Talk about a waste of money and teaching all the incorrect lessons – goody bags just about take the cake. Since when do we need a ‘bribe’ to get kids to attend a birthday party?

My guess is it’s since the party supply people realized they could get us to spend a excellent chunk of money on their plastic toys that no one ever plays with and candy that the kids shouldn’t eat. At a minimum of about per child, and often way more, goody bags are a birthday party expense you can easily eliminate. Spend your money on more vital stuff – like the games to keep the kids engaged and having fun.

Granted- it’s not simple to be the first to break the goody bag tradition, but you can do it without spending much money. If your party group would delight in a craft activity as part of the party, then you’re all set and can send their completed craft home as the party favor. But not all groups like crafts: boys and older kids are generally not into this sort of activity.

The next best alternative is the Do-It-Yourself party favor, but it doesn’t need to be time consuming and a pain in the neck. Share the job with your birthday child and you’ll even get some nice ‘together time’ out of the project. Any ‘hands on’ type chore can be done in front of the TV some evening, and the job will be painless.

Save your money, and break the goody bag tradition, with any of these 3 quick do-it-yourself party favors:

Play-date Give Away: These party guests are your child’s friends, so you know they’ll be around your house in the future. Chances are pretty excellent that you’ll be taking these play-date duo’s to the movies, for ice cream, ice skating, to the park, having a sleep-over… you get the thought. Pretty these activities up on a card you print out on your computer, even wrap the cards up with wrapping paper scraps, and you’ve got a delightful party favor. You can personalize the cards as you print them. Better still, since it becomes a simple activity to end your party, make it a grab bag!

Picture Perfect: You’ll want photos from your child’s party, so double duty them as party favors. Kids like pictures of themselves, and the sillier the better. Take a few digital frames of each guest with the birthday child, maybe wearing silly hats or striking a silly pose. Your party helper can choose the best of each guest, print them out, and glue them into you ready-made paper frames. Design and print out your frames ahead of time with WORD, and cut them down to standard photo frame size, so they’re all ready to go. It costs a small extra, but using photo paper for printing the pictures really adds to it, and you can place 2 or 3 on each sheet so it’s not so expensive.

More Show than Substance: They say that presentation is everything. Make your party favor so pretty that it matters small what’s inside. A single chocolate candy in a reusable origami box, perhaps including printed instructions for making the box, is an inexpensive but delightful party favor. The internet is full of instructions for making origami containers, and you can make them with your birthday child. You don’t need to buy origami paper if the container you make doesn’t have too many folds: just cut your normal sized computer paper into an 8 ½” square. You can even print your paper with colorful clip art appropriately placed once you know where to place it for the folded container.

I reckon you’ll agree that these 3 inexpensive party favors are a whole lot nicer than those plastic bags full of junk. Place on your do-it-yourself hat and you’ll come up with many more party favor thoughts that cost next to nothing.

I am plotting a birthday party for a small child and need to give gift bag party favors and need cheap toys to place in them. I know about Arne’s and Dollar Stores – I’m looking for cheaper, such as a couple of cents per item.

Talk about a waste of money and teaching all the incorrect lessons – goody bags just about take the cake. Since when do we need a ‘bribe’ to get kids to attend a birthday party? My guess is it’s since the party supply people realized they could get us to spend a excellent chunk of money on their plastic toys that no one ever plays with and candy that the kids shouldn’t eat. At a minimum of about $2 per child, and often way more, goody bags are a birthday party expense you can easily eliminate. Spend your money on more vital stuff – like the games to keep the kids engaged and having fun. Granted- it’s not simple to be the first to break the goody bag tradition, but you can do it without spending much money. If your party group would delight in a craft activity as part of the party, then you’re all set and can send their completed craft home as the party favor. But not all groups like crafts: boys and older kids are generally not into this sort of activity. The next best alternative is the Do-It-Yourself party favor, but it doesn’t need to be time consuming and a pain in the neck. Share the job with your birthday child and you’ll even get some nice ‘together time’ out of the project. Any ‘hands on’ type chore can be done in front of the TV some evening, and the job will be painless. Save your money, and break the goody bag tradition, with any of these 3 quick do-it-yourself party favors:Play-date Give Away: These party guests are your child’s friends, so you know they’ll be around your house in the future. Chances are pretty excellent that you’ll be taking these play-date duo’s to the movies, for ice cream, ice skating, to the park, having a sleep-over. . . you get the thought. Pretty these activities up on a card you print out on your computer, even wrap the cards up with wrapping paper scraps, and you’ve got a delightful party favor. You can personalize the cards as you print them. Better still, since it becomes a simple activity to end your party, make it a grab bag!Picture Perfect: You’ll want photos from your child’s party, so double duty them as party favors. Kids like pictures of themselves, and the sillier the better. Take a few digital frames of each guest with the birthday child, maybe wearing silly hats or striking a silly pose. Your party helper can choose the best of each guest, print them out, and glue them into you ready-made paper frames. Design and print out your frames ahead of time with WORD, and cut them down to standard photo frame size, so they’re all ready to go. It costs a small extra, but using photo paper for printing the pictures really adds to it, and you can place 2 or 3 on each sheet so it’s not so expensive. More Show than Substance: They say that presentation is everything. Make your party favor so pretty that it matters small what’s inside. A single chocolate candy in a reusable origami box, perhaps including printed instructions for making the box, is an inexpensive but delightful party favor. The internet is full of instructions for making origami containers, and you can make them with your birthday child. You don’t need to buy origami paper if the container you make doesn’t have too many folds: just cut your normal sized computer paper into an 8 ½” square. You can even print your paper with colorful clip art appropriately placed once you know where to place it for the folded container. I reckon you’ll agree that these 3 inexpensive party favors are a whole lot nicer than those plastic bags full of junk. Place on your do-it-yourself hat and you’ll come up with many more party favor thoughts that cost next to nothing.

Holidays like Halloween are a time when we celebrate by eating too much chocolate, chips, candy and other unhealthy items. The sad truth is – our children are becoming increasingly overweight, and most eat too much junk food all year round. Allowing them to collect as much free candy as they can in a couple of hours is sending a message that it is alright to eat junk when it is free/when it is a holiday/ when it is tradition. How can you still let kids have fun but limit the junk? My solution is to replace the candy with fun trick or treat toys. Halloween toys are no costlier than candy, but will last longer. They can be given out as individual items, or smaller ones can be combined in Halloween party favor bags. Kids will collect enough candy from other houses anyways, and most like the surprise of getting fun toys. There are useful toys like: Halloween pencils; erasers; stampers hair elastics; and bouncy balls. There are also craft items to decorate or assemble. Some are just goofy, gooey or spooky novelties that kids like – like plastic spiders; bats; rings; finger puppets; mini skateboards; stuffed toys; etc. In addition to the obvious health benefits of no sugar, there is also no allergy (nut, milk, wheat) concerns with toys. Bringing toys to school poses no risk to other kids with allergies, and parents do not need to search through toys to find potentially harmful allergens. Also, as I often tell my clients, if you don’t bring junk in the house – you can’t be tempted to eat it. I have had many distraught parents say that they bought candy early and finished up eating most of it before Halloween started. The other huge benefit with Halloween toys is that you can store leftovers for next year. Mary Roberts is a nutritionist specializing in natural foods. She writes articles and blogs about healthy nutrition for kids and families at http://kidsnutritionist. blogspot. com. Visit her blog for more information on healthy eating at Halloween and where to buy fun, inexpensive Halloween toys.

Dessert gift bags are bags that contain goodies such as chocolate, candy, flavored popcorn or small pastries. Dessert gifts bags can be novel and nifty presents to give for special occasions. They can be given during birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, wedding showers, or simply as tokens of appreciation. They also provide a chance for business owners to indulge their creative side.   They really provide customers with a convenient alternative of having to go to a shopping mall to choose a gift from a store. Dessert gift bags can also be used as party favors for a birthday, christening or wedding. Below are examples of materials that can be used as effective marketing tools. •    Flyers-Quick, simple and full-color flyer printing can conveniently be done through online printing services. Flyer design including shape, size, color and layout need not be limited to the standard choices of rectangular sizes, dull finishes or selected graphics and text. Business owners can introduce and strengthen the product name with custom designs, colors and sizes that can be uploaded onto online printers’ websites. Flyers today can also be printed with both front and back full color printing. •     Brochures- Brochures can show specialty gift items colorfully and attractively. Brochures are also handy, simple to distribute and can directly communicate with a customer quick. For business owners with a limited budget, cheap brochures can be printed with online printing companies. Brochure printing is usually offered at low or discounted prices for bulk orders. Sample brochures are an effective tool for a quick showcase of products at celebrations and events. •    Catalogs- Catalogs are a fantastic format for an extensive but handy show of product images and information. Printed in full color using customized designs, catalogs make it convenient for customers to make informed decisions about which gift bag item to choose. What’s more, print services also offer saddle-stitch or wire-o binding of catalogs.