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Finding a unique theme or ideas for a baby shower can be challenging. If you’re looking for something more than typical pink and blue color schemes, consider elephant-themed baby shower ideas as a creative way to celebrate the momentous occasion of a new life. Following are ten great ways to produce the perfect gathering for an expectant mother, one made more special with elephants, that is sure to be remembered by all!

Looking for the perfect gift to bring to an elephant-themed baby shower? Visit Elephant Books – The Book Club for Kids.

1. Perfect Gifts to Give

The Elephant Books Ultimate Baby Gift package.

There’s an abundance of elephant-themed clothing selections, toys and stuffed animals. All are great options, but another wonderful approach is to give a book. Board books for babies are an essential part of a child’s early reading and learning experience. In addition, reading to a baby offers irreplaceable bonding moments that shape a baby’s development. Whether it’s a counting or a ABC’s book with elephants or a book about an elephant character, a board book is an ideal gift for an elephant-themed baby shower. In fact, children’s book subscription boxes make the gift-giving process not only easier, but even more special.

Elephant Books is a book subscription company that specializes in creating perfect book packages for children ages 0-6. They curate the perfect book selections, include fun and helpful reading extras and beautifully wrap, package and send them to the child of your choice. Even better, you can decide if it’s a one-time gift or 3, 6, or 12-month subscription. Even better, the gift arrives with pictures of elephants in all the packaging and materials, so that your gift reminds the parent of their very special day every month the package arrives! 

2. Choosing an Elephant Theme

Inspiration to choose an elephant theme from Pinterest. 

Choosing an elephant-theme for a baby shower offers many beautiful connections for the guests. Like humans, elephants live in a group as a family, have one matriarch in charge, and establish a very close-knit bond. Elephants not only exhibit playful and social behavior, they are highly empathetic and respond to signs of pain or distress among their tribe. People often respond to these gentle giants because they demonstrate very recognizable human characteristics.

Choosing an elephant-theme baby shower allows the party-planner an opportunity to present an event that resonate beyond the décor and gifts. Elephants are a wonderous joy to witness and so should a party celebrating a new baby!

3. The Color Scheme

Gray and pink in a beautiful color scheme from Pinterest.

Using a gray color for a bases color theme is perfect as it provides a neutral background color. It also pairs with traditional boy/girl colors (blue and pink) perfectly so it can be integrated beautifully for any gender baby shower.

It’s easy to envision gray streamers intertwined with pink or blue streamers artfully twisted for ceiling draping. Gray elephant logos, art or toys mingled with pink or blue desserts, beverages or even linens, create a gorgeous hue throughout the event.

4. Ideal Backdrops

An elephant-themed backdrop from MyHappyPartyShop.

Using one wall as a focal point can serve to set a gorgeous stage for the baby shower. Finding a large elephant poster to drape on the wall is easier than ever with all kinds of party companies offering great backdrops.

If securing a large poster is cost-prohibitive, another great elephant backdrop idea is to create your own. Use painters tape to adhere white paper to a wall in your venue that is easily seen and can be accessed by all the guests. The paper can be a big roll of white kraft paper or the back side of wrapping paper – just make sure you cover a large section of the wall.

Find a silhouette image of an elephant and free-hand trace it on the paper (it’s okay if it’s not perfect, just use your imagination to make it a personal, stylized version that you like). Put a sign near the backdrop with plenty of colorful pens handy. Request that all your guests leave a personal piece of advice about parenting.

Not only is your backdrop a fun way to celebrate your theme, it’s also an interactive decoration that involve guests in the event. The hostess of the baby shower can take a picture of the backdrop and transcribe all the “advice” in a binder or notebook as a special follow-up gift for the parent.

5. Invitations

An elephant-themed invitation from Shutterfly.

What’s more fun than receiving an elephant-themed invitation? You can easily find elephant invitations online, but for an even more personal and cost-savings approach, there are fun and easy ways to create invitations on your own. Find either a recognizable side view or head view of an elephant.

Create an outline of the image by tracing it onto a poster board (this will serve as your template). Choose any number of options for the invitation paper — from elephant-gray to colorful paper with gray highlights to gender-specific pink or blue options – and fold the paper in half. Trace the image on the folded paper, ensuring the top part of the elephant is resting on the fold. When you cut out the traced image, make sure the top part remains folded, thereby giving you an elephant that can be opened like a card. Include all the baby shower details inside the card (glue in computer-generated information or simply handwrite it).

You can include colorful confetti inside the fold to make the invitation especially festive. The envelopes are also an opportunity to make the invitation exciting. From choosing colorful envelopes to putting elephant stickers on the back-side closure to writing “just like elephants – don’t forget the baby shower” at the bottom, your invitations will be one-of-a-kind!

6. How to Decorate

Baby shower favors from Etsy.

The easiest approach is purchasing elephant-themed decorations from party supply stores. However, there are some simple DIY solutions, too. First, find a cute elephant image – it could be free online clip art, a picture of an elephant that you love or a drawing you make yourself. You can apply that image to all kinds of decorations.

Print it on paper and wrap it around water bottles or plastic cups for custom beverage dispensers. Create a memorable centerpiece by securing a larger version of the image (perhaps with a local printer’s help) and glue it onto a large skewer. Simply stick the skewer in the vase of a floral arrangement and your centerpiece is complete. Get multiple copies of the larger image and you can glue it on poster board or bulletin boards that you can use throughout the venue for additional wall decoration.

Don’t forget to stick the image on other vases, balloons, cake stands and platters for more easy customizable touches. Similarly, candy bars or special homemade treats can be wrapped with the image for a for a take-home party favor.

7. What Food to Serve

An elephant-themed birthday cake from “A Little Cake Bakery“.

Whether it’s a buffet or sit-down meal, get creative in presenting your menu. Finger sandwiches can become “Elephant-‘wiches,” potato chips can be “elephant ears,” and pickles can be “trunks.” Think about offering a beverage station called “The Watering Hole.” Even specialty drinks can be transformed into “The Thirsty Elephant” or “Gray Magic.” Anything you serve is an opportunity to use fun language and creative writing to set a delicious stage for your theme.

8. Fun Games to Play

M & H Invites.

All baby shower games can be customized with an elephant theme. Simply create a word document on a computer with an elephant image of your choice (secured from free clip art) in the corner. Use any of the following baby shower ideas and incorporate the title and instructions into the online template. Print multiple copies of each to ensure you have one for each guest.

• Baby Word Scramble. Scramble words like diapers, formula, onesies, crib, stroller, pacifier, bottle, etc. The first one who unscrambles all the words, wins!
• What’s in My Purse. Include typical and funny purse items like wallet, lipstick, brush, comb, keys, granola bar, safety pin, dinosaur, fish food, etc. The one with the most items checked (and proved) wins!
• Baby Predictions. Allow everyone to guess birth details like, day, time, weight, time of arrival, boy or girl, etc. The hostess or parent keeps the information and notifies the winner after the birth.
• Who Knows the Parent Best. Create questions (with help from the parent) about specific details concerning the parent, such as, where did the parent go to college, where was the parent born, the name of the person the parent first kiss, the name of the parent’s first pet, etc. The one with the most correct answers, wins!
• What’s it Cost? Ask what typical and atypical baby items cost, such as diapers, formula, pacifier, baby jogger, car seat, baby Uggs, Tiffany teething ring, etc. The one with the most right answers, wins!
• Name the Children’s Book. Offer a number of quotes from famous children’s books and ask guests to identify the book. The one with the most right answers, wins!
• Find the Guest. The hostess collects one unique piece of information about every guests and asks everyone to identify who the person is. The one with the most right answers, wins!
• Celebrity Baby Names. Offer a list of celebrities that have children and ask guest to name their children. The one with the most right answers, wins!

9. The Ideal Table Setting

Example table settings from Catch My Party.

What’s more fun than setting a table with an elephant-theme? Purchasing paper plates and cups with elephant images is an easy solution, but there’s plenty of opportunities to create a beautiful table setting on your own, too.

First, choose a gray tablecloth to set a neutral stage for your place settings. Use white plates and your regular silverware to set the table. If you can find small plastic elephants, spray paint them either pink or blue (for gender specific elephants) or yellow (for non-gender specific) and place them in the center of the plate.

Create a seating chart by using name tags that are tied around each elephant. Gray napkins with colorful ribbon wrapped around them and placed on the plates make the setting more festive (consider using neon pink, blue or yellow for eye-catching vibrancy). Use the same neon ribbon, along with gray ribbon) and artfully strew it around the table.

Identically colored confetti can be made and added to the table by snipping the ribbon into small pieces. Stick images of elephants and white candles placed in the center of the table to create an even more celebratory touch.

10. Creating the Perfect Elephant-Themed Cake

An elephant-themed birthday cake from “A Little Cake Bakery“.

If your favorite bakery can’t create the perfect elephant-themed cake, you can make it yourself with little effort or cost. Start by baking or buying the flavored cake of your choice. Choose either a pink or blue frosting depending upon the baby-shower gender theme. If the gender is not revealed, use yellow.

Purchase several simple plastic elephant toys to use as decoration on the cake. If the cake is small, use only one as a topper, but if it’s larger, get creative with different size elephants distributed all around the cake. You can also use a printed image of an elephant glued onto a skewer to customize the cake by sticking it in the middle.

So, there you have it! A complete guide to throwing the perfect elephant-themed baby shower. For more gift ideas check out Elephant Books for additional information on the gift everyone feels good about!