so my beane is turning 2 in july and i want to have some nice, natural party favors. i saw the link in the FAQ area but i thought i'd see if anyone had some new ideas. i love the fill a mini pinata idea. i also want to make wee felted balls...

what else? i guess i can't spend a huge amount of $$ but i am willing to spend some instead of buying cheap things that were made in a factory by 11 year olds in a country that has few labor laws...you get my drift...


thanks mamas, links are welcome, so is spam if you have something cool for $2. or less per item...!!

We just had my dd's sixth birthday party and I made home made playdough and gave the kids a piece of black construction paper and a couple pieces of sidewalk chalk. Those along with a couple lollypops (partys have to have some junk LOL) and the children were thrilled!!

I had to make 20 bags for for the 20 kids in pre-k and k for her school since it was a school party and in school parties combine the two classes... so my goal was simple and cheap!!

For two yr olds?? Oh chalk and playdough sound like the way to go, and cheap too! Other things include anything they can dress up with, wooden beads and a shoelace, bandanas that you batik with a white crayon and acrillic (sp?) paint (you must boil them to get the wax out, and then dry them on hot in the dryer to set the color), Large needles with string and a bunch of nature things to make headbands or necklaces out of, and little flour sack bags for their treasures and collections. Depending on how old the guests are you could also do treasure boxes... I always give those... I take little paper boxes you find at JoAnns or somewhere like that, and I put lavander, sage, or mint springs in them with painted rocks, colored shells, beads and string, glass marbles, etc. They have been a lot of fun to create every year. :D

Love Val

PS It looks like I am following you around Laurie. :) HI :smooch:

sidewalk chalk! great! i want to make little people for them but the little bodies cost too much. i should just get my wholesale license...

keep the fresh ideas coming. gaia just got a felted wool ball from a party yesterday...and a white playsilk! that is over my price range but gaia was psyched!

we did plants for ds's last birthday. i bought flower pots and a packet of bulbs for each kid and a communal bag of potting soil (we had ALOT left over). each kid brought a shovel from home (it was september and all the sand toys were off the shelves or i would've sprung for one for each kid). i used a paint pen to put names on pots. that was our activity and favor. the rest of the time the kids just played with daniel's toys (basically, these birthdays are like big playdates with cake).

we baked cupcakes in ice cream cones - no plates to deal with. i did find cone "stumps" around afterward, but not a big deal.

nak,

~amey

have you seen the directions for bendy people in the sewing and crafts faq? i only mention it because you said something about making little people... i also saw kits in joanns for those people made with the peg kind of clothespins (the ones without the spring) - you don't need to buy a kit - they were mostly felt and embroidery floss

bendy fairy: http://www.amitymama.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=123736

pocket pals kit: http://www.sillygoosetoys.com/mypofrmikitb.html

these are christmas, but may give you an idea: http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=tvs5349

some of our best little kid parties have been the sidewalk chaulk/bubble parties, beading your own neckalce parties, and our all time fave~create your own plant parties :)

we always asked on the invitation for everyone to bring their own empty milk container for planting in, any size will do, and we provided the small plants & potting soil. easy peasy, and fun too.

our goody bags usually contain (at that age) cookies, playdough, a trinket box, stickers, bandaids, pencils, balls, and bubbles.

you could do an earth theme for the party-that would be cool. kinda talking about not littering & recycling (what it is) while you do the craft/planting.

hth. have fun!

bean bags.

I am so glad you asked this 'cause we are having a party for ds who will be 3 this month. He wants a bug theme. The playdough idea will be great as they can make their own bugs. I am sure the parents will be shocked as all of the parties ds is invited to have a clown, a jumping house, mini petting zoos, etc. We are going for the old fashioned style here. I am sure it will be even more fun!

i can't ruin the surprise but let me just say you should stalk www.tuesdaynoon.com this tuesday at noon :thumbsup: .