Coming up with a great idea for a baby shower isn't always easy. You want to do right by your good friend or family member, but you have no idea where you should start. There's no need to worry, because included below are some amazing ideas with which to give yourself a starting point and inspire your inner party planner.

Color

Conventional wisdom says that you should use blue for baby boys and pink for baby girls. It can make it easy to organize a party around a certain color scheme. Of course, this assumes that the gender of the baby is known already. If the parents are trying to keep this is a surprise, you can plan your party around a neutral, but still cute, color such as yellow or light green. But don't feel that you have to be bound by convention. You could be more creative and use the mother's favorite color. As long as the colors are fun and lively, you're bound to have a great party.

Theme

Having a theme is a wonderful way to make party organization easy for you, still have everything be very fun, and give your party that "put together" look. One easy way to do this is simply to have a "baby" theme. Gather together decorations with storks, diapers, bottles, and rattles. Or maybe you don't want the traditional feeling that this would convey. Instead, you could choose a seasonal theme. For example, maybe Valentine's Day is close by. Use hearts and flowers for decorations and you'll have a Valentine's Baby Shower. You could do the same thing with Halloween, the Fourth of July, or Christmas if they're having a Christmas baby. And this theme doesn't have to just be holidays; instead use one of the four seasons (obviously whichever one the baby is going to be born in). A summer or beach theme would be a lot of fun and give you a starting point with which to organize the party.

Decorations

Don't get overwhelmed with all your choices for decorations. Remember your theme. For a party with a Valentine's Day theme, as mentioned above you could use hearts and flowers, but you could also add some things more specific to baby. For example, include balloons that have "I love you baby!" written on them, and to be really creative, get little baby food jars to tie the balloons to and hold them in place. Remember, the possibilities are endless. Symbols of motherhood are also a great way to decorate. One great way you could do this is with stuffed animals. For example, for the gift table centerpiece, have a stuffed lioness and her cub. In fact, putting stuffed animals in pairs of bigger and smaller can be an adorable way to portray mother and child. Get a big teddy bear and a small teddy bear and put them side by side. The teddy bear idea would be an especially good idea for the Valentine's Day theme, but remember, you can do this with any plush animal!

Favors

Party favors are not absolutely necessary for a baby shower, but they are certainly appreciated, and they can make a great prize if you play shower games. Also, they can do double duty as both decorations and favors. For example, a friend of mine had some very cute napkins as favors that had little babies and toys painted on them. They were pretty when they were laid out, and then everyone got very excited when they realized they could take them home! You could do this with those mother and child stuffed animals you were using for decorations also. You could give your guests the pair, or just the smaller one, which would certainly make things more affordable. Remember, whether you could a small teddy bear, some stuffed lions, plush cats, or something else, you'll have a fun decoration and a gift that is easy to find and affordable. And of course, if you are looking for a more traditional favor, you could get little photo frames or carriage shaped candles. The possibilities are practically endless!

Remember, there's a lot to do to put together a great baby shower, but this should give you a nice starting point and really get your creative juices flowing. Start by having a color or theme in mind and that get decorations to match! Then consider what party favors your guests would enjoy. Before you know it, you'll find that your entire party has fallen together very naturally! A baby shower doesn't have to be a huge hassle! Instead it can be lots of fun and the talk of your friends or family for years to come!