And the winner is...

Our friends at Durham Region Baby announced the winner of our Jungle Safari gift basket and its Racheal of Port Perry!

Congratulations Racheal and wishing you the best of luck with the new baby due in 3 weeks!

Gift Basket Give-Away

Durham Region Baby is a blog and resource site for parents of young children. They have useful information about the local community, product reviews and of course wonderful give-aways.

Their recent give-away prize is our beautiful Jungle Safari Gift basket. It includes:

• one hooded towels
• two bibs
• two soft toys
• three washcloths

Retail Price: $55

Entries will be accepted until Tuesday, Dec. 16 and the winner will announced on Dec. 17. Check out the Durham Region Baby blog for give-away details.

Welcoming Out-Of-Towner Guests

What we love about the holidays is how it brings families and friends together in celebration. Many of us have out-of-towners visiting and some might be your house guests for a night or two. It’s a thoughtful gesture to put together a welcome gift basket for them to make their stay with you more comfortable and memorable. It’s really easy and doesn’t have to be too extravagant.

You can use a traditional wicker basket or choose a more interesting container such as a trendy gift box or tote bag. Use your guest room setting as an inspiration, for example coordinate the colours of the basket with the guest bed linen.

Items you can include in the gift basket could be face towels, shower caps, frangrance candle, bath crystals, sample size lotions, creams and shower gel. Practical items would include city maps, local attractions information, and a list of important phone numbers. You can also add bottle of water and house slippers.

A welcome basket could also be given to guests that are staying in a hotel or even out-of-towner wedding guests.

Gift with Style

We really love this classy and sassy Giftalicious gift wrapping collection! Gift bags are much easier to present your gifts in for the holidays instead of wrapping them up. They come in the following gorgeous designs:

Dreamy Demask (Ivory & Green)
Devine Demask (Plum & Cranberry)
Precious Metal (Gold & Silver)
Soiree (Lilac & White)
Silent Snow Fall (White & with pearlised Red snow flakes)

The collection includes two sizes of gift bags, gift pop-up boxes and gift card boxes*. Contact us for more details and order your Giftalicious collection today!


*Tip: Insert your gift card in one of these high-quality boxes and include them with the table setting for each guest. They will add a beautiful touch to your set-up and will be a wonderful surprise for your guests.

We are on Baby Lifestyles!

Baby Lifestyles is a resourceful online baby magazine that publishes articles on baby showers, baby shopping trends and so much more. Their December issue has a very interesting article on Diaper Cakes and Finest Expressions' co-founder, Zakia Omer was interviewed for it! The article also includes our beautiful diaper cakes pictures so do stop by to take a look.

Now shipping to the Continental United States!

Finest Expressions is now shipping to the Continental United States! Orders will be shipped via Canada Post and will vary in delivery times depending on the destinations. Please contact us with your order details and we will send you an online invoice to make your purchase payment. Delivery rates will also vary depending on the destination chosen.

We are committed to providing all our customers with superior customer service, so if you would like rush orders, custom designs or sibling gifts, do let us know and we will arrange it for you. (Additional charges will apply)

Please be sure to check out our Holiday delivery deadlines to make sure you place your orders ahead of time.

Holiday Gifts Are Now Available!

Check out our holiday gifts under the Seasonal Section of our website!

Holiday Baby Diaper Cakes & Baby Gift Baskets

Coming Soon!!
Stay tuned for our Holiday Baby Diaper Cakes and Baby Gifts!

Holiday Blossom - A Perfect New Baby Gift!

Our Holiday Blossom makes a perfect gift for that special little one in your life. It comes with tonnes of baby goodness and is arranged to look like a charming flower bouquet. We have accented it with red holly and flowers to give it that festive touch.

Contents include:

-One Body Suit
-One Sleeper
-One Cap
-Two Pairs Of Socks
-One Burp Cloth
-Three Wash Cloths
-One Plush Toy

Holiday Candy Bouquet

A delicious treat custom made for the holidays! Our holiday candy bouquets come with a Lindor, Ferrero Rocher or a delectable blend of both. They are designed to look like real flower petal with leaves and all. You get to choose the type of chocolate and number of flower stems you'd like and we design a beautiful holiday candy bouquets just for you!

Finest Expressions – How a dream become a beautiful reality

A month after my son was born, my sister and I opened our online store called Finest Expressions – Designer Gifts & Gift Baskets. It seemed like I had given birth to one baby but ended up with twins! We wanted to design gifts that were not only beautiful to look at but were practical for the recipients. It was then that we set out to channel our creativity through designing unique baby and wedding gifts for the North American market.

We started by offering beautiful and trendy gifts such as our baby diaper cakes, clothing bouquets, sock bouquets and gift baskets. We initially started with three designs of diaper cakes and a lot of the other items. However, within a couple of months we realized that our diaper cakes were our bestsellers. We were also getting quite a few requests for custom designs. So we started focusing more on our diaper cakes and adding to the category on regular basis.

We decided to start our wedding favours line when a stressed bride asked us to design distinctive favours for her wedding. We created our now signature product, the mini-chocolate bouquets. Since then we have designed a beautiful line of wedding favours along with DIY kits that make it fast and easy for brides to put together their own favours.

We understand that gift giving is an important and special part of life. Our goal is to create baby & wedding gifts that are not only useful today but also remembered for many years to come. We also custom design gifts to suit our clients’ theme selection and budget. We absolutely love what we do and enjoy everyday we spend creating exceptionally beautiful and useful gifts for our clients.

Last month was our first year anniversary and above is a picture of our very first baby gift basket. We wanted to share it with you and thank you for making our dream a reality. :)

Thank you,

Zakia

Co-founder, Finest Expressions – Designer Gifts & Gift Baskets

Bridal Shower Basics

Bridal showers have become an important part of wedding traditions. Initially the concept of bridal showers started when women chose to marry men who were for whatever reason deemed ‘unsuitable’ as partners by their families. For this reason the families decided to hold back their dowries. This is when the engaged couples’ friends got together to give them household items that helped to set-up their new home. What a wonderful way to support the new couple as they start their lives together!

Usually the bridesmaids throw the bridal shower with the maid of honour taking the lead in planning the event. Traditionally, it’s frowned upon for the bride’s immediate family to throw the bridal shower. However, in situations where the bride doesn’t have anyone else who can throw her the shower, family members can step in to be the host.

Bridal showers are usually held 1-2 months before the wedding. Besides the family and friends of the bride, some family members of the groom are also invited. Of course there is no one in particular that should not be invited to the shower. However, anyone who is invited should be invited to the wedding as well.

Bridal showers are usually an afternoon event. The menu can be snacks, finger foods and other simple appetizers. Light lunch menus could include small sandwiches, pastries or simple salads.

As a hostess of a bridal shower, you should keep the following tips in mind:

Set a budget: It is very easy to get carried away when organizing such a fun event but you have to keep a budget in mind. Setting the budget from the start will be incredible helpful in deciding who to invite, choosing the venue and selecting the menu items.

Involve the bride-to-be: If it is not a surprise shower, always involve the bride-to-be in finalizing the guest list and even choosing the theme. It is her special day, so you want to make sure that you have all the important people in her life present.

Keep a checklist: Prepare a checklist to plan the shower so you don’t miss any steps. There are loads of checklists on the web that you can use as a template and customize it according to your preference.

Get help: Involve the other bridesmaids and enlist their help. The honour of becoming bridesmaids comes with its set of responsibilities. Helping with the bridal shower is one of them!

Don’t forget the bridal shower favours to give to your guests as a thank you for being part of your event.

The most important rule is for the bride, the guests and yourself to enjoy this celebration of the upcoming wedding. So plan, be organized and have fun!

Finest Expressions Gift Tag

One-Up Design (our favorite design team!) have created these beautiful gift tags for us to include with our baby gifts. They are adorable and have ample space to include your loving messages to the recipients.

How cute!

New Diaper Cakes Added!

We have added some beautiful designs to our diaper cakes selection so do check it out!

The selection includes different designs for single tier and 4 tier cakes as well as new designs for Jungle Safari and Princess diaper cakes.

There is also a new addition to the Baby Blossoms family – introducing Sweet Baby Blossom!

Photographs also available with tags detailing the contents on Flickr.com.

What are Diaper Cakes?

Diaper cakes are a fairly new concept in North America so we often get asked the question – What are diaper cakes?

Diaper cakes are the newest rage at baby showers and are quickly topping the ‘favorite new baby gifts’ list. They are non-edible cakes made out of diapers in 1,2, 3 or more tiers. They are then decorated with baby products such as clothing, receiving blankets, wash clothes, plush toys and bath products. Simple designs are also available where the plain cake is decorated with flowers and ribbons. This makes an excellent gift for moms who already have children since they probably have most of the baby items.

The uniqueness of presenting a couple with a diaper cake is that it can be a beautiful part of your baby shower décor and a gift the parents can enjoy after the baby is born. If you don’t want to pick a pre-designed diaper cake, you can customize them using your theme, color, size and budget.

Be sure to view our diaper cake section for more information.

The Golden Collection - Wedding Favours

Our Golden Collection is an amazing array of wedding favours in warm gold, burgundy and brown shades. It’s a classic choice for a fall or winter wedding. Choose from a variety of styles including satin sachets, bombonieres and delectable chocolate bouquets.

Finest Expressions

Finest Expressions On Flickr.com

Check out Finest Expressions On Flickr to view pictures and details of our beautiful gifts. Our gallery includes pictures of our latest diaper cakes even before we have them up on our website, wedding/party favours we have designed for our clients and much more!

Lindor & Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Bouquet

Fifty delicious Lindt Lindor and Ferrero Rocher chocolate petals make this delectable chocolate bouquet. Its a perfect treat for any occasion including wedding, baby shower or bridal shower. Give it as a corporate or holiday gift as well!

This unique favour was created for a wonderful client of ours that was using a lavender colour theme for her wedding. The heart shaped pouched looked like a little basket filled with chocolates and candy. We accented it with silk ribbons and flowers to give it that special touch.

Size: 25/8 x 5/8

Finest Expressions

Wedding Services

Wedding favours are little tokens of appreciation that you can give to your guests for sharing your special day with you. We offer exquisitely handcrafted and custom designed wedding favours to make your wedding day perfect. We carry everything from traditional truffle boxes to unique mini-chocolate bouquets. Here are some of our wedding specific services:

Custom Favours: We work with you to create one-of-a-kind favours that will suit your wedding theme and budget. For your convenience, we offer free consultations Monday to Saturday, days and/or evenings.

DIY Favour Kits: If you'd like to design your own favours, we offer a wonderful collection of favour supplies that will surely take your breath away! Our DIY Favour Kits come with different styles of favour containers and pre-cut ribbons so its incredibly easy to put your favours together yourself.

Gifts for the wedding party & Out-of-towners: We help you show your gratitude and appreciation for those special people that are part of the wedding party and those that have traveled from afar to share this special day with you. We offer pre-packaged gift baskets and bags filled to the brim with delectable gourmet or spa products.

Chocolate & candy bouquet centerpieces: Choose these gorgeous and unique bouquets as centerpieces for the wedding instead of the usual flowers. We have many charming designs that you can choose from or we will work with you to design the perfect centerpiece.

We are continuously working on getting you the latest and greatest in wedding favours, so do make frequent visits to our website to view our wedding gallery.

Finest Expressions

Our New Logo & Other News

For the last little while, we have been working with OneUp Design Inc on creating a new logo that would reflect our company's brand and image.

Our new logo is fun, trendy and adorable! Take a look and let us know what you think.

On another note... due to the fast growing pace of our baby and wedding gifts line, we have decided to discontinue our gourmet and spa gift baskets. We want to focus our full and undivided attention on our baby diaper cakes and gift baskets along with our wedding and party favour products.

We are still designing custom gourmet, spa and other occasion gift baskets for our existing loyal clientele. If you'd like to order a custom gift basket for a particular occasion, just give us a shout and we'll be happy to help you out.

Lastly, our blog will also be going through some changes over the next couple of weeks. The content change will include posts on wedding reception and wedding showers ideas. We thought of creating a separate blog for our wedding line but between managing the business and our existing blog, it didn't seem like a feasible idea at this time. We are also excited about making changes to our blog layout which you will get to see in the following weeks.

That's all for now...Hope you had a wonderful weekend and are rejuvenated to take on the new week!

Finest Expressions

Go Mompreneurs!

This is an older article published in the Star titled, Mompreneurs Boom but an extremely interesting read.

Candy Bouquet Centre pieces

Candy or chocolate bouquets make delicious centre pieces for baby showers or even kids birthday parties. We design ours to look like real bouquets in actual flower pots. The Baby Bliss pictured above has a combination of milk chocolates and hard candy. It accented with baby sock petals, flowers and leaves. We even included an adorable plush toy for the little bundle of joy.

We have also custom designed Candy Bouquets to be sent to moms-to-be at the hospital as a delectable treat and at home when she is prescribed bed rest. Add-on a sibling gift to make it extra special and the whole family will enjoy the candy bouquet!

Finest Expressions

Choosing Your Baby Shower Theme

When planning a Baby Shower, one of the first things you need to do is pick a theme. This is not only a fun and exciting part of the planning process, but also a very important decision to make. There are many factors you should consider when making this decision and take advice from mom-to-be if it’s not a surprise shower.

If you know the sex of the baby then it makes things a little easier. You could go with the traditional blue for boy and pink for girl theme. However, this pick doesn’t need to be at all redundant. Work with trendy shades of pinks and blues instead of the traditional baby blue/baby pink. Try to use contrasting colors to add a creative flare such as tiffany blue and white or hot pink with hues of orange and yellow.

Its crucial to keep the mom-to-be’s personality, style and preferences in mind. You want the chief guest to be awed and delighted as she enters her baby shower. If she is into simple pleasures, try a shapes theme. You could design your decorations with different shapes and colours. For example, choose a few shapes such as square, circle, triangle and rectangle. Incorporate them by mix and matching square and round plates, rectangular food platters and triangular table centerpieces. You can get creative and craft your own decorations which will be fun and inexpensive.

If mom-to-be likes glitz and glamour, try a Hollywood/movie themed baby shower. Complete with bling and charm, this baby shower theme is tonnes of fun and easy to plan. Start with choosing an invitation that would go with the theme such as star shape card or movie theatre stubs. Use stick-on rhinestones to decorate plate settings, favours and centerpieces. To make it even more fun, you can have a short movie of interviews with grandparents, family members and friends sharing their special thoughts with the parents-to-be. End it with a slide show of the parents’ childhood to adulthood milestones. Make your own movie booklet with casting, movie synopsis and credits. Roll out the red carpet and enjoy a premier featuring the guest of honour(s) and their adventures that lead up to the upcoming birth of the little star.

Finest Expressions

Making Payments For Your Baby Gifts

At Finest Expressions we thrive to make your gift shopping experience fun and easy. For your convinience we have added a 'Payments' Section to our website that gives step-by-step instructions to assist you in making your online purchase smoothly.

Located on the top menu bar, the 'Payments' Section outlines important information such as where to input the recipients information, when to put in your gift card message and how to pay using any of your major credit cards or your PayPal account.

As always, if you require assistance in making your purchase, just contact us and we'll be happy to help you.

Happy Shopping!

Finest Expressions

Product Of The Month - September 2008

The stunning Froggy Deluxe Diaper Cake is September's product of the month. This spectacular themed diaper cake comes with 70 brand name diapers, bath set, toys and of course the 30" inch Froggy pillow. An adorably unique gift for an amazing price!

Contents:

• 70 Pampers Diapers – Size 1
• 2 Wash Cloths
• Froggy Bath Sponge
• Soft Rattle
• Soft Picture Frame
• Height Chart
• Bath Towel
• Froggy Pillow (30” Inches)

Delicious Candy Bouquet Centrepieces

At Finest Expressions we are always looking for unique and creative gifts to present to new parents and babies. Candy & Chocolate bouquets are a delicious twist on the usual flower bouquets and arrangements. They are made of delectable chocolates and candies, cute baby sock petals and beautiful silk flowers. Arranged in a flurry of cellophane tissue and tied with pretty ribbons, it will make a very special gift for the new parents. Have them as baby shower centerpieces or add a special toy to make it a fun sibling gift.

Jelly Bean Cups – Baby Shower Favours

These mini-delights make cute favours for baby showers or kids birthday parties. The Mini-cups come filled with colour coordinated jelly beans or any other candy of your choice. It’s accented with ribbons and topped with a Hershey Kiss treat that is designed like a rose petal. Add your personalized tag to give it that special touch.

Contact us for more information on colour and style availability.

Update From Finest Expressions...

Today's post is a little different. We thought we would update you on what's new and exciting here at Finest Expressions. Basically an update on what we are working on and planning to do in the coming months. Summer is almost over even though here in Toronto, it didn't really feel like it even began. We had a lot of thunderstorms and rainfall through out the month of June, July and now August.

At this time of the year, we start our planning for the holiday season. Designing new products, developing the marketing plans, and getting ready for a busy busy season. We are very excited about introducing our holiday diaper cakes and baby gift baskets this year. They will be in vibrant colours and beautiful holiday themes. Stay tuned on our blog and website for more information!

As always we are committed to delivering your gifts on time and appreciate your cooperation in placing your orders as soon as possible. Custom designed products, such as our Baby Diaper Cakes, Finest Blossoms, Finest Blooms and Candy and Chocolate Bouquets take approximately 3-4 business days for delivery. The reason for this being, they are made fresh once an order is placed. However, we do complete urgent orders upon your request. Please call or email us if you need to place a rush order on any of our custom designed products.

All orders for Gift Baskets that are placed before 10:30 A.M EST are delivered the following business day unless you request another delivery date.

We will be updating our Holiday Shipping Deadlines in October. Please visit our website for more Shipping and Delivery information.

Even though it might seem a little depressing to think about a snowy winter in August, we do get excited about the holiday season. With its bustling activities, festive cuisines and the joy of spending time with family and friends its surely a season to enjoy!

Candy & Chocolate Bar

This is a really cute idea that one of our client’s did at her baby shower that we had to share with you. Instead of the pre-packed favours she had set-up a candy and chocolate bar for the guests to pick out their own treats at the end of the party. A wide selection of candies such as jelly beans, mints and hard candy were displayed on one end along with various assortment of chocolates on the other. She also had a nut free chocolates section for those with allergies.

For favour containers she used our Chinese boxes and used clear candy bags to line them.

A neat idea to let your guests choose their own favorite delectables to enjoy after the event.

Tip Of The Day

Writing thank you notes for all the baby gifts can be a challenge for the new parents as they try to adjust to life with their bundle of joy. Help them out by having the baby shower guests write their address on envelopes or labels. This way the new parents just have to write the thank you notes and not worry about addressing the envelopes.

Finest Blooms - Baby Sock Bouquets

Instead of the usual flower bouquets send the new mom these beautiful baby sock bouquets. Made out of adorable baby socks these long stemmed roses make a unique gift that can be used or kept as a keepsake. Accented with fresh baby’s breathe they come packaged in a white flower box.

Choose from one or two dozen baby sock bouquets and surprise the new parents!

Tea Party – Baby Shower Favour Ideas

In our previous post titled Tea Party - Baby Showers we discussed different ideas that you could use for baby showers with a tea party theme. Here are some favour ideas that we can create for you:

1. Our mini-purses pictured above can be filled with four different types of exotic teas (tea bags) for the guests to enjoy after the party.

2. The Floral collection sachets can also be given as favours with samples of teas or tea seeds.

3. A mini-cup and saucer with a tea bag wrapped in clear cover and tied with ribbons. It will make a perfect keepsake baby shower favour.

4. If you want to shift away from the tea favours then you can use any of our favour boxes to fill with cookies or chocolates. Tip: Put them in clear or polka dotted bags before placing them in the favour boxes.

If you don’t have time to put the favours together yourself, Finest Expressions offers complete Wrapped up! service. Once you select a favour design, just give us your order details and the complete favours will be delivered to your doorstep.

Tea Party - Baby Shower

One of the most popular themes for a baby shower is that of a ‘Tea Party’. There are a lot of beautiful decorating ideas, recipes and gifts that you could work with to throw this wonderful themed baby shower.

Start with getting tea party invitations to reflect this theme and set a tone for the event. If you can’t find the tea party invitation cards then simply design your own. See our post on Do-It-Yourself Baby shower invitations. Some ideas for design could be to cut out the invitations in tea pot shapes or to create an invitation that looks like a tea bag cover.

If you are not having an intimate gathering of a few or don’t want to bust out your good china, use exquisite fancy paper dinnerware such as the Caspari Collection. Mix and match to create your unique style for the tea party.

The menu could be absolutely delicious for this baby shower! Serve delectable treats such as mini sandwiches, pastries, biscuits and scones. Check out Joy of Baking for scrumptious tea party treats. You could select a variety of exotic and herbal teas for the beverage bar. However, keep in mind that some teas are not safe for pregnant women to drink.

For the main table centerpiece try our 3-tier My Tea Party- Baby Diaper Cake. Its beautifully designed with 45 diapers, baby clothes, toys, silk flowers and ribbons. For favour ideas, check out our post on Tea Party – Favour Ideas.

Its an elegant theme that the mom-to-be and guests are sure to enjoy!

Baby Shower Bombonieres

Baby Shower party favours are a little token of appreciation you can give to your guests for being part of your baby celebration. Petit and adorable baby shower bombonieres are 8” inch tulle circles filled with sweet goodies. We fill ours with colour coordinated jelly beans and tie them with pretty floral ribbons.

If you would like to fill them with your own contents, we offer do-it-yourself bombonieres kits, that comes with the 8” inch tulle circles and pre-cut ribbons. All you will need to do is get together with some friends and have fun while putting your baby shower favours together.

Personalize them by making your own tags or getting them custom printed from Vista Print.

Stay tuned this month for more adorable and trendy baby shower favour ideas!

Do-It-Yourself Baby Shower Invitations

Creating your own baby shower invitation is a unique way of adding a personal touch to the event. It’s easy to design and it’s a fun project to work on for the baby shower.

You don’t even need to know how to use funky graphic design programs. All you would need is the user-friendly MS Word. Pre-packaged card-stock usually comes with instructions on how to set-up the Word document. Another option is to use one of the many free invitation templates available on the web.

Notables Stationers, a fine stationery company based in Edmonton, Alberta has a wide selection of fine paper and envelopes to help you create your own baby shower invitations. Apart from blank paper stock and imprintables, they also have ribbons and brad/clips to help assemble the invitations.

Here a few suggestions and tips to design your own baby shower invitations:

1. Keep your design simple. Don’t crowd it with a lot images since this will make it look cluttered.
2. Use white card stock if you are planning on using colour images. This will bring out the colours really well and won’t look too distracting.
3. Instead of using a folded card design you could use post card stock that might be easier to print on and you don’t have to spend time folding it.
4. Try to stick with using two fonts at the most and use a font that is easy to read. Go easy on the italics and bold function so that you give your design a clean look.
5. Use a picture of mom-to-be or the parents-to-be to add that personal touch and customize the invitation.

Above is a sample invitation we designed using MS Word. Since it’s a couple’s baby shower, so we tried to go easy on the pink and used very little italics. Always keep the theme of the baby shower in mind and try to work that into your invitations as much as possible.

Lastly…have fun and let your creativity flow!

Product Of The Month - Welcome Little Princess

Our creative team at Finest Expressions is always striving to create gifts that are not just beautiful to look at but also incredibly useful for the recipient. Our product of the month is a baby girl gift basket that is based on a princess theme. Its contains unique gift items that you won't find in usual baby gift baskets. This includes a Piggy bank set and an adorable note pad for the parents to keep track of her highness' attendees (a.k.a baby sitters. )

Contents:
• Two Pairs of Socks
• Piggy Bank Set includes:
• My first Curl
• My first Tooth
• My First Piggy Bank
• Baby Sitter Notes
• Body Suit
• Cap
• Princess Message Pillow

Available at Finest Expressions-Designer Gifts & Gift Baskets .

Keepsake Box

In one of our earlier post we had talked about how to involve the older siblings in making mom something special for her baby shower. Here is a keepsake box made by a Finest Expressions' older sibling for a very special baby brother. With a little help from grandma, the 6 year old big brother was able to take a simple cardboard shoe box and transform it into a perfect keepsake box. Its wrapped in blue felt cloth and is accented with little felt stars. It even has a little cut-out window to put a picture of the new baby.

At the baby shower, all family and friends wrote down their baby advice or special quotes on a piece of paper and we stored it in here. So its now become a special keepsake box filled with love from family and friends that mom can keep forever.

Our Baby Diaper Cakes

This post is at the request of our wonderful clients who are curious to know how the Baby Diaper Cake looks wrapped in tulle. Many Diaper Cakes come wrapped in cellophane wrap which makes it hard to carry and doesn’t look as elegant as soft tulle. Our Baby Diaper Cakes are wrapped in tulle and tied with silk ribbons. Above is a sample picture of a custom designed cake we did for a pair of delightful twins.

Finest Blossom – Baby Clothing Bouquet

Baby clothing bouquets are a wonderful alternative to the usual flower bouquets. This unique baby gift is an assortment of baby clothing, receiving blankets, bibs and so much more. They are accented with silk flowers and leaves to give it a ‘traditional’ bouquet look.

Like our Baby Diaper Cakes, our Finest Blossoms- baby clothing bouquets can be custom designed using your colours and keeping your budget in mind.


Finest Blossom - Baby Clothing Bouquet : Available at Finest Expressions- Designer Gifts & Gift Baskets

Mom's little Helpers

If you are a family member or a close friend of the family, involve the older siblings in making mom a baby shower keepsake. Depending on their age group, help them make finger print cards or a little family scarp book. Let them participate in making something in the kitchen or with party decorations. Not only will mom be touched that her other babies helped with planning this celebration but the children will feel more involved with the pregnancy.

We also does custom gift basket for the sibling. Above is a sample of one we did for a very special big sister! Contact us if you'd like to have a custom made gift basket for that wonderful older sibling(s)!

BabyCake - Yum!

Absolutely beautiful and delicious cupcakes from BabyCake will make a wonderful addition to your baby shower dessert table.

They come in mouthwatering flavours such as Velvet Underground, Choco Funk and Polar Bear. These ‘bundles of heaven’ can be ordered online at http://www.babycake.ca/index.htm or by visiting their parent restaurant, kubo Radio at 894 Queen Street East.

How to Be the Perfect Grandma: Rules of the Game

There is a grandma in every family and we have a few at Finest Expressions as well. So when it was time to give one of our grandma's a gift for her birthday, we found this cute book with all the inside secrets on how to be a perfect grandma. The grandma feed back has been that its full of ideas on how to enjoy your grandchild, to be actively part of his/her life and how to deal with the parents as well.

About the Author

BRYNA NELSON PASTON is an overjoyed grandmother of six, aged three to ten, whom she calls “the music of my universe.” Formerly an editor of the Jewish Times (Philadelphia), she has written for numerous national magazines and newspapers. A graduate of Penn State, Paston lives in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. Source: Amazon.com

Available at www.amazon.com

Product Of The Month - Baby Gift Basket

Precious Baby Girl - Gift Basket

Pink, pink and more pink! Our deluxe Precious Baby Girl gift basket comes with:

• 1 Receiving Blanket
• 2 Washcloths
• 1 Pair Socks
• 1 Coin Box
• 1 Body Suit
• Plush Elephant Toy

A perfect baby gift for a precious baby girl.

Available at www.finestexpressions.com

Couples Baby Shower

It’s becoming an urban trend to have co-ed baby showers so both the parents-to-be can celebrate the arrival of their unborn child. If you are considering to throw a couples baby shower, the best place to start would be asking the couple if this is something they would enjoy. Once they give you the green light, go ahead and compile a guest list with them. Keep a balance of men and women so the father-to-be feels comfortable.

Try to keep a neutral theme, one that both the sexes would enjoy. Here are a few good choices to consider:

-Tropical Theme

-Beach Theme

-BBQ Theme (See Summer Baby Showers post below for details)

-Jungle Theme (Check out our Jungle Safari Diaper cake*. It will make a perfect centre piece for the baby shower!)

-Color theme – You can work with contrasting colours such as pink/brown, blue/brown or yellow/white. However, go easy on the pink for all the men’s’ sake!

You could play traditional games but adapt them to your couples baby shower. Non-traditional choices would include charades, movie trivia or Taboo. If playing games doesn’t fit with your crowd, keep a casual setting where guests mingle, catch up and share their baby stories.

Stick with simple ideas and you will deliver a fun couples baby shower that all your guests are sure to enjoy!

* Jungle Safari Diaper Cake - $110 – Available at www.finestexpressions.com

New Baby Diaper Cakes & Gift Baskets!

We are really excited about our latest designs of diaper cakes and gift baskets! They are in trendy colours and unique styles. Do check out our unique diaper cakes and baby gifts at www.finestexpressions.com

Cynthia Rowley Designer Tote

We just couldn't resist posting this little piece on our blog! Illinois native, Cynthia Rowley has designed these trendy and gorgeous baby diaper bags or as they call them "Designer Totes".

DESCRIPTION
Shiny Patent Leather
Grosgrain Ribbon Detailing
Personal Notebook Blotter
Multi Easy-Drop Full Size Pockets
Matching ThinsulateTM Insulated Double Bottle Case
Coordinating Zippered Pouch
Fold Out Changing Pad w/ Head Rest Cushion
Zipper Enclosure
Dimensions: 15.50" L x 5.50" W x 10" H

Tip Of The Day : Baby Shirt Signing

Tip Of The Day

At your next baby shower, have guests sign a baby shirt instead of a guest book! It looks adorably cute and will make a wonderful keepsake for many years to come.

Online Baby Showers

Online Baby Showers are quickly gaining popularity in North America. In today’s world where families and friends are spread all over the globe, it’s a wonderful way of staying connected and celebrating the upcoming birth of the new baby. In other situations, mom-to-be might be confined to bed-rest so this might give her a chance to socialize and enjoy her shower while lounging in her P.Js! It can supplement the traditional baby shower or it can be an exclusive event in itself.

There are companies that offer online baby shower packages that included:

Emailed Invitations
Message Boards
Live Chats
Photograph Albums (online)
Online Baby Shower Games

There are a lot more features offered by different companies so it’s best to do your research before making your pick.

The other option is to organize all aspect of the party yourself instead of going for a packaged deal. You could send out free e-vites, set up a free home page, blog, Facebook group, Flickr album or MSN chat.

Don’t let the physical distance between mom-to-be and her loved ones get in the way of this celebration. This is an opportunity for you to make her feel supported and get her family/friends involved with the pregnancy.

Second Baby Showers

So you threw mom an amazing baby shower, she got loads of wonderful gifts and the baby arrived. Now fast forward to a couple of years later and its time for baby number two. As a best friend, sister or mom do you throw another shower?

Some people feel that the first baby is the only one who should get a baby shower. Others believe every first deserves a shower, i.e first boy, first girl, first baby with new husband etc.

Then there are people like us who love parties! So go ahead and throw the second time (or third or more) mom a shower. Try any of these different themes to make it extra special:

Diapers & Dishes – Baby Shower

This theme is quickly gaining popularity with second-time moms. All guests bring diapers or dishes for the parents-to-be. Diapers are an essential with all babies and dishes refers to freezable meals that the parents could use in the hectic weeks after the baby. Tip: Take our simple yet beautifully designed diaper cakes instead of just a box of diapers. A 3-tier diaper cake includes approximately 100 diapers and is decorated with ribbons and flowers so it can be used as a centre piece for the shower as well.

Spa – Baby Shower

A shower that is focused on pampering the mom with relaxing spa treatments. You could hire a professional to give manicures, pedicures, facials or massages.

(See previous post for details)

Mom’s hobby centered - Baby Shower:

Some moms love cooking (like one of our Finest Expressions moms) so throwing her a home cooking party might be a great surprise. If she is into a particular book or movie, working with that theme could be fun as well.

In conclusion…Whatever theme you choose, the key is to have fun whether it’s the first, second or third baby shower!

Spa Baby Showers

There are tonnes of baby shower themes that you could work with but one of our favorites is the spa themed shower. What could be a better way to treat the mom-to-be then to have her pampered with pedicures, manicures and massages*? The best part is that you and all the other guests can enjoy some spa treatments as well.

There are various mobile spa facilities that offer complete spa services at homes. Each guest could choose one treatment such as manicure, pedicure, facial or massage. You could even try getting a Henna tattoo artist to add an exotic touch. Belly casting can also be included in the spa themed party.

For the decor, think of your last spa visit and you what you enjoyed the most. Scented candles, soothing music and of course fresh flowers.

The menu for this theme is fun, easy and healthy. Try fresh fruits such as melons, strawberries and cherries. A platter of veggies and dip would go wonderfully as well. A few light sandwiches and an assortment of fruit juices would complete the food table.

You could get mom a spa basket of her own to enjoy after the event. Check out our Bath and Body gift baskets for more ideas or give us a budget and we will design a basket using your theme and colours.

*Be sure to check which massages and spa products are suitable for pregnant women.

Summer Baby Showers

We are in the middle of summer and if you are about to throw a baby shower, its a beautiful time to do so! So many fresh ideas and settings that you could work with to create an unforgettable event.
How about throwing the special mom-to-be (or parents-to-be) an outdoors baby shower? Complete with a BBQ menu, summer drinks*, and even outdoor games. Work with bright colours and use the summer blooms as inspiration. As a centrepiece for the big (or small) party try our Harmony Baby Diaper Cake**. The 2-tier cake has 65 Pampers diapers (size 1). Its accented with creme mums and high-quality gross-grained green polka dot ribbon. Wrapped in tulle and tied with silk ribbon it will make a beautiful centrepiece for a beautiful shower.

*Be sure to have some non-alcoholic drinks for the mom-to-be!
**Harmony Diaper Cake- $64.99. Visit us at www.finestexpressions.com to place your order today!