Before the baby arrives, gather a page from everyone who's excited — a wish for the little one, the advice they wish someone had given them, a photo of Mom or Dad at the same age. It becomes a hardcover the parents will read long after the shower, and the child will read one day too.
Start a baby book See how it worksA baby shower produces a pile of cards. They're opened in a room full of people, glanced at, and then they live in a box in the closet. And yet the advice inside them is often the most useful thing anyone gives new parents — and it's the part most likely to be lost.
A memory book keeps it. Each person writes one page — a wish for the child, what they learned in their own first year as a parent, a story about Mom or Dad as a baby. Photos go in alongside, so the grandparents' old albums end up in the same book as the ultrasound.
It also solves the distance problem. The aunt in another state, the college friend who can't travel, the grandmother who isn't up to the trip — all of them can add a page, and none of it depends on being in the room.
Most people write in the last few days, so set a deadline and expect a happy rush.
The baby's name if you have one, a photo of the parents-to-be, the due date, and a deadline for contributions.
Both sides of the family, the group chat, the coworkers, and the friends who aren't at the shower but still want to say something.
Wishes, advice and photos arrive and are arranged into finished pages. You read each one before it goes in.
Order the hardcover for the shower, or leave the project open and print once the baby is actually here.
The same loving words, in something the parents will still have when the child is old enough to read them.
Two sets of relatives who may barely know each other all write into the same place, without anyone coordinating.
Anyone with the link can add a page from anywhere, so the guest list doesn't limit who gets to be part of it.
Scans and phone pictures of prints are enhanced when uploaded, which matters when Grandma sends her own baby photos.
Every page is laid out for you. Nobody spends the third trimester with a glue stick.
What people really know about the first year ends up somewhere the parents can find at 3am, instead of in a card box.
A 10-inch square matte hardcover, written by everyone who was glad they were coming.
"Write something for the baby" produces blank pages. A question produces lovely ones.
Nothing is owed until you order a book, and gifts from contributors apply straight to the print cost.
Create the project, invite everyone, and gather photos and stories for free. You only pay if you print.
A 10-inch square matte hardcover with matte interior pages, plus shipping. Extra pages are $1.25 each.
Friends and family can chip in toward printing — each $1.25 covers one page of the finished book.
Three to four weeks before the shower is comfortable. Give people two to three weeks to write, then allow roughly 96 hours for printing plus shipping if you want it in hand on the day.
Yes. The project stays open until you close it, so you can collect through the shower, the birth and the first weeks, then print once. Some families print twice — a PDF for the shower and a hardcover later.
It does, and it's far better than a signature book — guests add their page on a phone at the shower, and everyone who couldn't come adds theirs the same way.
Use something like "Baby Sullivan" and change it later. Nothing in the book is locked until you order the print.
Setting up and collecting is free. A hardcover is $34.95 for the first 20 pages, then $1.25 for each page after that, plus shipping. Twenty-five contributors comes to about $41.20. The PDF is free.
Yes — once the book is finished you can order as many copies as you like, and both sets of grandparents usually want one.
Other celebrations families make books for.
Start the project, send the link to both families, and hand the new parents a book instead of a pile of cards.
Start a baby book