Give Yourself a Week To Gather Your Party Favor Supplies

Do you like to make your own party favors?  If so, do yourself a favor and pencil in at least a week to gather the supplies.  I give my self three weeks to do favors for a party: one week to gather and two weeks to make them.

When my timeline says "Plan favors," I create something similar to the photo above.  I've already brainstormed the favors by this point, so I know what I want to do/make.  During the planning stage, I make a list of the favors, a list of what I need to gather and/or buy, and a list of the things I need to make.  This only takes 15 minutes but it saves me so much time as the party draws near!  

I do this well before it's time for me to actually make the favors.  In fact, I "plan favors" four weeks before I actually start making them.

"Why in the world do you do that?" you ask.  It's simple.

When there is an impending deadline of completing a task like favors for a party, I find my mind starts to race and feel like it's already behind.  By planning everything out when the party is still weeks away, I allow my mind to relax and focus. I give it time to ponder exactly what I want to do, without worrying about whether or not I actually have time to do it.

In my opinion, this is the key to throwing a great party without having to say, "THIS would be such a cool thing to do, but I just don't have the time."  By planning well in advance what it is you actually want to do, you have an idea of how long it will take you and how much time you need to give yourself to create your masterpiece.

Once I have made my lists, I continue to follow my timeline and work on other aspects of the party until 4 weeks later when it's time to start gathering my favor supplies.

Since I've know for a month what it is that I want to do/make, it's quite possible that I have found most of the supplies during regular shopping trips (often on sale!) and I don't have much to gather.  But if not, I have a week to gather them.

Amazon prime is quickly becoming my shopping method of choice for things like this.  You cannot beat free 2-day shipping to your door!  If it's something I can't get on amazon, I will sometimes take the four weeks to visit Hobby Lobby or Michael's and use a 50% off coupon.  This is a luxury you have when you plan ahead, since you can usually only use the coupons on one item and will likely need several supplies for your favors.

During the next two weeks I work on making the favors.  It doesn't usually take me anywhere near two weeks- usually only 1-2 nights with my partner in crime (aka my sister) helping.  But having two weeks keeps me from feeling under the gun and makes the whole planning process more FUN for me.


And enjoying the party planning process is my goal for any party I throw.  While studying happiness for her Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin found that we tend to feel happier when we relish in the anticipation leading up to an event and that we often enjoy the anticipation more than the event itself.

I find that to be true with party planning as well.  When hosting a party, you are often pulled in several directions and fluttering around to make sure all runs smoothly.  Why not enjoy the planning and make yourself happier?

When is your next party?  What can you do for 15 minutes this week to make it a HIT and a BLAST to plan?  Check out my 12 week timeline  or the online timeline I created and start planning!

Use this great interactive FREE project website for your next party

Want a new way to organize your to do list?  Have you tried scrumy?  It's a free website (you can pay for upgraded features) that helps you organize any project.

I love that you can drag and drop tasks as you start and complete them.  I also love that you can work with other people on the same project and each team member can update the tasks in real time.

I'm sure there are much more advanced programs that do the same thing in a flashier way, but this is really easy to use- sometimes less is more!  And it's F-R-E-E, which I love.

Of course, I have been using scrumy to keep track of my party planning.  Here's a timeline I made for you to play around with.  Have fun!

It's Tea Time: A Delightful Tea Party Fit For Any Princess

Tea parties are always so much fun, and pretty easy to pull off with flair.  A friend is planning a tea party for her daughter's 4th birthday and I have had a blast helping her come up with ideas.

She found an adorable assortment of hats for the girls to adorn themselves with upon arrival.  Feather boas would be a fun addition too. Girls of this age love to dress up, and anything fancy will work for a tea party!

Decor is easy- anything pink or pastel will create a magical tea time.  A borrowed pink cloth table cloth and napkins help to add a grown-up feel to this playful party, which makes the party all the more fun for the little ones.  They love dressing up and "being grown-up."

An assortment of tea cups and saucers will also add whimsy.  A quick google search found the above assortment on goodwill.com.  Several mixed sugar and creamer sets, placed strategically on the table will allow the girls to practice serving themselves without having to reach too far around the table.  You could search thrift stores and garage sales, but for something like this I would probably borrow from friends.  Don't we all have a set that came with our wedding china?

You could also borrow the tea cups, but I think it would be fun to send each child home with their teacup as a party favor.

Tea food is so much fun.  Strawberries and cream are easy to do ahead (whip the cream within 30 minutes of the party and keep in a chilled bowl in the fridge) and are so elegant but also kid-friendly. Strawberries are on The DIRTY DOZEN list, so I really think it's worth buying organic ones.

Cucumber and cream cheese (or toffuti for those who are dairy-free) sandwiches are a must-have.  Cut off the crusts and cut into shapes and a regular old sandwich becomes extra fancy!  Fluffernutter sandwiches would also be a fun treat.

Scones and lemon curd are a tea time staple and are easy to make ahead.

The only other thing needed for a traditional tea is petit fours.  These dainty little cakes are absolutely delectable and gorgeous, but IMHO are labor intensive and time-consuming.  I would definitely purchase these from your favorite bakery.

For a craft, I love the idea of making a tea tray to carry their tea cups and saucers home on!  IHeartorganizing has a quick and easy tutorial for this.

I would pre-paint the "found" frames, but an assortment of scrapbook paper to size, and let the girls choose their paper to complete their tray.  You could even let them decorate the paper with stickers or crayons before putting it inside the frame.  If you have access to a photo printer, a tea-time print of each child would make this a keepsake of the event.

You could also use the tea cups or the tray for the invitation, but I like the idea of a little tea tin filled with an assortment of teas.  You could personalize each one and put the invitation details right on the tin. I love the idea of giving guests something that will create PARTY BUZZ.  Being able to sample different teas and seeing the invitation on the tin is sure to get the kiddos excited each time they brew a bag.

And as for the TEA, for little ones, I like to use Celestial Seasonings Fruit Teas.  They are easy to find, cost effective and the fruit teas are caffeine free.  If you buy the sampler on amazon, you can use a few to stuff each tea tin and still have plenty left for the party at the tea.  Gather a few different tea pots and brew an assortment of teas for the kids to enjoy.  For children, I like to put an ice cube in each cup and pour the hot tea over it.  This quickly cools the tea, but without a splash.

I think it's always a good idea to have a play area set up.  For this party, it might be fun to borrow 2-3 kid sized tables and stage a bear tea party at them in an open play area.  You could borrow some plastic tea sets and "set" the table for the party.  The children can play tea party while you set up for each activity.

I cannot wait to attend this party!  Now I'm off to brew some tea...

Wrap your teacher's door!

Maybe it's because I miss toilet-papering houses, or maybe it's because I miss decorating bulletin boards (no, that can't be it!)...but I LOVE the idea of wrapping a door.

Skip to my Lou has some great ideas for wrapping your teacher's door for Teacher Appreciation week.

I definitely plan to do this for Monkey's teacher.  I will visit the class the week before and have each student write a note to the teacher on a post-it.  Then early Monday morning, I will "wrap" the teacher's door.  I chose the "We're Stuck on You" one because 1) It's quick and easy and 2) If the teachers wants a keepsake from the door, she can keep the individual post-it notes.

If you want to do this too, go ahead and add the dates to your calendar now so it doesn't sneak up on you (I also like to have an email reminder sent from the calendar the week of, as a reminder):

• Buy chart paper (you might be able to get some from the PTA) and post-its **before or on April 29th
• Die cut any letters (you can probably use the teacher workroom)  **before or on April 29th
• Visit your child's class and let children write notes on post-its  **April 29th  
• Arrive at school early to "wrap" the door **May 2nd

If you don't have a teacher to "wrap," this would also be a super fun birthday tradition.  For my husband's 21st birthday (we were dating then), I wrapped the inside of the front door.  It was lots of fun to make, and it was a great conversation starter for the party that night.

Forget the toilet paper, grab some chart paper and start WRAPPING!

FREE Personalized Mother's Day Gifts...ACT FAST!

Until April 13th, Snapfish has a BUY 1, GET 2 FREE photo mug offer.  That's one for you, and two for each of the grandmothers for Mother's Day.  Act fast- it's only good for 2 more days.  Use Code: 11MUGS.

Spring Has Sprung!

Keep on track with this adorable carrot kitchen timer available at World Market!  Only 2.99!

Cute basket stuffer or spring party favor that won't break the bank.  And useful:  "Mommy, has it been 5 minutes yet??"

Time to think about TEACHER APPRECIATION!

This year, teacher appreciation week is May 2-6th.  When I taught, I LOVED this week.  My favorite part was the luncheon each year- put on by the PTA.  So yummy!  Not sure I can pull a luncheon together this year, since it's right around the corner.

But that doesn't mean I can't pull off something spectacular.

The big challenge with something like this is that I want to accomplish 2 goals:

1) I want to spoil Monkey's teacher to show her how much we love her

2) I want to enable ALL the students in Monkey's class to spoil the teacher.  I always felt sorry for those kiddos that showed up empty handed when other kids brought gifts.  Not because I cared about the gifts, but because they wanted a way to show their appreciation too and weren't able for whatever reason.

So...I'm thinking a week's worth of little surprises for the teacher, to be brought in by whichever students can participate.  I want most of these surprises to be things that can be easily acquired, so parents don't have to scramble.

Something like this...

Dear Parents,

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 2-6 this year.  I know we all want to show Mrs. _____ how much we love her!  Let's shower her with gifts each day next week:

Monday:  Please send a handwritten note from you or your child letting Mrs. ____ how much we appreciate her.

Tuesday:  Please send a pencil or other writing utensil to school with your child to show Mrs. ____ we think she has the WRITE stuff.

Wednesday:  Please send 1 piece of candy or small treat to school with your child to show Mrs. ____ how SWEET we think she is.

Thursday:  Please send a small snack (nuts, trail mix, etc.) to school with your child to show Mrs. ____ we are NUTS about her.

Friday:  Please send 1 dollar to school.  The students will present an Itunes gift card to Mrs. _____ to show her we think she ROCKS.

I will also be decorating her door early Monday morning of that week (so she can enjoy it all week)...more on that to come.

If you want to do this along with me, here's the to do list:

• Write the letter (or just cut and paste the one above)
• Have it translated
• Make copies and seal; send to school for teacher to send home
• Decorate a basket for the kids to put the gifts in
• Make small signs for each day (Mrs.  ____, you have the WRITE stuff!)
• Buy the Itunes gift card
• Visit the class the Friday before to remind students about the plan and to answer any questions

Easy-peasy, but with a BIG IMPACT, and a way for every student to participate. 

Stay tuned for door-wrapping ideas for your teacher too!