Menu Ideas and Options

A Build-a-Burger Barbeque is an easy fit for this party, and it can be tailored to any dietary preference, from beef lovers to vegetarians. Offer lots of burger-building materials or make one or two special toppers, like caramelized onions or spicy homemade mustard, to make the burgers really sizzle.

Many chefs doctor up the ground meat with cheese, seasonings, rubs, even butter, but purists are happy to start with a great-quality ground steak and add their own signature touches.

• The patties. Ground sirloin, vegetarian, turkey, salmon, ground veal, or pork

• The add-ins. Mix and match these ingredients in the ground-meat mix. For example, salmon patties with dill or turkey burgers with sage or ground lamb with mint. Other add-ins are fresh basil, cilantro, parsley, spice blends, seasoned salts, sun-dried tomatoes, grated cheeses, onions, scallions, or chopped peppers.

• The bread. Classic white, wheat, or seeded hamburger buns, Kaiser or French rolls, pitas, specialty breads like rye, pumpernickel, or olive.

• The cheeses. White Cheddar, fontina, peppered Jack, Brie, Gouda, Gorgonzola. Gruyere, goat cheese, or American.

• The fixin’s. Lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, avocado, purple onion, caramelized onions, jalapeño peppers, pickles, pico de gallo, guacamole, sautéed mushrooms, zucchini wheels, shaved carrots, or bacon strips.

• The condiments. Flavored mayonnaises, steak sauce, tapenades, pesto, chutneys, barbeque sauce, mustards, and of course, ketchup.

• The dips. For the industrious, you can add these sauces to the bar— marinara sauce, au jus dipping sauce, ranch dressing, horseradish, and béarnaise sauce

Under Construction Menu

• Sirloin, Round, and Chuck Burgers
• Bright Chili Beans
• Burger-Bar Toppers
• German Potato Salad
• Nuts-and-Bolts Snack Mix
• Brownies with Candy-Bar Toppings
• ’Ades Bar: Lemonade, Ladies’-Ade, Green Tropic-Ade, Fourth of July-Ade

Polish off burgers by assembling a brownie — warm from the oven, topped with a selection of chopped candy bars and served with ice cream or whipped cream. Now you’re done!

Color Palette and Decor

The basic color palette is blue, bright yellow (think caution tape and Tonka trucks), and metallic gray. Add touches of primary colors for interest. Hard hats, construction tools, blueprints, building materials, and big yellow Tonka trucks are the basic elements of this shower.

A trip to the garage, the hardware store, and the toy store will provide all the decorative elements you will need. Cover your table with denim or burlap and add a brown paper runner. Pipe fittings provide visual interest and look great in flower arrangements set in galvanized pails. Caution tape makes great bows for the flowers. Use toolboxes to hold snacks and food such as potato chips. Shovels (new, please) become a tray for grilled hamburgers and fixings.

Electrical boxes can be filled with “nuts-and-bolts” snack mix. Mailboxes, sinks, and hammers are all fair game for use at this party. Wrap flatware in napkins and use pipe-fitting clamps as napkin rings. Arrange them in a tool belt or display them in the bed of a Tonka truck.

Invitation Ideas and Script

This invitation should be a blueprint featuring a baby carriage and your custom touches. The secret to the blueprint effect is to have them printed by a blueprint company. For a nice touch you can mail these invitations in tubes, which are available online or at the post office.

• Baby Boy Miflin

• is

• “Under Construction”

• And we’re grillin’ and chillin’ to celebrate!

• Join us on July 13th at 4:00

• at the Rasul Construction site

• 14580 Riverdale Road

• R.S.V.P. by July 2nd with your T-shirt size

• Hard Hats Optional

The Perfect Game or Activity

Get everyone in the “zone” with this multipurpose activity. Construct your own Tinkertoy centerpiece. Have canisters of Tinkertoys available — enough to create several small projects — and ask guests to build table centerpieces. Set a 15-minute time limit and let the building begin. You can give awards for the biggest project, best use of color, craziest arrangement, and so on.

Gifts That Work with This Theme

In addition to the adorable baby items that every baby boy needs, there are some terrific new ideas now available. The Daddy’s Diaper Dootie Tool Belt looks like a construction worker’s tool belt; however, instead of holding hammers, nails, and screwdrivers, it holds a diaper, wipes, rubber gloves, goggles, and rash ointment. It is practical with a touch of whimsy.

The construction bookends from Nova Lighting are adorable as well as practical. They are a bright addition to the busy builder’s nursery, and feature a bulldozer and a dump truck in primary colors and graphic shapes.

Another great gift idea is a customized tool bench, which provides lots of ways to entertain the budding builder.

Favors

Send guests home with their own custom T-shirt. To make them, you will need:

• All-cotton T-shirt in any color, one per guest
• Dark transfer T-shirt paper, one sheet for every two T-shirts (two transfer imprints per sheet)
• Steam iron, hard protected ironing surface
• Computer and laser or inkjet printer

Here’s how to do it:

1. Scan design into your computer. Save as a JPEG file.

2. Print out on dark transfer T-shirt paper on your inkjet or laser jet printer.

3. Cut out design and apply per directions for transfer-paper package.