• Birth announcements for boys do not need to be baby blue.babyhand image by Yvonne Bogdanski from Fotolia.com
  
  Traditional birth announcements include a hospital nursery photo taken the day of your baby boy's birth and his vital statistics. While prompt announcements delight relatives, cards can be sent within a month or two of this blessed, but hectic time. Birth announcements ordered or made after the trip home allow for creativity, as well as a more attractive photo of a more alert baby. Bright or bold colors have replaced traditional baby ducks and blue backgrounds for birth announcements for baby boys.
  
  

Colors

• Forgo the expected baby blue for a crisp navy blue. Combinations of navy and red or navy and lime green suggest the primary colors of a nursery or preschool, or a nautical theme. For a pastel palette, choose soft yellows and lime greens.
  
  

Statistic Shirt

• Select a baby onesie or T-shirt and print your son's vital statistics, such as date of birth and weight. Choose white clothing for best results. Your local print shop can provide quotes for printing the item, or purchase iron-on transfer paper for your printer. Snap a well-lit photo. Make copies on the printer or print glossy copies on photo paper at your local photo finishing center. Recipients read the stats off the baby's shirt in the photo, and the inside of the notecard provides space for your personal note.
  
  

Matchbox Announcement

• Cover a matchbox with decorative paper. Use a rotary cutter or straight edge to cut the tiny pieces to the correct size. Glue paper to the box and embellish it with die cut stars, cars or animals. Alternately, affix small stickers to the outside. Place a small card inside the box with the names of the little boy and proud parents. Slide a small token inside the box, such as a colorful diaper pin or wrapped piece of candy.
  
  

Email

• Busy parents may quickly create an online announcement. Follow with a print announcement to immediate family, record-keeping relatives and loved ones without Internet access. Upload your son's photo. Superimpose statistics onto it with a photo editing program. Alternately, Babycenter.com has a tool to create a formatted birth announcement that mimics popular print designs. Upload a photo and type in his vital statistics and the email addresses of your friends.