, baby shower decorations, baby shower favors, and more. Baby Showers is affiliated with Personalized Baby Gifts.

Baby Furniture Finding The Right Repair And Refinishing Shop To Work On Your Wooden Family Heirloom

Writen by Lyle Kelly

There are many wonderful pieces of furniture you may want to use for the care of your child. I know that I sat in the same high chair my mother did and I remember how important those family antiques are to us. Over time these little treasures will go through the normal wear and tear of use, storage and moving. Often finishes can dull, wood can be dinged, scrapped and even broken. You want to keep the family heirloom looking its best but you're not the handy type. That means its time to find a good quality furniture repair and refinishing shop.

When looking for the right shop you need to do a little hunting. A good place to start is your local antique shop. Often the antique dealers will find a great refinisher by word of mouth in their community. In our shop, we would frequently do work for dealers at a reasonable discount so that they would put the good word out to their customers. No dealer will mention the wood workers name if he has not done consistent quality work. Despite the discount an antique dealer will not call you back if you ruin a $1200 lawyer's book case.

The internet and yellow pages are not a bad place to start your search, but advertising costs money, and I know from experience that they will have to pass a little of that cost onto their customers. A refinishers work it put out there for everyone to see, trust the word of mouth from your local antique dealers it's a pretty safe bet. Once you have a small list say 2 or 3 refinishers its time to shop.

I call it shopping for its goes without saying you want to get the best for your money and why should you settle? If your schedule allows try and plan for an unannounced visit to each of the refinishing shops on your list. Call then a head of time to check their hours of operation, but don't tell them you're coming by. It's better to have a look at the inside of their shop in as is conditions. There are a few things you should look for and I'll explain why they are important. First how clean is their shop? The simple fact is refinishing and repair is a messy business. You get covered with stain, saw dust, mineral spirits and just bout everything else to do with wood. It's important however to clean up after any process. If I'm cutting wood to repair a table leg or sanding the back of that high chair the wood dust must be cleaned up before I start to spray finish or apply stain. Little wood particles can be stirred up with simplest of movement covering your freshly sprayed finish or dusting over that new application of stain. Also, a dirty shop is not a very safe one.

When you meet the shop manager or owner ask if they have standard pricing on Labor or is it by the piece. Most any shop will want to see what type of repair it is before they mention price, but don't let them charge you an hourly rate. This can vary wildly from piece to piece and from my own experience I always worked on several different pieces in a day. Only the most organized shop will log each minute they work on your piece and in most cases this simply does not happen. You will usually get an "off the top of their head" number of hours which just isn't correct. If you bring the piece with you, get a written estimate for the completed repair/refinishing job. Any shop worth their salt will already have a good idea of the time and material that will go into a piece similar to your own. They will build plenty of wiggle room in the final estimate so don't let them come back and charge you more later. On that point I would suggest your read the fine print of the estimate. Some shops will allow for up to $150 dollars or more in unexpected repairs on top of the final price. You're not going to be around when the work is done, so make them stick to a final price or go some where else. In addition to this be aware of how much time the shop allows you to pickup your furniture. We on many occasions had to sell a client's furniture when after the first week we completed their piece we never saw them again. Work flow for a refinishing shop is fairly fast and room is limited. Your furniture will need to be moved not only so the shop can get paid, but they need to make room for the incoming pieces that are definitely on the way. Once the piece is completed most good shops will allow for 1 to 2 months of holding time. Don't get the wrong impression about shop owners though they will work with you, just keep in contact with them so they know you still intent to return and pick up your baby furniture.

Finally my last piece of advice will not sit well with some of my colleges. When you visit the shop find out or just look for what we call a "dip tank". When it comes to intricate cribs and high chairs the dip tank is the shop owner's best friend and your worst nightmare. Dip tanks are moderate to large vats filled with certain chemicals to strip away the finish, paint and or stain from a piece. One of the favorite ingredients of a dip tank is lye. Some refinishers love the dip tank for you can strip a way the old finish and stain in mere minutes. Some pieces such as a crib or high chair that have smaller more intricate pieces will be dipped a little longer to get into all the nooks and crannies. The primary problem is that the piece is fully immersed in the chemical which soaks deeply into the wood once the finish is removed. At first this does not seem like a problem. You can even pick up your newly stained refinished furniture and have it for weeks before you will even realize a problem. What happens is the chemicals that soaked into the wood will start to soften the glue holding the joints of your furniture together. In some cases I have received a piece with what my customer thought was a lose leg and with my hands just pulled the entire chair apart. I have seen this time and time again. I would avoid using a shop that strips with a dip tank. You may end up paying good money only to have the furniture repaired again just weeks later.

There are many alternatives to the dip tank that quality shops use. One is a spray and filter system. The piece sits in a shallow vat and is sprayed with the chemical stripper. Both finish and chemical drip off the piece and is collected in the vat. From there the chemical is drawn from the vat and filtered where it is pushed through the spray nozzle once again. This is an excellent system for many reasons. It's economical for the shop owner and its environmentally friendly for the shop can get many more uses out of the chemical batch before they have to recycle and purchase more. What will be more important to you is that only as much stripper is used as needed. This leaves little chance for it to soak deeply into the wood damaging the joints on your family's heirloom.

There are many good shops out there so worry little about finding one. Visit your local antique shops they will surely be in the know on who is doing the best refinishing and repair. Visit the potential shops in person and get a written estimate for their work. Ask to see pictures of what they have done. Take your time and be picky about who does the work and avoid those dip tank users they could do more harm than good.

Lyle has spent most of his life involved in wood working and many years in the family business of antique repair and restoration. His current project is http://aa-baby-furniture.com , a site to promote the sale of safe high quality furniture for young children and babies. If you find this article useful please feel free to use it, but I ask that you maintain the URL to my current project.

Baby Einstein Party Supplies For Your Babys Party

Writen by Gail Leino

Invite the characters of the Baby Einstein DVD, Woof, Blue, Turtle and all the others to have fun at your baby's next party. Party Supplies can easily be found featuring these loveable and educational characters. Guests and the baby will find them more than interesting; they'll be good-hearted fun for everyone. While you're at it go ahead and play the Baby Einstein DVD on the television to provide some entertainment.

Lots of paper goods are available with these characters printed boldly on them. You can find napkins, cups, tablecloths, and plates featuring just one of the characters or all of them. If your baby loves that doggy, Woof, best then you can focus on him with delightful Woof napkins. Or you can get a package of paper plates with each one featuring a different character from Baby Einstein. If you love them all, get a package of plates the whole group of characters on each of them.

There are also party supplies geared more towards the adults at the party than the children. You'll find Baby Einstein Blowouts, loot bags and cone hats. Its fun to dress up the baby in a Baby Einstein Bib and cone hat, but it's really the adults at the party who have the fun wearing the cone hat and making noise on the blowout. Just be careful you don't upset the baby too much with all the noise you'll be making.

After the party is over and you've had a chance to look at and catalogue all the gifts your guests brought for the baby its time to send out thank you notes. Stay in touch with the Baby Einstein theme by making up and sending out Baby Einstein thank you notes. They'll remind the guests of what a great party they attended and give them a nice little keepsake for their memory albums.

Mrs. Party... Gail Leino is the internet's leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies (http://partysupplieshut.com), using proper etiquette, and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Hut has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free coloring sheets, printable games, and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Party Themes (PartyThemeShop.com) to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or "just because" parties is at the Party Theme Shop. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas.

4 Tips For Taking Great Baby Pictures Even If Youre Not A Professional

Writen by Alexis Dawes

When my daughter Layla was born I had a hard time putting the camera down. And apparently I wasn't the only one. The cashier at the photo developing shop told me that new parents comprised a fairly sizable chunk of their business.

We can't help it! Babies are such beautiful creatures that you want to capture every new movement and every fleeting smile that comes along. (Even if that smile is attached to a smelly gas bubble!)

However the problem many parents have is that their lack of good photography skills can translate into pictures that are too dark, too bright, blurry, out of focus, uncentered, and so on. Perhaps this describes you.

If so, don't sweat it. These problems are easily fixable. An album full of mishaps can quickly be transformed by following these 4 tips...

1) When taking pictures of babies lying on their backs, stand directly over them and shoot straight down.

I used to take a solid color baby blanket and place it on the floor in a bright, sun filled room. When I was ready to take a picture I would put Layla on the blanket, and adjust it around her, making sure not to put her directly in the sunlight. Then I'd get on my knees right over her, aim straight down and snap away.

This technique will allow you to center the camera properly and you'll get some great close-up shots. The natural sunlight will often give you just enough light so your picture isn't too dark or too bright.

2) Capture a range of emotions.

Smiling babies are cute. But so are crying babies and pouting babies and messy babies and sleeping babies.

Be sure to take pictures of your little one in all phases of his or her emotion filled life. You'll be amazed at how truly beautiful they are in non-traditional picture taking situations.

3) Make bath time picture time.

While there are some babies who don't like water, most love it. They often become very expressive in the bath tub - laughing, cooing and splashing. So bath time often becomes a great opportunity to capture a few precious shots of your little one.

I've personally used the bathtub to document how Layla has changed over her 2+ years. Every couple of months I take a few close-up pictures of her in the bathtub. Then I take the best one and place it in a special section in the photo album.

It's truly amazing to see how her face changes so dramatically with each new picture.

4) If you use a disposable camera, choose a good one.

I purchased 3 dirt cheap disposable cameras before I had Layla. When we brought her home these were the ones we used for the first week of photo taking.

Boy was I disappointed! The pictures developed horribly. And as a new mommy with hormones still raging, you know how sad this made me. Those cuddly little moments can never be relived again.

I learned a good lesson though. You get what you pay for.

Now my disposable camera of choice is the Kodak Max HQ. It's one of the more pricey disposable cameras. However the quality is fantastic in comparison to other disposables I've used.

You can usually buy them inexpensively on eBay. Popular retailers like Target and Wal-Mart also run sales on them quite frequently.

About The Author

Alexis Dawes is a real mom (not a professional photographer) who runs the Photograph-Your-Baby.com web site. Check out her free 20+ page tutorial that teaches parents how to take better pictures of their little one (http://www.Photograph-Your-Baby.com).

The United States Has The Greatest Number Of Child Rapes And Child Murders She Said

Writen by Lance Winslow

It is amazing how many people believe what they here on the news each night. They have two or three cases on the TV and everyone thinks that the world is coming to an end. One lady got onto a blog and stated that the United States of America was a terrible country because it had the greatest number of Child rapes and Child murders.

This is unbelievable slander against my country and I cannot believe an American would ever say that for it simply is not so. And further condemnation of my nation the blogger said; Should I Go on?

Yes, go on because you are completely incorrect? This statement; The "Greatest" Occurrences of Child Rape and Murder. Is a lie, perhaps we simply report all of ours, whereas it is such a common occurrence in other nations it goes without notice. Additionally the US is the third most populated nation in the world.

What do you call partial birth abortions of female babies in China? Silly anti-American commenter. Wouldn't that be the "greatest occurrence of children dying at the hands of their parents.?" Hmmm? The greatest number of murders do not occur in the United States, that is wrong.

Apparently many people believe it is okay to lie about the truth of what America is about. People believe it is okay to slander our country and all we have built in the greatest nation in the written recorded history of mankind. How can this be? How can people get on the Internet and slam the country that they live in like that. All I can take is it must be left over liberals who've lost the election. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Solid Poo

Writen by Lisa Cole

If you had told me this time last year that I would find nappies and poo fascinating, I would have peered at you over my huge bloated pregnant stomach and snorted in disdain. Now I have a child who is just about to learn to crawl into things he shouldn't, I am almost nostalgic for his breastmilk-only poos. They came in a variety of colours, from orange through to brown with the occasional green thrown in for good measure. They rarely smelled bad and in my maddest, sleep deprived moments I entertained notions of Dulux colour-matching some of the prettier shades. I was used to the occasional leaking wrap and it was easy to wipe his bum with a bit of damp cotton wool.

Then came solids.

I started on his 6-month birthday and for the next two months tried to get him interested in lovingly prepared organic veg, steamed and squished through a sieve, mixed with breastmilk that I hated expressing, only to have it rejected with clamped lips and windmilling arms after the first spoonful. Occasionally though, he'd mangle a bit of rice cake into his mouth. For the first few weeks I watched his nappies avidly. When was his first solid poo going to arrive? How stinky was it going to be? Could I deal with it? There was a brief real poo celebration in the third week but that turned out to be page 237 of his dad's Maplins catalogue. I no longer got excited about it but kept up the daily routine of offering him tasty morsels.

I stopped the whole 'Where's the duck? Has he got a spoon? Gosh, how did that get into your mouth?' charade for a few days after a tummy bug and the next time I tried he grabbed the spoon and shovelled the banana in. At last! But the poos were still squishy, maybe one spoonful of food just wasn't enough. He liked banana so I mixed it with other things, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples and pears. This did the trick and soon he was eating two tiny meals a day. And the poos? Well, for the first couple of weeks they were a mixed bag. Some dark wholegrain mustard type ones, some a slimy orange wallpaper paste variety, some just the same as before. Gently dabbing his bum with cotton wool was a complete waste of time so I used wet flannels or J-cloths instead. To change the nappy of a wriggly child at this stage you need a large tarpaulin, a change of clothes for the baby, protective clothing for yourself, 3 or 4 trained helpers ideally including a professional children's entertainer and a non squeamish disposition.

But it didn't last long. After a month of eating 3 dinky meals a day he produces a very neat little lump of poo first thing in the morning and maybe one in the afternoon if he is in the mood. Lumps are actually easier to deal with. The nappy liner collects it all, the clean edges of the liner are a handy wipe, you can flush the lump away and compost or bin the liner. If I have my bad mother hat on and leave him for a while the lump is easy to remove but anything he has sat and squished in sets quickly so I try to change him soon, it saves bum scrubbing and arguments. My cotton wool days are over and the dirty J-Cloths just get thrown in the wash with everything else.

And the smell? Well, put it this way; you can tell when he needs changing!

Copyright Lisa Cole, http://www.lactivist.co.uk

The Mothers Milk Marketing Board at http://www.lactivist.co.uk sells pro-breastfeeding and gentle parenting advocacy slogan t-shirts and accessories for funky mums and kids.

Unique Baby Gifts

Writen by Damian Sofsian

It is fun to go shopping for babies, whether it be for clothes, furniture toys or any other baby-related item. There are so many gifts to chose from, it is guaranteed that you will find the perfect baby gift.

Gifts come from everyone including grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and friends who want to pamper the baby.

Of course, baby showers are very popular among the baby gift giving set. A popular gift for showers are unique gift basket loaded with goodies for the new life that is about to enter the world. One can even purchase crafty diaper cakes that are loaded with decorative, yet practical ornaments like pacifiers, diaper pins, teddy bears, etc. Other unique gifts include a photo frame that is shaped in different forms and contains about 10 to 14 frames. Such a gift would help in treasuring your childhood memories. There are cuddly blankets in the cutest of colors that come in all shapes and sizes. There are gifts that can serve a purpose for both mother and child like a comfortable rocking chair or a versatile stroller.

Stock or share certificates are one-of-a-kind gifts and a great way to start saving for baby. This can be framed and truly makes a great gift. Embroidered gifts are popular for babies and also make for a lovely functional gift. All sorts of baby items can be embroidered including booties, blankets, sweaters, bibs, pillows, towels and night wear.

Knitted items are also very popular and are often seen on babies in the form of sweaters, booties, blankets, etc.

Babies bring loads of joy and excitement to all families. So pamper your new arrival with unique gifts that are durable, of good quality and above all, functional.

Baby Gifts provides detailed information about baby gifts, baby gift registries, and more. Baby Gifts is affiliated with Games For Baby Showers.