Creative and Cute Shower Gifts for Brides

Do you ever run out of ideas for those brides-to-be on your list? If the list of items your friends (or the daughters of your friends) have registered for just doesn’t cut it for you, here are some creative ways to help the new brides in your circle start married life.

Basket of Gadgets: As anyone who has cooked for a while knows, stocking a kitchen with the right gadgets can take forever, and can cost a small fortune for any bride. Buy a roomy, attractive gift basket and fill it with the essentials (can opener, spatulas, wooden spoons, measuring spoons and other standard items). Then add a few things she may not think of until she needs them, such as a garlic press, zester, lemon squeezer, melon baller and anything else you have found useful in your kitchen. Add some colorful kitchen towels and maybe a cookbook and she will be thrilled. To make it even more meaningful, get a cookbook from the church she attends or a favorite restaurant she likes.

Pantry Basics: Almost every pantry needs several staple items – you know, those things you use several times a week? Fill a basket or clothes hamper with some of the basics such as a pepper mill, filled with good pepper, salt grinder, vanilla, canned tomatoes, chicken broth and other things you turn to when you cook. A cookbook is a nice addition to this basket, too. Then toss in a laminated copy of the basic kitchen items you’ll find in the link at the bottom of this hub. She will be off to a creative culinary start!

Recipe Book from Family & Friends: This one takes a bit of planning, but it will be a gift to be cherished forever. Ask everyone in her family and circle of friends to give you one or more favorite recipes (shhhh! It’s a secret!). If possible, get them in a Word document; if not, type them into the computer. Then upload them onto one of the many publishing sites that produces customized books. You can either use photos from their stock, or add your own (her friends and family, the kitchen where she learned to cook, scenery from where she grew up, and maybe the engagement picture). If you have time, get all the contributors to sign it for her. This will be a keepsake!

Photo Album: Many times, we have photos of our friends that they’ve rarely seen. Assemble a collection that shows her as she grew up, or with her favorite high school or sorority friends, her pets, or any other memories captured over the years. You can either put them in a standard album, or produce them in a printed memory book similar to the recipe suggestion above.

Special Occasion Gift Cards: Get several gift cards for good restaurants, and label them for special events such as, “First dinner out after the honeymoon,” “Valentine’s Dinner,” “Too Tired to Cook Tonight” or a few other creative ‘events’ she might have in the coming year. Put them in a nice wooden keepsake box and present them to her at the shower.

Subscriptions to Home Decorating Magazines: Get a year’s subscription to a few decorating magazines, then wrap the gift cards along with the current issues. You can also add a knick-knack that matches her newlywed décor.

Subscriptions to Cooking Magazines: Subscribe to a few cooking magazines she might like, add the current issues, and include a few gadgets or dish towels.

Gardening Basket: Fill a basket or tote with trowels, small spades, gloves, seeds, some cute pots and a few gardening magazines. Be sure to add some sunscreen and a brimmed hat, to remind your bride to protect her beautiful skin!

Journal or Diary: We always want to remember every minute of the wedding, honeymoon and the first year. But who has time to pick up a journal beforehand? Buy a beautifully bound journal, and tie a good ink pen to the bow on the package. She will thank you when she wants to write down those special memories.

Letters from Friends and Family: Ask each close friend and family member to write some personal thoughts about the bride-to-be. These can include fun memories, sweet sentiments about her growing up years, warm wishes for a happy life and other endearments. Wrap them in a memory box so she can open them privately, savor their words, and keep them forever.

We all love those cute bags with tissue (and they're so easy to use!). But they're expensive, and how many bridal shower or wedding bags will your friend be able to re-purpose later on? Here are some tips to make the wrapping part of the gift:

• Reusable grocery totes. These are roomy, some are quite colorful, and they'll lend themselves well to gifts for the kitchen, cookbooks or other culinary items. You can tie a cute dishrag or bouquet of sponges on the top if you want. More and more cities are requiring reusable bags, and you can never have too many of them.
• Wrap gifts in dishtowels, bath towels or hand towels that match her colors. A good dish towel sometimes costs less than a fancy bag with tissue, and it will last for years.
• Everyone needs storage containers - use a plastic pop-top container to hold dishtowels, a few gadgets, maybe a gift card (or two!), and add a colorful ribbon and bow. You can also wrap the whole thing in one piece of a set of pillowcases, or with a lightweight dish towel. Cute, and even the container is useful!
• Will the gift be shipped? It's still nice to have something to open at the shower. Get a small frame and put a picture of the gift in it (printed from the online website). If you wrap it in tissue (better yet, a pretty dish towel), she will be completely surprised to open it and see the 'real gift' that will be delivered later on.

Some of the ideas above are good starting points for other recipients on your list. Just use a bit of imagination and you'll find ways to adapt them for upcoming holidays or special events.

Read this article for some tips on the perfect birthday or Father's Day Gift for the man in your life.

And if you know someone getting a diploma soon, check out these ideas for Graduation Gifts. They'll thank you for your thoughtfulness!

Once you put just a small bit of thought into it, you'll soon be known for finding the 'perfect' gift for everyone on your list.