Panties on a Clothesline

Kristi and Mary Ann

This is a funny and very different shower that is complete with an emcee and provides a life-size centerpiece, entertainment, a party game and a party activity. Add time for opening presents and eating cake and this will be a good-time afternoon for all!

Ask each guest to give you a pair of her and his if it's a couples shower) underwear BEFORE the shower.

At the shower AND before the guests arrive, have a clothesline (perhaps behind the head table if a formal shower or somewhere to be a focal point in the room where the guests will be sitting) and using colorful/decorated clothespins, hang each pair of panties on the line. Pin a number (large enough for everyone to read) to each pair of panties.

Don't tell anyone ahead of time what you are going to do with these panties... but here's what you ARE going to do.

Give everyone a piece of paper and ask them to write down all the numbers, then write the name of the person they think owns the panties. (i.e., No. 1 is Aunt Emma; No. 2 is Mary Jane, etc.) When everyone has finished their game sheet, you collect them and put them aside.

Don't give the answers out to anyone, not yet! Select a pair of panties (point to it, but leave it on the clothesline) and give clues about the owner... if you can make it funny, all the better... and have everyone start guessing the owner: (i.e., her favorite dessert is "chocolate ice cream"; she is married to my brother; she has 12 kids; she is from New Jersey; etc., etc., these aren't funny, but try to make it funny, sort of like a "roast"). When it is agreed who the owner of the panties is, then remove them from the clothesline.

ADD some extra panties for people that are NOT there, people you don't even know... such as a pair of boxer shorts for Albert Einstein, blank space on clothesline for Marilyn Monroe (usually didn't wear under-things), diaper (little girl in your family), Depends (Grandma Moses), etc.

Now check the game sheets to see who has won -- a prize suggestion is a basket with dusting powder, hand lotion, bubble bath and all wrapped with cellophane/ribbon.