Be Patriotic with a Boston Baby Shower

When the Fourth of July is near, thoughts tend to turn patriotic. If you're bent on having a tea party for that upcoming baby shower, why not do it with a twist and base it on the Boston Tea Party? It's a wonderful way to both celebrate history and make this baby shower a truly special event.

Choose invitations that inspire patriotism or feature a colonial scene. Either one would be perfect for introducing this unique theme. Why not ask your guests to come dressed as a colonist? If they don't want to do a fancy dress, then they can come in red, blue, and white as well as feature the stars and stripes in their clothing. Or, they can do what the colonists did and dress up in Native American clothing as well.

There's no other color scheme for this baby shower than red, white, and blue! If there is to be an election that year, then it will be very easy to find decorations. Red, blue, and white bunting can be draped on the walls of the party area and balloons of the same color decorating the corners of the room. You could hang stars in blue and white from the ceiling, interspersed with red paper lanterns.

Food would be quite important to set the scene. Why not keep to colonial favorites? Pies featured heavily on the list and the fillings could be savory or sweet – just be sure to decorate the tops of the sweet ones so no one mistakes one for the other. Pancakes, fritters, and fruit crisps were firm favorites as well. Round out the menu with a heavy gingerbread or spice cake. These can be served with sweet condiments like stewed fruit, custard, and spiced heavy cream.

Be sure to have crisp pickles and sharp cheese available to temper the sweet, as was the practice during colonial times.

As for the beverages, honor what the colonists did and don't serve any tea! Instead, go for the favorite apple cider, spiced or not, and a variety of tisanes. Just don't serve a raspberry leaf tisane because that can cause contractions for pregnant women.

Colonial games are fun! Why not have a three-legged race, a sack race, even an apple-bobbing contest to keep the celebration lively? Take a visit back to childhood with a game of hopscotch. A more sedate game could be American History Jeopardy. This will take a little research for you to be able to dig up some obscure or weird facts, but the ensuing laughs will be worth it.

Make your favors patriotic as well. Why not fill baby food jars or baby bottles with red and blue M&M's? Add the white touches with white jellybeans and finish it off with a bow made in baby ribbons in the same colors. Add a miniature American flag to each one.

To end the baby shower spectacularly, have a small fireworks show before everybody decides to call it a day. You may want to start the baby shower a little later, perhaps at 6 in the evening, to time this perfectly.