Let Them Not Eat Cake
Mark the specialness of the occasion by avoiding baby-shower staples (cupcakes come to mind). We capped off our party with a few dozen Japanese mochi, which are ice cream wrapped in sweet rice flour ($48 for 16, gourmetfoodmall.com). Dry Meyer-lemon sodas hit the spot (drinkgus.com for stores), and everyone took home a twine-wrapped box of candied nuts ($6 for 4 ounces, translucentchocolates.com).

Kendra and Rachel also left with artfully understated Binth alphabet posters ($69 each, gnr8.biz)

Soothe the Baby
When it comes to gifts, let others buy the burp cloths -- you can supply some of the newborn's first sights and sounds. We compiled custom CDs of nursing and bedtime tunes (get the playlist here). And we made scrapbooks to show the baby who's who in her new world: Grandparents-to-be emailed us family photos (including one of Serge and Jane, Doug and Rachel's pups) and we made color printouts and corresponding labels, sticking them into books using double-sided archival tape. Kolo "Lux Cortina" album, $22, aifriedman.com