DIY Summer Camp Baby Shower Ideas & Printables
If you missed out on our last post, I had so much fun planning and setting up a summer camp themed baby shower for my BFF this summer! We shared a bunch of photos from the party on our last post if you are interested in seeing how everything turned out :)
While I did source a lot of the details from thrifting and party supply shops, there were also a lot of details that I made myself! If you’re into making your own party decor, follow along below for some summer camp themed ideas and free printables. Enjoy!
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HOW TO DECORATE SUMMER CAMP THEMED FAVOR BAGS
These gift bags made the perfect favors for our summer camp themed party. Each gift bag had a cute “Thanks!” paper pennant flag clipped on with a wooden mini clothespin and a friendship bracelet gift for each guest. Guests were invited to fill the favor bags with their fav mix of ingredients from our trail mix station.
Download the pennant flag favor tags below and print them out on plain white cardstock. Carefully cut out each flag and clip them on your party favors!
HOW TO MAKE CAMP MERIT BADGE PINS
One of my favorite aspects from the shower were the collectible merit badges. Just like in the good old days of Girl Scouts, party guests were able to collect merit badges for completing different activities and winning different games. The person at the end of the shower with the most merit badges won a prize! If you missed our last post, here are the different activities & merit badge achievements that were available:
Writing Badge - There was a bulletin board where guests could write “letters from camp” which were just notes or advice & well wishes to the expecting couple (f they participated in this activity they got a badge)
Arts & Crafts Badge - There was a craft table where guests could tie dye a onesie or bib for the baby (if they participated in this activity they got a badge)
Drama Badge - We had a group game of charades — each guest wrote down 3 things that were summer camp or baby related and then the whole group was divided into two teams to act out the charades for their team to guess (all players from the winning team got a badge)
Dining Hall Badge - Every guest had a pennant flag drink stirrer in their glass at their seat that had a number on it. I rolled a dice and whoever had the rolled number got this badge
Archery Badge - There was a dart board setup in the room for our own makeshift “archery” activity. Guests had 5 chances to throw the darts and they recorded their best score. The person with the highest score throughout the event won this badge
Tech Badge - I created a paper game that I handed out while guests were eating, which was a phone scavenger hunt. There were a series of items that participants had to look through their phone for that were worth different points (ex. 5 points if your wallpaper is a pet photo, 10 points if you have this event saved to your digital calendar, etc.), and the winner with the most points got this badge
Wildlife Badge - There was a jar filled with gummy bears and everyone had to fill out a slip with their guess of how many bears were in the jar, the closest guess got the badge
Best Dressed Camper Badge - We had all the guests dress up in their best summer camp attire for the party and the parents-to-be were in charge of picking a winner of who had the best costume
Birthday Badge (Tie Breaker!) - In the event that there was a tie in the amount of badges that participants had collected, there was a tie breaker badge — whoever’s birthday was closest to the baby’s due date won this badge
To create these merit badge pins, you will need:
Unfinished wood coins (1.5” size worked well!)
Hot glue
Silhouette or Cricut machine (*You can also make a similar version with just a regular printer)
Mod podge
Entertain the Idea’s Summer Camp Merit Badge Printable
Cardstock (optional)
Embossing label maker (optional)
STEP 1: Download the ETI Merit Badge printable above.
STEP 2: Print/Cut your merit badge labels. If you are using a Silhouette or Circuit machine, follow the machine’s instructions for importing the merit badge images into the cutting machine software. Each round badge should be sized correctly when you import, but if you need to adjust sizing, the diameter of each circle outline should be 1.25”. Follow the machine instructions for loading your vinyl sheet and set the machine to cut out your merit badge shapes.
**TIP! You will need to calculate how many of each shape you will need based on your amount of guests. Some badges will only have one winner (ex. best dressed badge), while others will have multiple winners (ex. arts & crafts badge).
STEP 3: Once your machine has cut out the shapes, I slowly & carefully removed the FULL circle sticker from the paper and pressed it down to the center of the wood. Then I used my Silhouette hook tool to pull off any blank spaces (as shown in the image above) — you can also do this with transfer tape, which may be easier, but I did not have any at the time so this process worked for me. It was just a bit more time consuming.
STEP 4: Make sure your stickers are flattened down as much as possible against the wood. I found that my vinyl was bubbling up a bit, so I ended up painting a coat of Mod Podge over the top of the surface of each wood disc to help hold the sticker down and in place.
**TIP! If you do not have a cutting machine, you can definitely still make your own badges. I would recommend downloading the images, printing them out, cutting around the circle outline, and gluing the full paper circle icon to your wood disc. Then mod podge over the top to adhere to the wood.
STEP 5: Hot glue your pin back to the back of each pin at the very top. Allow to dry & they are ready to wear!
If you want to create card backings for each badge, you can cut out a piece of cardstock, about 2” x 2.5” and attach an embossed label with the badge’s name to the top of the card. Then stick your pin through the middle of the card and attach the rubber backing to the back. I did this for the individual badges (like the best dressed, tech badge, wildlife badge, etc.) but I just left the multiple badges (like the writing badges and arts & crafts badges) in a bowl at each station.
PRINTABLE BABY SHOWER GAME: WHAT’S ON YOUR PHONE? SCAVENGER HUNT
One of the activities to win a merit badge was the What’s On Your Phone? Scavenger Hunt! For this game, you will print off a copy of the PDF for each guest and allow them to search through their phone for the items to win the most points.
This is a great ice breaker for guests to do while arriving or while eating. Download the PDF printable below for an easy but fun & competitive baby shower activity!
SUMMER CAMP PARTY THEMED DECOR
If DIY is not your thing, there are several party supply products that I used for the centerpieces, table settings, and general decor that are perfect for a summer camp themed party. Check out some of my favorite products that I sourced for the party below:
I hope these ideas inspire you to DIY your next party. If you host your own summer camp themed party, be sure to tag us on instagram #entertaintheidea or @entertainidea.
Happy crafting! Xo Rachael
