It Crawls! It Swims! It Flies! The Latest in Boutique Baby Gifts

You've been there before. You're invited to a baby shower, or a family member or friend just had a new baby, so you're looking at baby gifts, and the first place you go is to the new mom and dad's baby registry. It doesn't take long before you discover the only items left are way out of your price range. What now?

The truth is, you're never obligated to buy something from the registry, so you can head out on your own to buy something cute and fun--within your price range--that the parents will love. With today's new generation of imaginatively designed and packaged baby gifts, it's so easy to do. Let's take a look at some of the latest adorable options waiting for you beyond the baby registry!

You can say it in a cute and practical way with the "Crabby Baby" Mealtime Set. The neatest thing about this unique feeding gear is that when baby smiles (and food tumbles out of that tiny mouth), the crabs smile right back. There are happy crabs all over the place in this set, and it has everything mom needs to get the job done--a divided plate, a fork and spoon, a sippy cup and a bib. Granted, a newborn baby isn't ready for these advanced meal servers, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with giving a gift to store for use a little later. In fact, it's actually helpful! C'mon! You know you love these crabs!

As long as we're here, let's swim out a little further where the sharks prowl. Sharks? A baby gift? What are we thinking? Well, we're thinking about how comfy-cozy and, yes, cute babies look in the "Let the Fin Begin" Hooded Terry Shark Robe. It's never to early to teach our offspring about the wonders of the deep. They'll soon be introduced to the ocean and the sand, and boom! They're hooked. Little kids love the beach! Let's hope the first shark they run into is the friendly one in this robe!

One of the strangest creatures beneath the waves is the octopus, who's not very attractive, yet still can inspire a terrific baby gift! Clever designers decided those eight appendages are perfect for delivering the gift of socks to a newborn. Mr. Sock T. Pus or his wife, Mrs. Sock T. Pus, swim into the nursery with four pairs of colorful socks. When the socks are off, the octopus takes his or her place in baby's collection of plush toys. Mr. Pus is blue, Mrs. Pus is pink, and they both bring socks and a smile to babies with tiny toes in need of warmth!

This time we'll stay with socks and step out of the ocean onto dry land, where the socks come to baby via a campy little caterpillar! What's really fun about these "Caterpillar Crawlers" is the charming packaging. As you can see, the designers definitely thought outside the box for this one! Those two little antennae make all the difference in the world between a box of socks and a heartwarming present, don't you think? Anything but creepy, the fun colors and patterns on the socks work for either boys or girls, so you can stock up on socks and have them on hand whenever a new baby crawls into your life!.

We're finally up in the air on a tree branch, where an owl sits wide awake, much like a newborn baby at 3AM (though what a baby is doing on a tree branch at 3AM is anybody's guess.) It's the wide-awake part they have in common.Maybe baby just needs soft, snuggly surroundings to drift off to dreamland. Put the little cutie into this "My Little Night Owl" Snuggle Sack, ready and wating to take baby under its wing. With baby gifts as downright adorable as these, whoooooo needs to download a registry?