Baby Shower Theme: Rock-a-Bye-Baby

For a spotlight-shy mom-to-be, throw a casual backyard barbecue instead of a traditional fussy baby shower. Make it original with an old-school rock-n-roll theme, complete with popular ’50s songs and vintage diner-inspired decor.

The Invite: For a less formal baby shower, go for emailed invites. Gather email addresses from all your guests; search Evite, pingg, or MyPunchbowl.com for an invite that matches your theme, and just hit send. Easy, green, and cost-effective.

The Decor: Top long picnic tables with checkered tablecloths and strew them with music note confetti. Tie dozens of balloons to the backs of chairs and tree branches.

The Food/Drinks: Grill up hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie kabobs, and serve fries in paper cones on the side. Round out the menu with Shirley Temple drinks and small Coke bottles in buckets of ice.

The Cake: In lieu of a cake, set up a milkshake stand for dessert. Serve the shakes with silly straws, like the ones from Krazy Straw. Take your pick from traditional twisty shapes and fun objects like Coke bottles, music notes, and hot dogs that will perfectly complement your theme.

The Game: Name that baby! Print, laminate, and number photos of celebs’ kids (without mom and dad). Hang them from tree branches or the porch banister with black and white checkerboard ribbon. Hand guests a piece of numbered paper to write in their answers. Whoever gets the most right wins an iTunes gift card.

The Favors: Send guests home with bags of penny candy like licorice, Atomic FireBalls, Mary Janes, and Bazooka gum. Or set up a candy bar for extra fun. Fill glass jars to the brim with different kinds of candy, put a scoop in each one, and hand guests brown paper bags to fill up with whatever they’d like.