Wow, we did a lot at the recent baby shower for my friends Nicola and Victor. I wrote about the tea party and cloth diaper cake, and there’s even more to come. Since the shower had a “Storybook Tea Party” theme, it was fitting that we made our own scrapbook storybook for the new baby.

The inspiration for this scrapbook came when I was collecting ideas for the shower and came across the idea of a list of “wishes” each guest could fill out for baby. This was such a sweet idea that I knew I wanted to incorporate.

Here’s what I prepared:

• scrapbook – I took a plain scrapbook and decorated the cover with ribbon and stickers
• blank pages – I made some simple backgrounds by gluing patterned papers onto solid colors, so that even if people simply glued in their wishlist, it would look complete.
• “wish lists” for guests to complete for baby
• photos – I asked Nicola and Victor’s parents to send some baby pictures of them and collected photos of their family, their wedding, and other events
• old storybook(s) that can be cut up for pictures – the best part of a craft project at a party is when your guests think up something creative that you had not even planned! This happened when a few of our friends took pages out of a book that were were cutting up for wooden blocks (more on that later) and cut out pictures to add to the scrapbook. I hadn’t thought of it, and it looked great!

Scrapbook and Blank Pages

Decorate a scrapbook for a baby shower.

For a scrapbook party, prepare simple backgrounds to inspire guests.

Wish List

Did I mention that I love these baby wish lists?! You can buy them on Etsy, and there are other free printables out there, but I decided to make my own to fit with the Storybook theme. The beautiful castle graphic comes from “Lita Lita,” a teacher in Spain. This graphic and others can be found in her store on Teachers Pay Teachers, and the picture of the books is free clipart.

Storybook-themed wish list for baby. Free printable.

Click here to download a PDF of the Storybook-themed wish list for a new baby.

Pictures and Pages

The pictures from Victor and Nicola’s childhood, wedding, and friends really made the book come together. Here’s the first page of the scrapbook that I made. I pulled it out and put it up on a recipe holder as part of the decorations for the shower.

Gather old pictures of the mom and dad to make a scrapbook at a baby shower.

And here are the pages made by the shower co-host, Maura, and our family. I loved reading what my 8 year-old wrote. It’s always a treat to get a little insight into a child’s mind.

This scrapbook was so much fun to create at the party, and we all enjoyed reading the touching – and often funny – wishes. It was also a lovely way to include family and friends who live out-of-town and cannot attend the shower in person. I mailed a blank wishlist with each invitation, so people could return it in the mail or bring it with them. I also e-mailed electronic versions and printed extras to have on hand at the party.

And they all lived happily ever after…

“Jewels”