Admit it. I had you at cheap, didn’t I?
A quick survey of my mom-friends tells me that, while throwing parties is a joy, making it cute, fun, colorful, exciting, (insert positive adjective here)… is expensive. By the time they’re finished planning, sending out invites, decorating and organizing the activities and (gasp) menu, there’s little left over for party favors.
Ah……. Party favors.
Sure, parents loathe them. Most of the contents rarely make it out of the car and often end up wedged in the folds of a car-seat. But kids love them. And I mean l.o.v.e them.
So today I'm excited to share a good handful of party-favors you can customize for your party theme, all under a couple of bucks each. Take a look at what you can do with your scrapbooking stash that's sure to knock the recipient’s socks off AND make your creative side sigh with joy.
Some of these projects can even be great birthday gift ideas!
Project #1: The Personalized Water-Bottle
If you go to the Target dollar aisle right now, you’ll see a collection of metal water-bottles. They come in a couple of colors (pink, blue, silver) and are cheap. That’s right -- $2.50/each.
Add some fun rub-on images and letters and you’ve got a cute party-favor that will sure to get used!
Rub-ons are available in every theme possible, so you can customize these to fit the theme of your party. They’re hand-washable and will look so cool in the t-ball dugout.
Project #2: Flower Hair Clips
If you haven’t made these before, I urge you to give it a try. They’re so easy to make, and the best part, they look expensive, but they’re not! I bought a strip of specialty bobby pins (I bought Bow-Tique bobby pins by Horizon) at Michael's – 6/$1.99.
Using the many felt, fabric and even paper flowers I had in my stash, I created these darling clips that will actually get worn! If the flowers come with any kind of foam or sticky adhesive, simply remove and stick to the flat metal pad on the clip using a hot-glue gun. Be sure to buy the kind of clips that have a flat surface to which you can glue your flower. If you can't find them at a big name craft store, I know you can find them on Ebay. Just search for "bobby pins with pads" and you'll find all sorts of colors!
Project #3: Re-Packaged Game Baggies
I just love what Beth Proudfoot did here using her American Crafts stash. She purchased a variety of these cool sports games in the dollar section of Michael’s. She removed the top packaging that came with the games and replaced it with her own. She simply cut a square of patterned paper, folded it over the top and embellished and stapled to the baggie. You could even customize a top that says, “Thank you for coming!” Tons of possibilities here. I can’t wait to try this one myself!
Project #4: Personalized Book Plates
I created these book plates using this ridiculously expensive font and this dingbat. If you’re looking for another cute girly font, how about this one, or this font and possibly this dingbat (originally from Cheryl Overton's post back in October) for a boy who has Star-Wars on the brain. I created the square design in Adobe Illustrator, but you could easily use Photoshop or even Word (text boxes) to create your own design. I printed my labels on this sticker paper by Avery, and trimmed them in to neat little squares.
Not only would these make a darling goody-bag, they could be paired with a special book or book-light as a birthday gift for the reader in your life.
These are just so easy to make! All you need are dingbat fonts, printable sticker paper and a printer.
Project #5: 1st Birthday Bibs
I realize this will speak only to those of you with babies in your lives, but wouldn’t it be fun to supply all the babies at your 1 year old’s birthday with their own party bibs? You could personalize each one with the child’s initial, and a #1 for the birthday baby, of course!
This bib came together in a matter of minutes, plus the hand-stitching, which took another 10 or so. I hand-cut the bib by tracing an old bib I had still in the house (we have NO baby stuff anymore, so it’s a wonder I could even find one!) and cutting out with scissors. I used craft/felt/fabric glue to attach the felt circle and number 1, then I hand-stitched around the circle with embroidery floss. To finish it off, I added a coordinating button and cut a slip on the opposite neckband for the button to go through. It’s surprisingly durable, though not washable, so save it for a time when you have your camera out!
Project #6: So Very Glad Labels
Do you have a Trader Joe’s near you? I love their clear plastic boxes of chocolates. They come in a variety of delicious flavors. I borrowed Beth's repackaging idea on this box of chocolate covered pomegranate seeds.
I added some patterned paper from October Afternoon and a unique label to show how this grocery store treat can be turned into a party-favor or gift idea. Of course there are tons of uses for this label. You could attach it to a jar of homemade bath salts, or simply tie to the top of a package.
You can download a page of 6 labels here. Just print on heavy white cardstock and cut out with a circle trimmer like this one.
Project #7: Gift-Card Holder
And since we're sharing birthday gift ideas, too, look at this darling gift-card holder Emily Pitts made! If you have a Silhouette, you can find pillow box templates in the Silhouette store.
If not, here's a link to one you can download and use with any old pair of scissors: visit this link to Carolyn's Stamp Store and scroll down. There are templates you can download, both small AND large.
So that's it! I hope you've found at least ONE party favor or gift idea that tickles your fancy. :) Come back tomorrow as I share a little about celebrating birthdays. I'll have a number of birthday layouts and cards shared by our WCS ladies, along with some links for those who are looking for starting new birthday family traditions.
Happy Friday!
