Baby Shower Activity: Make a "Wish Tree"

I'm not into most baby shower games.  What pregnant lady wants her friends to guess how big her waist is (Lord help the person who goes way over...) or taste candy bars in diapers?  I'd much rather do something that will last forever!

I was tossing around a few ideas for shower activities - it was between three things:

- writing messages on diapers to make the new parents smile during those late-night changes
- decorating onesies
- a wish tree

I decided to go for the wish tree because it's seriously one of the sweetest things ever.  We made one for my friend Laci at her baby shower last year and everyone loved it.  These two special little girls needed one too.  Here's how it works!

Everyone writes down wishes or things they are excited for the girls to experience as they grow up on a leaf.  They can range from kisses from their puppy, their first school dance, to cuddles with mommy...anything goes!  This is nice because people can do it at their own pace while you're eating or chatting, and do as many (or few) as they'd like.  Later, everyone reads their wishes for the mom-to-be and puts them on the tree to be hung in the nursery.

You can either reach out to family members and other good friends who aren't able to attend before the shower to include their wishes, or leave some space on the tree for others to add to later.  We decided to do a mixture - Barb's sisters and nieces sent in some wishes ahead of time that we were able to share at the shower, and her husband and other friends will fill out their own later!

To make this, you'll need:

A large frame
White paper
Tape
Acrylic paint (1 color for the background, 1 color for the tree)
Assorted paint samples (from Lowe's or Home Depot)

First, you'll need to cut out the leaves.  Barb sent a picture of their nursery a few weeks ago, so thankfully I knew what colors to pick out when standing in front of the paint sample section.  You could do all one color, different shades of a color, or a mix like I did.

(Funny story...I was really uncomfortable getting all the paint samples at Lowes.  I know they're free, but I felt like I was stealing!  3 people asked me if needed help and I told them I was just browsing...as I discretely stuffed paint samples into my purse.  I even held them up and pretended to compare them.  I'm a dork.)

Then, plan out your tree.  There will need to be enough branches to hold lots of leaves, but few enough so there's room for the leaves to live.  Take the back of the frame out of the glass and tape white paper together so it covers the entire surface.  Sketch out your tree with a marker on the paper.

Owen photo-bomb'd the picture!

Lay our your leaves to make sure there's enough room for them to live without feeling "scrunched" so you know if you need to adjust the limbs.

Now it's time to start painting!

Pick out your background color and apply 2 coats on the board of the frame.  Once it's completely dry, cut around the tree you drew on the paper and place on the board.  Cut away piece by piece, drawing what you see under that place (this helps keep the proportions you just double checked with leaves!).

Then fill out your outline and let dry!

Here's a look at the (almost) finished product (they still have to add more leaves from additional family and friends) in their nursery!  Looks pretty great, doesn't it?

What are some of your favorite baby shower activities?