DD's birthday was a month ago. I gave out PEZ dispensers and a sheet of stickers. Everyone went home happy!
DD's birthday was a month ago. I gave out PEZ dispensers and a sheet of stickers. Everyone went home happy!
Mommy to my One & Only 05.07
So, yeah, if you haven't made bean bags before, I learned this the hard way after making a dozen bean bags filled with rice for my kids: put the rice in a small ziplock baggie before you sew them in the fabric, and then double-stitch each seam.
We stopped doing the bag o' crappy, lead-coated choking hazards a few years ago - we stick to a few cookies in a cello bag from a local bakery, and I make a hangtag or sticker for the cello bags that fits with the theme, like this:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/...4e35d419_b.jpg
or this:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2792/...da108a7e_b.jpg
Last year, there was a FA kid in my son's class, so he got some stickers.
I just made some bean bags for a class activity. I would recommend sewing a plain bag for the beans out of something like muslin and then putting that inside another bag with nicer fabric. They were really quick and easy, and I love the idea of using them for party favors - if you only count the amount of fabric I used and the beans, the 8 bags I made maybe cost $3-4? (Hard to say - I bought lots of fabric because it was cute and I knew I'd use it for something else.)
For DD2's birthday party, I was planning on getting some UV reactive pony beads and having the kids make bracelets with them as both an activity and a favor, but considering DD2 will be too small to do that herself (she'll be the by far the youngest there) I'm going to save that idea until she's older. Target has giant bubble wands for $2, so I'm giving those instead. Fun for all ages!
Sarah
Mommy to:
Carolyn, 10/04
Anna, 7/08
Matthew, 8/13
For DD's 6th Birthday we got pencil/art supply boxes from Michael's for $1 each and a box of 64 crayons also for $1 each from Michael's. I put a cute label on the box that read "Thank your coming to DD's 6th Birthday Party", put the box of crayons inside it and handed them out to each kid attending from ages 2 to 8. Big hit with the parents and the kids and DD.
Our party is a LEGO theme this year - - i actually found LEGO toothbrushes at FIVE BELOW for $1 each and they have a little LEGO man inside each one. If they don't need it for at home - they can use it for travel this summer...my kids seems to go through a TON of toothbrushes somehow? I'm putting this together with LEGO candy I bought. I figured at least moms won't be too upset with candy if i'm giving a toothbrush with it!!
I am so glad you recussitated this thread. That chalk is awesom! I just learned last week that the t-shirt shop that I love and use for all of DS's t-shirts for all his bday parties has closed. This particular chalk is a great idea. So different and interesting. I'm bookmarking this chick for all kinds of gift ideas, and I'd even be willing to do a goodie bag for this. I love this. Thank you!
* Charter member of the BBB I Love Brussels Sprouts Society
* I do not fix my typos. I shuold, but I dodn't.
* I regret tucking my jeans into my socks with Reebok high-tops well into 1994.
I know this is not an answer per se, but I am with the OP's DH. I stopped doing goody bags because it became a competitive type of thing. Seriously, the bags got more and more elaborate with every party we went to....so I put my foot down and said "No more". It has saved me money and heartache and, I am sure, has saved other parents from grief as well. Less is more.
I don't do goody bags either. I just can't stand getting them so I don't give them out either. If we have balloons for decorations, we give them out to the kids at the end of the party. Sometimes we do a craft as part of the party, and then they take it home with them. That's the extent of it. The kids don't seem to care that there is no goody bag.