After my post on the Self-Budgeted Birthday Party, I asked Vivian of HipWriterMama what she used for the birthday party favors to which she alluded in the comments. With her permission, I shall share with you what she wrote:
Here are some party favor ideas--I start shopping for these a few months ahead of time, so I can catch sales and have time to make things, if needed.
Paint pens are awesome, because you can personalize anything--which goes a long way. Plastic containers, cosmetic bags, etc.
For the younger crowd:
-Plastic pencil boxes in different colors (from Target, Staples, etc.) - on sale, you can get them for around 50 cents to $1.
-Box of 24 count Crayola crayons - again, you can get these on sale for less than $1.
-Assorted Sticker Sheets
I assemble these little goodies in the box and then paint the child's name on the box with the paint pens. Once the paint is dry, gift wrap and you're good to go. This usually costs less than $3 per child.
Beauty goody bag:
-Nail polish
-Bonnie Bell Lip Smacker
-Special Playlist CD's (you can make cool CD labels with the birthday child's name and date, etc.)
Cosmetic Bag ($1 bin at Target)
-Paint name of child on it.
-Add something simple in it. Lip gloss, nail polish or something unusual a child can collect in it.
Journal goody bag:
-Cool pen
-Journal/Notebook/Diary
-Special Playlist CD
Rock Star goody bag for the younger crowd:
-There are these great plastic microphones over at Target about $2 each.
-Add special CD and you're good to go.
Books (Check for book sales, Amazon, Scholastic Book Club, etc.)
Use your imagination! You can find lots of great things for small $$, if you plan ahead.
What are your ideas? Please post them in the comments. As I told Vivian, other than the one year we handed out little harmonicas, party guests have always received seed packets.
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7 comments:
Those are great favor ideas! Thanks to Vivian, and to you for posting them here.
I love putting together the favors for my kids' parties, too. Lately we've made the "favor" be something the kids can make or wear (or both) during the party. One year I made Little Red Riding Hood kerchiefs and green felt Robin Hood caps, and this year, I made the Madeline capes and hats I wrote about on my blog. Leo had an Ancient Greek Olympics party last year--I made togas (just a rectangle of muslin fastened with a fancy brooch (aka button on a safety pin) at one shoulder, and the kids made gold medals out of sculpey clay, which I then baked and hung on blue ribbons for them to wear around their necks. At the end of the party they were all crowned with (Otto Luykens, from the backyard) laurel wreaths. None of these things cost more than a dollar or two to make (including the Madeline costumes, which were fashioned from felt, ribbon, and paper plates).
The kids seem to like doing it this way, but sometimes it's nice to give a little something, too. If the party guests are all the same age (more or less), you can use fusible interfacing to attach the magic number (cut out of a fun fabric) to an inexpensive t-shirt, roll it up and tie with a ribbon.
I'll stop now :)
Thanks, Anamaria! I got a kick out of the toga-representation-- it's like the "gesture" of the toga as opposed to the toga itself. Of course, now I'm thinking of Rome season 1 when the wife of Lucius Vorenus exclaims "Look at you" as she admires LV in his new toga, and Titus Pullo says, "You look like laundry."
Ah, the glory that was (the HBO series) Rome. It ruined television for me--how can anything else be as good?
I think togas really were large rectangles of fabric!
Anamaria: Good to know! I was picturing little handkerchiefs.
Love the ancient Greek theme! Going to have to steal it!
Since my older daughter's birthday is on Halloween, we had many a Halloween-themed costume party. I would often buy the little tiny 50-cent pumpkins at the pumpkin patch and have the kids paint them during the party and take them home(we also played "hot pumpkin" with them). We also had a game where we'd roll little tiny Halloween toys from the party store up in a giant ball of orange and black crepe paper and have them unroll the ball and "mummify" themselves with unrolled crepe until they found a prize they got to keep. And I'd fill those little plastic pumpkin containers with candy. Had them decorate pillowcases at a slumber party one year, sculpy barrettes once, too. One time only we had the party at a "place" - a bead store where they each got to make a bracelet and barrette to take home. That was cool and kept me from having to clean house when I had a little baby.
At the LSB's party in June, we had the kids decorate paper gift bags and cardboard butterflies with markers and stickers and "jewels" and then when the kids were playing, we stuffed their bags with their butterfly, crayons, butterfly stickers, a butterfly coloring book and a blank comic book for them to color. The colors and stickers and coloring books we got in party packs from Party City at very reasonable prices and the blank comic books are from www.barebooks.com, my new favorite money sucker - they are so very cool.
Anamaria-
Wow! Now I'm going to have to try making these, though my sewing skills are not the greatest.
Lone Star Ma-
Holiday birthdays are fun! Great ideas!
Farida-
I love the harmonica and seed packet ideas. One year we did an outdoor arts and craft--the kids painted small clay pots and we added the glittery spray finish afterwards (idea taken from a pottery party one of my children went to). The kids really spent time creating their artwork and couldn't wait to show their parents. I was happy since the project was very affordable and the clay pots looked fantastic!
Oooh, we're having a birthday party for an 11-year-old today, and our goodie bags contain little tiny tins of bath salts, bath fizzies, tiny notebooks, pens, bubbles, and some candies. Plus the girls are all painting boxes in the shape of books, for hiding their "treasure" in - we're having a treasure hunt that ends with the goodie bags.
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