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You are here: Home / Archives for Birthday party

Birthday Party: 2011 Strawberry Shortcake Results

August 30, 2011 by Tracy

In preparing for a birthday party in my house, my children are very helpful. They enjoy helping set the itinerary, practicing the games, and assisting with setup. However, at the party, my children do not enjoy being the center of attention. Thus far, both my son and older daughter get embarrassed and shy.

Since I now know this behavior is likely to occur, I decided to keep my daughter with her friends throughout the party. She did much better this year and seemed to enjoy it. Whew!

Greeting Guests

On the day of the event, we were ready a little early to receive our guests. My daughter greeted each girl at the door and brought her friends to the living room to play.

Playing Games

One friend did not care to participate in the games, so this friend continued to play with some toys while the other girls played.

Pass the Orange:  The girls did a great job keeping the orange moving and cheering each other along.

Strawberry Spoon Race: Though my daughter practiced this game and said it was her favorite, she wanted to quit in the middle of her turn. Not sure if she got frustrated, tired, or embarrassed, but the girls who started the game finished. Of course, there were prizes for all.

Strawberry Strawberry Shortcake: My daughter ended up loving this game. Some of the girls forgot to sit back down, so they kept running around the circle. Others were really fast back to their seats. This game received the most giggles and laughter of all the games.

Musical Strawberries: This game was a good idea, but the girls kept stepping on the strawberries and sliding across the carpet. Since I did not want them to get hurt, we revised this game a little and had the girls walk on the outside of the circle. When the music stopped, they needed to be standing next to a strawberry. With this adjustment, the game worked perfectly.

Eating Food

Having my mom help in the kitchen was a blessing. As the girls won the Musical Strawberries cake walk, they went to the kitchen where my mom scooped their choice ice cream and then sat them at the table with their chosen cupcake.

If my mom needed more time, then we kept the music playing. Once my mom seated one child, then we stopped the music and the winner went to the kitchen. Working with one child at a time kept the party calm without chaos.

Once all the girls were served, we sang and let my daughter blow out her candles. Then the girls chatted and enjoyed their food together.

Opening gifts

All the girls came to the living room, sat in a semicircle with their gift, and waited their turn. We started with the winner of the first game giving her gift to my daughter first. Having her friend sit with her, my daughter did not feel embarrassed or the center of attention. This arrangement worked well.

Expressing Gratitude

While Daddy was removing the gifts from their packages for the girls to play, my daughter thanked her friends for attending her party and for all her gifts. I stood with her and encouraged her to thank her friends. I was very proud of her announcement.

Delivering goody bags

With all the goody bags previously packaged with the attendees’ names on the bags, I read the name and allowed my daughter to deliver the bags to each of her friends. She enjoyed giving to her friends.

Playing until pickup

The girls enjoyed sorting through their goody bags, playing, and talking until their parents arrived for pickup.

The party was a success! My daughter enjoyed the party, the girls stayed busy, each activity flowed into the next one without interruptions, and no one got hurt.

By preparing in advance, weighing the cost, and keeping event notes, I followed the itinerary, made adjustments, and enjoyed the process. Birthday parties can be lots of work, but the results are worth all the money, energy, and time. Hope your planned events are running smoothly as well!

Question: What adjustments have you made at an event when the original plan did not work? Please add your answer by clicking the Leave your Comment button.

Filed Under: Event Planning, Coordinating, Birthday Party Tagged With: Birthday party

Birthday Party: Executing your Schedule

May 17, 2011 by Tracy

With the advanced planning complete and the time schedule in place, I was ready to begin executing my schedule. Keeping focused on the task at hand, I cleaned my house Monday through Wednesday. Having a clean house enabled me to continue the birthday preparations when I began again on Friday afternoon.

Since I was really tired on Friday afternoon and I was right on schedule with the birthday activities, I took a little break and rested. Feeling refreshed, I baked the cake. After dinner, I began decorating the cake until the job was finished. Then I stacked the dirty items in the sink, washed the decorating equipment, and stumbled exhausted into bed.

On Saturday morning, I awoke refreshed. Paul and I finished cleaning the kitchen, gathering items for the games, and setting up the outside for the party. After lunch, I set the table while Paul went to pick up the balloons. With the decoration complete, we took a moment to relax. All the planning helped to keep us ahead of time, and we were ready when our first guest arrived.

During the party, I followed my planned schedule. When the snow cones at the end of the 2nd inning took a little longer to make than planned, we began the next game. We finished that game in the 3rd inning after eating our snow cones. Having a time schedule to guide the flow of the party gave me options when I needed to adjust the activities.

The day was beautiful for playing outdoors. When the kids were in the sun and running around, they quickly overheated. We took a number of water breaks, but they were still hot. At the end of the 5th inning, the older boys begged for more games, but the younger ones desired rest. What to do? We adjusted our schedule again. Instead of playing the two additional games, we jumped ahead in our schedule to the 7th inning stretch. With clean hands, the kids sat around the “big table” in our dining room to sing and eat cake and ice cream. They enjoyed sitting and chatting with each other over sugared foods.

By this time we were ahead of schedule. The kids were all excited and ready for the 8th and 9th innings. We finished the rearranged schedule about 25 minutes early. With the extra time, the kids enjoyed free play outside. Those who were tired rested while most of the boys ran around and played together.

Overall, the party was a success. The kids had a great time, and the birthday boy enjoyed having his friends come celebrate with him. Having plenty of planned activities allowed me to adjust the games when needed without disrupting the theme of the party.

For a birthday party, my goal is for all the kids to have a great time celebrating together. Do you make adjustments during your events, or do you plug away and follow the prearranged schedule? Leave me a comment with your answer. I’m curious to know how you handle these obstacles at an event.

Filed Under: Birthday Party, Event Planning, Coordinating Tagged With: adjusting, Birthday party

Birthday Party: Weighing the Cost

May 3, 2011 by Tracy

With children’s birthday parties, the urge to “keep up with Joneses” and have a huge party may cross your mind. I know that as a mom I want the best for my kids, but I also have a budget and other obligations to consider. At this time, my budget cannot hold a $200 birthday party. Does that mean that the party has to be dull and boring? Absolutely NOT! Here are some of my “out of the box” ideas to hosting a great birthday party on a $50-$100 budget:

Schedule the party between meal times. Cake and ice cream is more cost-efficient than pizza or submarine sandwiches with the fixings.

Create and print your own invitations and thank you notes. Using Microsoft Word or Publisher, I enjoy designing a unique and creative invitation geared for our planned party. I usually design my invitations and thank you notes to fit 4 on an 8.5” x 11” page. For good quality, I send them to a copy center and have them printed in color on white glossy card stock. The result is 24 invitations and 24 thank you notes for under $4. I could easily pay $3 for 12 invitations and still need to write out the information. By creating my own, I can customize them to my theme and save money from purchasing pre-made cards.

Use paper products you have on hand. If you purchase solid color party supplies, then one set can be used for more than one party. The bright blues, reds, pinks, and purples are the top picks in my house. I sometimes mix and match the colors to make the colors stretch further.

Research party games on-line. Use items you already have to play the games. If you are missing a piece, then you can be creative by substituting another item in its place. To search for ideas, I like to start with a search engine (Google, Swag Bucks, Yahoo, etc.). At the search box, I will type in “baseball birthday party ideas.”  When the results are listed, I work through them to gain inspiration for party games.

Make your own birthday cake, cupcakes, or cookie(s). You do not need to make a large 3-tiered cake with all the baseball players lined up. A simple ball can be just as special. By searching the web for cake ideas (i.e. baseball cake ideas), you will find intensively time consuming options scattered throughout the ideas with manageable time constraints and simple designs. A basic sheet cake at Publix would cost a minimum of $19.99. When I wait for a sale and pair it with coupons, I can snag inexpensive cake mixes from the grocery store.

These “out of the box” ideas will use your time. You might save on cost but pay in time. Knowing your options will help you plan your party. This year I have more energy than last year, so a home-based creative birthday party will be the ticket. Last year, I was still adjusting to a new baby, so my time was more precious than saving every penny. Paul and I were able to save up to have our son’s party at a Bounce House with the inflatables. The $10 per child price was worth the showing up and participating without setup and cleanup. They handled the pizza, drinks, cake, ice cream, balloons, and goody bags. The price was worth the services rendered, and I would consider hosting another birthday party there.

For me saving money is a higher priority this year, so I will spend my time planning and creating an enjoyable space for the party. What about you, what is more valuable: your time or your money? Do you find that these priority change with your situation or remain the same?

Filed Under: Event Planning, Coordinating, Birthday Party Tagged With: Birthday party

Birthday Party: Planning in Advance

April 26, 2011 by Tracy

With three growing children, I usually have birthday party ideas on the brain. About 6 months before their big day, I am questioning my kids for birthday ideas. My son chose a baseball theme, and my oldest daughter picked Strawberry Shortcake.  Though these themes may change (more than once), I have an idea of what they want, and they are working to choose a theme.

Why do I have them choose so far in advance? To help me save money, time & energy! With an early theme, I can:

  1. Research party games and gather materials. Using a search engine (like Google, Swag Bucks, etc.), I can find a wealth of birthday party ideas. As I have spare minutes, I can quickly research some ideas.
  2. Plan the cake. Since I bake and decorate the cakes, I need to be prepared with the cake pans, ingredients, directions, and estimated time frames.
  3. Select party favors. With advance notice, I can keep an eye out for great deals. For example, the $4 pack of 100 baseball cards found during a shopping trip to Walgreens, or the $1 items in the Dollar Spot section at Target.
  4. Purchase birthday gifts. While scanning the weekly flyers, I can look for great deals on items that fit the chosen theme. A year ago Christmas, I found my oldest daughter’s birthday present for this year. The item was on clearance, and I thought she might like the Strawberry Shortcake collection. The item has been stored away, and I will be wrapping it up within the next few months. By purchasing in advance I was able to use my time wisely. I do not need to consider her birthday gift. I can cross it off my To Do list for her birthday party. Having an item already completed before the serious planning begins is a great time saver.

The advanced planning helps me to save money by finding items on sale prior to the week of the event. By purchasing early, I can spread out the cost and save myself from paying full price. I save energy from worrying about what to add to the goody bags or feeling overwhelmed by all the planning and organizing that needs to be done. Then I save time by gathering items as I am shopping. I won’t need to spend a day running around for all the party decorations.

Do you plan your parties in advance? What tips can you offer to help us save money, time & energy while preparing for a party?

Filed Under: Event Planning, Coordinating, Birthday Party Tagged With: Birthday party

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