Daily Party Dish

Sesame Street Birthday Party Favor Bag Ideas

I have an almost-four year old for whom the sun rises and sets with Sesame Street!  There is no other TV show worth watching (my apologies to Dora and Arthur).  So when it came time to plan his birthday party, it was a no brainer – a Sesame Street party was the only choice!  The party itself was easy to plan, craft, games, cake an Elmo piñata, but the party bags took a little more thought.  I am not a fan of party bags filled with junk.  I don’t think that every bag needs to be educational, but it doesn’t have to be “sugar shock” waiting to happen either.  After bit of thought, and consultation with my son, here is a list of fun favors bearing the birthday child’s seal of approval – an honor not easily earned!

Young children love alliteration and mine is no different.  Therefore, we tried very hard to assign a Sesame Street character’s name to each item and then placed a small label on it.  This took a few extra minutes but was such a big hit that it was well worth it.

• Big Bird Bubbles
• Bert’s Bouncing Balls
• Curly Bear Crayons and Coloring Books
• Snuffy’s Stickers
• Ernie’s Rubber Ducky
• The Count’s Cards – simple card games like Old Maid or Go Fish are great and often come as 4 decks packaged together making them an economical purchase too.
• Cookie Monster’s Cookies – buy or bake a Cookie Monster shaped cookie, or include a cookie cutter and small jar of Play Dough to go with it.
• Oscar’s Trash Can Candy – novelty candy stores sell tiny trash cans filled with candy.  They’re very cute and certainly stick with the theme.
• Grover’s Groovy Games – small, handheld games that imitate pinball machines, race tracks or mazes are always great.

As an extra special treat, add a Sesame Street character finger puppet to the bag!    The children will think they’re tons of fun and play with them long after the party is over.

You have plenty of cute options for what to put your favors in. Here are a few fun ones I came across while gathering my ideas:

I spotted these cute diy bags on Be Festive.

I am not artisitc enough to pull these off, but the pails are really fun! Seen on babylifestyles.

Party411.com also has fun custom favors that will match any Sesame Street birthday party! You can check out more fun ideas in our Sesame Street Theme Inspired Birthday Party!

Bridal Shower Favors: Set Up a Candy Buffet

 

I love the idea of having a candy or chocolate buffet at a bridal shower. Candy is the perfect party favor... everyone loves it! My cousin recently had a beautiful teal theme bridal shower and the candy buffet they set up for it was great.

Take a cue from them and set up this fun bridal shower favor for yourself. Here are the 4 things that will make it a success -

Containers to display your candy. Choose interesting glass vases or large jars. Look around for interesting shapes. It looks best when the candy jars have a variety of heights and shapes. Make sure the opening is big enough for your hand or scoopers!

Scoops. Fun metal scoops are great for a candy buffet. You can get these online or at a restaurant supply store. You can always use spoons or let people use their hands for wrapped candy.

CANDY! Of course you need to get an assortment of candy for your display. Here are some ideas:

• All chocolate – Tasty and easy to find candy for.
• Specific colors – If your event has a color scheme, then choose candy to match. My wedding was pink, white and silver, so all our candy or wrappers were in those colors, like pink rock candy, pink and white M&Ms, silver Kisses, etc.
• Nostalgic candy – There are many places online and many candy stores that sell penny candy or candy from specific decades.
• Your favorites – you don’t need a theme for your candy buffet. Part of the fun is just going to the store and picking out your favorites!

How much candy should you buy? Anywhere between 1/4 LB to 1/2 LB per guest. It's important to remember how you are going to display the candy. Buy enough to fill the containers you are going to use so the candy buffet looks good.

Bags. You’ll want bags or other fun containers for your guests to use to keep their candy. Clear cello bags with tags are easy to do. Chinese takout containers are available at many craft stores and work well for candy buffets. You can easily get pre-printed bags to display on the table. Check out our custom bridal shower favor bags for some great designs.

Add a cute saying on your candy buffet table or on your bags -

• "How Sweet It Is"
• "It's been a 'treat' having you here!"
• "Thanks for being so Sweet, Please take a Treat"
• "Love is Sweet, Please Take a Treat!"
• "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice"
• "Grab a Bag, Take a Treat, Enjoy the Sugar Buzz, Love is Sweet!"
• "Fill your bag with Treats, Love is Sweet"
• "It was so Sweet of you to join us! Please help yourself to some candy."

Here are a few more candy buffet tips:

• Some people have allergies, so you may want to skip any candy or chocolate with nuts. If you use them, then add a small sign next to the candy saying it has nuts.
• Perfect for a candy buffet...something salty! And it doesn't have to be candy (potato chips, pretzels)
• Utilize post-holiday candy discounts to save big on the candy purchase.

Have a sweet time!

• Bridal Shower Ideas from Party411.com
• Bridal Shower Party Games
  

New Product: Custom Candy Sticks

We’re very excited about our newest product over here at Party411.com, Custom Candy Sticks!  These “sticks” are 8” long plastic tubes filled with candy and tagged off with a personalized message for your guests.  Choose from M&Ms, skittles and gumballs…yum!  You can even specify which color candy you would like! 

Try them placed together in a vase for a bright, fun and functional centerpiece!  Or put one at each place setting at a party.  You could even add a tag with seating information and turn them into seating cards.  There are so many possibilities for these adorable favors. 

Check out the Custom Candy Sticks in our Custom Candy Section!

New 2010 Halloween Invitations

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Costumes, candy and parties are all ingredients for a great holiday. Almost everybody gets dressed up, and more often than not I go over the top with my party and costume (of course).

Some people have the reputation of fantastically over the top wonderful parties (ahem). I honestly believe these type of parties start with an incredible invitation. We went all out this year and designed a brand new line of invitations that will make your guests scream with delight, and then RSVP faster than you can say "BOO!". 

You can see even more designs on our Facebook page in the 2010 Halloween Invitations Album. Let us know what you think. And remember Trick or Treat!

 

 

Pirate Bottle Label Printables For I.T.L.A.P.D.

We’re getting closer and closer to International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which means the anticipation is building here at Party411.com.  If you don’t remember ITLAPD is a holiday for us.

 

We are here to deliver on our promise from Are you Ready for ITLAPD. We are making sure you have your Pirate Bottle Label Printables for your Pirate party. Because you know you’re going to have one now, right? :)

These bottle labels will fit on Avery 5168 shipping labels, which are 3-1/2 x 5". Perfect for your soda bottles or even the rum bottle!

If you want more ideas or inspiration for your Pirate party don’t forget our Pirate Adventure and Pirate Halloween Party. Both will help you plan an awesome party for International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Woodstock Anniversary Friendship Bracelets

When you think of Woodstock, you think of peace and love, right?  Well, celebrate peace and love by making 60s inspired friendship bracelets for your friends.

 

You need to start with an assortment of embroidery floss or string that you can get at most craft stores.  I chose 5 colors, but you can pick as many as you like.  (The more string you use, the wider the bracelet)

 

Start by cutting strands of the floss to about 6 times the length you’ll want the bracelet.  That should give you plenty!  Then make a knot near the top.  Leave room to tie the bracelet together.  Then clip the top (above the knot) to a clipboard.  I find adding a safety pin makes the bracelet stay on the clipboard better.  I used to tie them to my pants, but that’s your call.

Here are the “knotting” instructions:  

Step 1:  Take two pieces of floss from the right side of your bracelet and make a “4” shape with the left string (the blue in my picture) crossing over the right string (pink in my picture)

 

Step II:  Pull the left string (blue) under and through the right string (pink) and back over itself.  Holding the right string in one hand, pull the left string you’re your other hand tightly to make a knot.  Repeat this with the same two strings.  (You will do this 2 times for every color)

 

Step III:  Your “left” string now moves off to the right and you repeat the same step with the next string.  Hint: the piece to the furthest right on your bracelet will move left with you for the entire row, but you will not see that color in that row. 

  

When you get to the end of the row, start again on the right!

Repeat, repeat, repeat until you get the length you need!  Tie it on a friend’s wrist and you’re all set!