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my daughter has given me a ample amount of time to prepare for her birthday but says she wants a "extra special" care bear party. With a pinata and the works (basically told me i have to make every little thing)... my thoughts are why me??? why now?? i haven't had inspiration in a while so the task seem... well above me. I wanted to kinda keep things simple &budget friendly but still very much theme related and something my daughter won't forget... can you lovely ladies throw me some ideas that can help with time, money, and inspiration?? i'm looking for everything from cake decor/ to games to play/ to party favors/ ect. thanks to all that reply!!
You could make your own PAPER hats with SU CS, and then used the Beary Bear Stamp set ( from SU! it is still current ) and put the BEAR on the center(front) of the hat.YOU also could use the same stamp set and stamp the BEAR(s) on napkins too.....I wouldn't recomend stamping on paper plates....Make your own banner with this stamp set too !
Take the Stamp set to your local Bakery and ask them ( or a stamped image...this way the bakery can staple the image to the order ! ) to put on the cake !
On SCS...there used to be directions for making PINWHEELS ( you could hand these out to each child / adult attending the party. USE straws ( drinking ) to attach the paper pinwheel to.
Create a streamer to hang around the table or inside the house with strips of colors card stock ( you might stamp some images on that too ! )
redcaboose1717 i actually don't have the build a bear from SU or the stamp set :( but like the ideas you gave will have to surely try some of them thanks!. And azstampcrazy i have never heard of daise before now i just did a quick snoop of the site and will have to look deeper at it
Two Cents of advice from a grandmother of 16, and veteran of waaay too many birthday parties.
Don't know the age of your daughter, but my experience is kids are more easily pleased than we think. I wouldn't stress myself out making everything myself. If she wants a Care Bear party, I would buy something like this:
You can probably find similar package deals at your local party store or Walmart. I think it's more important that she have a mom that is looking forward happily to the birthday than one who is stressed out and overwhelmed.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
nice that she wants you to make stuff for her. I would buy a kit too. Care Bear, sounds really young or a teenager have a nostalgic party Make a couple of things, maybe invitations or goody bag and bring in the rest.
I wouldn't let someone dictate to me unless they are paying LOL!
I agree with SuG, make a few things and buy the rest. If you need help with Care Bears stuff for making the few things, check out your dollar tree or other discount stores. I've seen a lot of Care Bear reading books with lots of colorful pictures that you could cut out and use. I think I even saw some in the Target dollar spot. Try a Google search for Care Bears Images and you'll get tons to work with.
I don't know how old your daughter is; or what you choose to tell her about "budgets". But here is my two cents.
I agree with the other posters, bring in what you can't or don't feel like making. It is more important for Mom to be relaxed and looking forward to the birthday than to be stressed or overwhelmed.
Also, if you just don't feel like making things for this party, DON'T. Buy what you can and create a special day by, again, being relaxed and happy.
About the "budget". My husband and I chose to keep things small early on. When in kindergarten our son was being invited to bowling parties, laser tag parties and the like, we had kids to our house and let them run around in the sprinkler then served pizza and cake and ice cream. I did buy the "theme" table decorations at Party City.
By second grade we sat him down and said "Mommy and Daddy" have X amount to spend for your birthday. This DS game system you want will take up a lot of that. So, if you want it you can have it. But this means I'm not buying $70 dollars worth of napkins, plates, pinata's etc.... You can have boys over for pizza and cake and they can stay overnight and we'll rent a movie. Your choice. He chose the DS and the smaller party with no fancy, expensive table decorations.
My point is, kids get carried away trying to have "special" parties like their friends might have, or like they see on TV but they have no grasp of how much things cost. Lots of people don't want to burden their kids with "money stuff" at too young an age. You want to make all their dreams come true so they have happy memories of a happy childhood. We felt the earlier we start helping learn about budgets the better.
Like another poster said, kids will be happy with a lot less than you think. Our son is going to be 10 next week. And he knows the score. He can get one expensive present and have a "at home" party with food and friends; or he can pick two or three friends and we'll spend the money at Laser Tag or something and gets more budget friendly presents. When all is said and done, he gets a say in what goes on, and ends up happy because he helped choose within the limits we gave him.
Good luck!! Don't stress. Don't try to be "super-mom" and don't try to keep up with the Jones' if your budget can't take it! :-)
Good luck!! Don't stress. Don't try to be "super-mom" and don't try to keep up with the Jones' if your budget can't take it! :-)
And the while you're trying to keep up with the Jones', they were trying to keep up with the Smiths', who were trying to keep up with the Browns'....
I have done the same with my kids for years. One year I told my son he could either have a group of his friends together for a day full of activities, or he could choose 1 friend to come to an overnight visit to Cedar Point (amusement park with roller coasters extraordinaire!). His birthday is this Friday, and he is also graduating from Grade 8 and wants a video camera. So, we gave him an amount that he could spend to. The one he wants is more, so it basically came down to happy birthday, happy graduation, and you owe me $100 for the rest.
Assuming your daughter is fairly young, given she wants a care bear party, perhaps you can do a different take on it that will be fun, and give her something to remember while teaching her about charity....I believe that one of the care bears is the giving bear (or it could be sharing, been a very long time!). You could perhaps ask parents of the invitees to spend half of what they would normally spend on a child (or maybe ask them to team up in pairs) and bring the other half in cash to the party to "give" to the giving bear. Then, this money would be donated to a charity of your or your child's choice - e.g. - Humane society, children's hospital, make a wish foundations, etc.
And, you could probably find a bunch of the old care bear movies at your local library or video store, so you could do a care bear movie marathon!
Hope this helps.
__________________ Elizabeth
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Hand over the chocolate, and no one will get hurt!
Help! no inspiration
