Budget Friendly "Baby-Q" Baby Shower Tips

This year, I had the most fun planning my brother and sister in law’s baby shower for their second child – a little baby girl! Since it was happening in the peak of summer, we decided it would be a really fun idea to host a “Baby-Q.” It was a really simple summer baby shower idea that created some of the most incredible memories ever!

What is a Baby-Q?

A Baby-Q is basically a fancy way to call a backyard BBQ baby shower. It’s a fun spin on the traditional baby showers and perfect for summer baby showers and second baby “sprinkles.” What’s also great about these is the fact that they can easily be gender neutral, so even if the couple hasn’t announced the sex of the baby yet, the color schemes and themes work out just fine. Plus, they’re super relaxed, easy to plan for, and low pressure or pretension for all those involved.

Baby-Q Baby Shower Invitations

Let me start by telling you guys that Etsy and Pinterest will be your very best friends when planning a Baby-Q. Etsy has quite a few sellers who can make and customize your invitations and decorations for a Baby-Q. Likewise, you can personalize many of the baby shower ideas you’ll find on Pinterest to fit the theme of a Baby-Q.

That said, I ordered this package from Etsy and had the colors and names customized for our Baby-Q.

Baby-Q Shower Decorations

With the same package we’d gotten from Etsy, we printed up almost all of the decorations for the baby-q, such as food labels, favor tags, napkin rings, water bottle wrappers, etc.

For the centerpieces, we used simple mason jars, faux leaves and tulle fabric, which you can find just about any craft store or even Walmart.

We accented the room and the table centerpieces with these pretty fairy string lights found on Amazon, which were perfect for adding a slightly more elegant touch to the baby-q.

Baby-Q Shower Food Ideas

Again, with a baby-q, you are pretty much just throwing a slightly more fancy outdoor barbecue. Therefore, there’s no need to fret over cutting fancy sandwiches and things like that. We went with traditional bbq favorites like hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken wings, salads, etc. It was a really cost effective way to serve a heartier baby shower menu.

Baby-Q Favor Ideas

Now, this was the really fun part. For the baby-q favors, we decided on mini barbecue sauce bottles as favors. I loved this idea because not only are they really cute for the theme, these are favors that can actually be put to good use. While, of course, you can buy these ready made, but it’s a lot more cost effective and not too difficult to DIY instead. Here’s how:

DIY Mini Barbecue Sauce Shower Favors

You’ll need:

Clear mini hot sauce sauce bottles (with shrinkwrap tops) – found on Amazon
Gallon size barbecue sauce of your choice – found at any restaurant supply store
Note: you can also make this yourself if you have the skills, but that wasn’t a step I was willing to do. 🙂
Favor labels printed on sticker paper – again, the labels were made on Etsy.

Directions:

Wash and air dry the bottles
Using a funnel, fill each of the bottles with the barbecue sauce.
Since this can get messy, you may need to wash the outside of the bottles again.
Seal the shrinkwrap tops on the bbq sauce bottles with a regular blow dryer.
Place the favor labels on the bottle.
Optional: tie a little ribbon around the neck of the bottle for a fancier touch.

Baby-Q Shower Cake

We kept it rather simple for the actual baby-q shower cake with the always very tasty and affordable sheet cake from Costco. The highlight of the event, however, was our beautiful diaper cake. I have to credit my extremely talented mother for creating this. Maybe one day I can get her to share a tutorial on how to make a diaper cake, but here’s what it looked like:

Baby Shower Chair Decorations

I have to also add that my mom decorated the baby shower chair and it was absolutely perfect. If you’re in the DMV and would like to have a custom baby or bridal shower chair, she’s your girl! Find here HERE!

Co-Ed Baby-Q Games

We didn’t follow a particular theme for baby-q shower games, but these were some really fun ones we created that the whole crowd excited:

Baby Shower Family Feud

Just like the TV Game Show, we got some questions from the mom-to-be ahead of time and guests had to guess what her top answers were. Tip: for each person’s turn, they had to introduce themselves and share how they knew the expecting couple.

Dirty Diaper Baby Shower Game

This is a pretty popular baby shower game – though it’s pretty gross and funny. We melted different chocolates into each diaper and guests had to choose which chocolate bar was in each diaper. It was really simple for a summer baby shower, since the chocolates melted really quickly right on the back patio.

“Push the Baby Out” Baby Shower Game for Guys

This was by far the most hilarious co-ed baby shower game that puts the men in the spotlight and gets the ladies laughing to tears. The guys had to stuff a large balloon under their shirts and without using any hands, they had to find a way to get the balloon to drop or “push the baby out.” The first one to get it out wins. You’d be amazed at the creativity these guys come up with!

Other Ideas for a Baby-Q Baby Shower

Diaper Raffle

Since it was a shower for the second baby, there really wasn’t a hefty shower registry. As we all know, diapers and wipes are always the gifts that keep on giving for any baby shower. So, we asked guests to bring a pack of diapers and/or wipes to be entered into a diaper raffle drawn at the end of the shower.

Special note for the new baby

If you guys recall from my baby shower for baby #2, one of the activities my friends planned was for guests to create a special note for the baby for every stage at her life. It was truly one of the most memorable things I have from any shower and really wanted to repeat it for this one.

Here’s how it works:

Guests are given an envelope with a number in it and a blank card in it. (1 through however many guests are at the party). The number refers to the child’s age, though guests don’t know what it is right away
Each guest is then asked to write a note on the card giving advice or whatever to the child on whichever birthday according to the number they got. So like, if your card says 5, you write a note for his/her 5th birthday and so on.

It’s really a sweet keepsake, as I give Samara a card every year for her birthday and she loves reading them.