Robot Baby Shower

For a futuristic, fun-filled event, throw a robot baby shower! There are a variety of creative ideas to incorporate into the robot theme party. Make sure the cake, decorations, food, drink, favors and activities all revolve around the main theme and incorporate robots and robot parts.

The following robot baby shower ideas will help jump-start your shower planning:

• Decorations: Make the baby shower “robotastic” by creating robot centerpieces for each table. To make your robot centerpieces you will need a couple of boxes—one large box and one small box for each centerpiece. Next, purchase silver spray paint, felt, googly eyes and pipe cleaners. Spray paint the small and large boxes silver (an alternative is to use aluminum foil to cover the boxes). Use the small boxes for the heads, and the large boxes for the bodies. Cut circles out of the felt and use them to make eyes for the robot. Stick a googly eye in the center of each circle. Consider using felt to make clothing for the robot. Get creative with the pipe cleaners and add spiky or curly hair and a pair of glasses. Cut arms out of either felt or cardboard, and attach them by cutting small slits in the sides of the large boxes. The arms should “stand out” and have a 3D effect. Apply glue to ensure they stay in place. Scatter silver confetti around the centerpieces. Select an accent color, such as pink, purple, blue or green, and decorate the rest of the room with streamers and metallic mylar balloons. To shine even more light on an already fantastic event, visit your local hardware store and purchase pipe fittings as votive candle holders.

• Food and Drink: Serve food at your robot party that looks like something a robot might use. For example, as an appetizer, serve slices of cheese and label them “Cheese Disks.” Serve circular crackers or chips and create a sign that says, “Memory Chips.” Place a bowl of pinwheel or star shaped pretzels on the table, and call them “Gears.” For a drink, make a dark colored punch, and call it, “Battery Acid.” Be sure to write the names of the actual foods underneath the robot themed wording for those who may have allergies.

• Cake: Create the robot shower cake in a similar design as the centerpieces. Bake one cake in a large square pan, which will be used for the body of the robot. Bake a second cake in a smaller square pan, which will be used for the head of the robot. Frost both cakes in colorful frosting, or spray silver edible spray paint over white frosting to give the robot a metallic look. Use white frosting to create the eyes, and put a black dot in the middle with either frosting or a small chocolate cookie. Chocolate cookies can also be used for buttons on the robot. Make the arms by either cutting out pieces of cake, or by rolling pieces of fondant. Create the hands in a “U” shape to look like wrenches.

• Activity: A great idea for a robot baby shower activity is to have each guest decorate a small robot made out of cardstock. On the back of the robot, write a special message or advice for the mom-to-be. To begin, find a picture of a robot either in a book or online. Trace the outline of the robot, then make a stencil by using a piece of cardboard. Purchase several pieces of cardstock and also aluminum foil. Trace the robot on to the cardstock and aluminum foil, and cut out the robot figures. Buy colorful accents, googly eyes and pieces of felt at your local arts and crafts store to decorate the robots. Give guests around 10-15 minutes to glue the aluminum foil on to the front and decorate their robot. Supply silver pens so that guests can write their messages or advice on the back of the robots. Once guests are finished, read the comments aloud to the group. At the end of the shower, pack all of the robots up for the Mom-to-be. She can place them on the wall in the baby’s room to decorate the robot nursery!

• Favors: Provide guests with favors to take home from the robot party, such as chocolate robot lollipops or robot shaped cookies. Cover the treat with a clear cellophane bag, and attach a tag to a piece of ribbon that says, “Gear up - Sarah’s little robot is on his (or her) way.”