Who's done the "onesie decorating" at your shower?

zhirsch

I mentioned doing this to my mom, and now she's alllll about it. I would really like to do it too, but after a trip to Michael's yesterday I either need to find a way to do it cheaper or pick a different activity. The fabric markers were about $8, the stencils $5, the fabric paint was $4 per color, the puffy paint was about $10 a pack. We're having 30 people so I feel like I would need at LEAST two sets of everything so that people aren't scrambling around. Plus of course, the onesies. Someone mentioned looking at Good Will for the onesies, since that would probably save a lot so that's one option for helping to reduce the cost.

Any advice on how you pulled this off or how to do it cheaply? Did you end up actually using the onesies people made? I'm also open to any other craft/activity ideas - not really into games.

TIA 

Cardinal99

Along the same lines as the onesie decorating, I've seen people decorate squares of fabric that can be later sewn into a quilt. I thought that was a sweet idea.

shockleyh

I did this at a small sprinkle I hosted once.. Mom actually hung them on the walls as decorations, I believe like a clothes line, after taking pictures of LO in them to print & send with thank you notes. I second goodwill or even once upon a child for affordable onesies.

watermellens

We did this at my shower - my SIL bought the onesies and the fabric markers. She went to Michaels for the fabric pens and used a 40% off coupon...we didn't do puffy paint or stencils. I really don't think you need them!! People wrote things like "baby's first christmas" "Bananas over mommy" "Life is Good" "M*** Munchkin" "Yankees Baby" etc...there was really not a lot that they drew and if they did, they did it by hand.

We use them for undershirts mostly under PJ's and t-shirts. Getting the onesies from goodwill is a good idea too.

christelrn

We did this at my shower a few months ago. Everyone loved it. We had about 25 people. Had 30 onesies and ended up having about 20 decorated.

We set up a table with the onesies, fabric markers, and stencils - this way if you wanted to decorate one you could. It was a co-ed shower so not everyone wanted to.  We bought some onesies at Target, fabric markers at Michaels, and stencils for about $2.00 a book (~8-10 in each book) from Amazon.

It doesn't have to be expensive. I've also heard of cutting costs by doing bibs since they are a little cheaper. 

cozylittlecave

christelrn:

We did this at my shower a few months ago. Everyone loved it. We had about 25 people. Had 30 onesies and ended up having about 20 decorated.

We set up a table with the onesies, fabric markers, and stencils - this way if you wanted to decorate one you could. It was a co-ed shower so not everyone wanted to.  We bought some onesies at Target, fabric markers at Michaels, and stencils for about $2.00 a book (~8-10 in each book) from Amazon.

It doesn't have to be expensive. I've also heard of cutting costs by doing bibs since they are a little cheaper. 

I like this idea. I've got people in my family that get SOO weird when anything remotely artistic comes up. I'd make sure people have a comfortable option to not decorate or that you have some 'ideas' for the self-proclaimed 'uncreative.' That said, I think it's a FABULOUS idea. I don't think you need the whole slew of decorating tools, but personally, I wouldn't get the onesies at Goodwill. I'd feel weird asking people to decorate used onesies- but it seems I'm in a minority. Simple, white onesies should be pretty cheap at Walmart or Marshalls. I also prefer the bib idea since you get so many clothes already.

rhubarb123

I've done it at showers before and used bibs (less expensive) and fabric markers.  The puffy paint takes literally forever to dry...I wouldn't even attempt it.  I went to a shower that used those and because of wind (it was outside - we were in a huge tent) most of them got ruinted because they "blew" into each other.  What they did (there were about 30 of us there) is they gave every 2 people a shirt and one color.  We had to search at other tables for other colors.  It was actually kind of fun since we were forced to talk with people we didn't know.

weddingbells2010

I didn't do this at any of the showers I hosted, but i did participate in it as a guest at my cousin's shower- it was actually fun and very cute, and it got the guests who might not normally like the typcial games of a shower to be more involved (they could sit and their tables and eat and chit chat while doing it and not feel forced).

She had a bunch of plain white onesies and undershirts and puff paint- no other supplies.  I like the idea of the markers and stencils, but it worked out fine for us without them, so you might consider limiting the supplies a bit to cut costs.  You can also get packs of onesies at target or walmart for a decent price.

Helix07

sarahpsuc:

Along the same lines as the onesie decorating, I've seen people decorate squares of fabric that can be later sewn into a quilt. I thought that was a sweet idea.

This is what we did at DD's. 

kimberlymautz

I did onesie decorating and a friend of mine did bibs at hers. At mine I had about 35 people over so we bought seven packs of onesies, different sizes and colors, (assuming some people wouldn't want to do it- it was co-ed) and got puffy paint and tie dye. The kids loved it and even some of my older family members got into it. At my friend's shower they had gone to BRU and bought a few packs of plain colored bibs (A few packs of just white and a few with other colors) and let people draw on them and decorate them however they wanted. I doubt you'd use stencils. Just let everyone draw everything themselves, it would be more personal and definitely cheaper.

 

Best of luck! 

ashleah83

I hosted a shower for SIL (~10 people) and bought 2 packs of gerber onesies - one newborn size, and one 3-6 mos for I think less than $10 each.  Then I bought 2 packs of Pentel Arts Fabric Fun Pastel Dye Sticks (15 Color Set) for another $10. 

Also for my shower this weekend we decorated my prefold diapers. My BFF bought a bunch of  the prefolds on my registry and 2 more packs of the Pentel Dye Sticks (plus the 2 I already had from SIL's shower). 

Neither one of these were too costly. I like the Dye Sticks a lot too - they're like crayons so a bit harder to use than markers but they apparently don't fade in the wash like the markers do! Below are picture of some of the decorated prefolds from my shower

mb72597@aol.com

Shop AC Moore instead.  They normally have a 40% or 50% coupon in their ad every week.  If you do not get their ads you can print the coupon online.  You can only use one at a time but if you take a couple of people with you and they each have a coupon you will save.  I have done this a ton of time for different events.

alliapistor

Paint is messy and like a pp said, can take forever to dry.  I would avoid it.

Crayola makes fabric markers that come in a 10 pack for about $4.99 at Walmart/Kmart/Target.   I would definitely check a Walmart in the sewing department for cheaper prices and/or use the 40% coupon at Michaels for the markers.  You can also get a pack of 80 online for $35.  https://www.walmart.com/ip/Crayola-80-Count-Fabric-Markers-10-Colors/13057101

morgs&chad

cozylittlecave:

christelrn:

We did this at my shower a few months ago. Everyone loved it. We had about 25 people. Had 30 onesies and ended up having about 20 decorated.

We set up a table with the onesies, fabric markers, and stencils - this way if you wanted to decorate one you could. It was a co-ed shower so not everyone wanted to.  We bought some onesies at Target, fabric markers at Michaels, and stencils for about $2.00 a book (~8-10 in each book) from Amazon.

It doesn't have to be expensive. I've also heard of cutting costs by doing bibs since they are a little cheaper. 

I like this idea. I've got people in my family that get SOO weird when anything remotely artistic comes up. I'd make sure people have a comfortable option to not decorate or that you have some 'ideas' for the self-proclaimed 'uncreative.' That said, I think it's a FABULOUS idea. I don't think you need the whole slew of decorating tools, but personally, I wouldn't get the onesies at Goodwill. I'd feel weird asking people to decorate used onesies- but it seems I'm in a minority. Simple, white onesies should be pretty cheap at Walmart or Marshalls. I also prefer the bib idea since you get so many clothes already.

We decorated onesies at my shower...and it was a lot of fun! I would definitely take pp's advice of using Michael's coupons and just sticking to markers. It really doesn't have to be costly. I also wouldn't try to cut the cost by using used onesies. Good luck and have fun!

Fthtrstnpxiedst

I did this at my sister's shower.  I ordered the onsies off eBay.  I got 50 onsies for $30.  They all ranged in different sizes. 

mandarod

I did this for my friend's shower. I stocked up on fabric remnants, fabric glue and clearance gerber onesies (found 2-packs at BRU for about $2/package). I made an "idea" book with all kinds of simple clip art/shape ideas and let guests decide what they wanted to do. I'm sure the glued on fabric frayed in the wash and ended up not looking too great after a few washings, but it was still a fun project. I think it was way more fun than the typical silly shower games. And the crafty Momma liked it, too.

Heather&Ben

At my cousin's shower, we did this for her little guy - he's now 4!  I'd go for it but limit the tools -- I think we just did fabric markers & we all had a blast & then the mom to be voted for her fave & that person one a small gift - super fun!!