Wednesday, 4 January 2012

Party bags - how do you do yours?


Party bags, love them or hate them they are a necessity. 

I've got a birthday party coming up in the next week or so which will involve about 25 children (okay, it seemed a good idea at the time). Due to the costs involved (just HOW MUCH are entertainers?!) I had thought about doing NO party bags but realised this could be a highly controversial move. 

It seems that parents on the whole don't like party bags very much and who can blame us? Generally they're filled with sugar and what we consider to be "plastic tat", often "plastic noisy tat" at that. Oh and then there is the bubbles, oh the bubbles. The children on the other hand, children love a party bag. Mine are ALL about the party bag, I swear it's what they go to parties for. When we've left a party and there hasn't been a bag (mainly because we've just come from Build-a-Bear where the poor mother has supplied everyone with a stuffed toy already) my daughter has been rather disgruntled.

So it occurred to me that not giving out party bags, well, it would be a complete travesty and my social standing may never quite recover from the fallout.  The plastic tat contents of party bags add up a fair bit though don't they? I decided that a little cellophane bag of sweets and a piece of birthday cake would be adequate, especially as each child will receive a balloon model during the party, but Mr M thinks I am being stingy. Am I?  I mean to do that will still probably cost me £50-60 and considering the fact that the entertainer, food, cake, venue hire etc is adding up to about £300 already I hardly think I am being tight.

But then there is the worry that I'll have 25 very disappointed children looking at their gummy bears and candy necklaces in horror. My daughter might never forgive me. It could turn into being the Worst. Party. Ever. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this Very Important Matter. Just how important are the party bags? Do you/will you always provide them?

love & kisses
Mrs M x
at

44 comments:

  1. Kelly Innes4 January 2012 at 10:33

    Party bags are crucial. I say this with utter conviction as I have spent most of the Christmas period trying to work out what to put in those i shall be making shortly for my soon-to-be-two-year-old. But as a parent on the receiving end, I hate them....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Helen4 January 2012 at 11:20

    I totally agree with you party bags are a must the kids do expect them and love going through them. I also agree on your point about the dissappointment as a perant finding the plastic tat. I did my daughters party bags on a budget and made all but two things and I got a really warm reception from the mums when they went through them infact the next party we went to the mum had blantently copied the bag and all inside, which made me feel pleased that they appreciated the effort. I made things like glitter soap in my cake tin, soap kit from hobby craft. A mini bath bomb, cookies, handmade lolly and of course the bubbles and a cheap straw from the pound shop. If your interested there is a picture on this link of my bag http://thegoodlifemum.blogspot.com/2011/08/sophies-2nd-birthday.html

    I wish you lots of luck with your party and bag issue and let us know how you got on

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4 January 2012 at 11:42

    One friend was on a tight budget & unsure of what to do, I suggested that she get some small brightly coloured paper cups and plain cellophane bags (or sheets) and fill them with penny sweets (shrimps, fizzy cola, bananas, etc) tied with a bright ribbon. (Optional scrunched tissue in the bottom means less sweets). Again the children had already recieved a balloon model to take home (courtesy of myself). She questioned me in the same way but the children were delighted with them. None were wasted and no plastic tat ended up in the bin. As far as I know none of the children collapsed from a sugar overdose!

    Bubbles, silly putty, plasticine, slime eggs and anything that makes a noise in party bags should be a banned substance!

    Avoid mini packs of crayons, yes they are cheap but - they won't even get opened.

    I have retrieved so many squished, stale, solid pieces of cake (still in the napkin) from the back of my car/under child's bed to learn to serve the birthday cake at the party as dessert rather than buying extra cupcakes. Saves time too as you don't have to cut, wrap & stuff 25 portions in the last 15 mins of party.

    For the lady with the 2 year old - how about a mini pot of play doh with a cutter, a toddler-sized ball, rubber duck for the bath, or a story book (split a 10 pack for £10 from the book people)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kia @ A View From Here4 January 2012 at 11:49

    The tat doesn't have to be expensive. I made "party bags" for the children at our wedding.
    I fell back to ebay and bought mini magic slates (little grey rectangles that the kids write on then lift the front to "wipe it clean"), mini spirographs, mini yoyo's, funky shaped straws, plastic beaded bracelet, small pack of crayons and little notepad, gummy stretchy dinosaurs - these were probably the biggest hit with girls, boys AND adults lol
    It all came in really cheap too, some were only a few pence each.

    ReplyDelete
  5. liveotherwise4 January 2012 at 11:57

    I used fabric bags - mini shopping bags that I got from opitec, and bought a set of small books from thebookpeople or redhouse or the works. Each child got a book and I also found some lovely wooden spinning tops, can't remember where from. The bags with contents came to around £1.50 - oh, chucked in a treatsize bag of sweets/ chocolate too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Helen4 January 2012 at 16:18

    I think party bags are pretty essential for children around 6 or under (for my daughter's 7th they had a cupcake party so just had the cakes to take home in pretty boxes) but I think it's the bag itself that's the big thing, though, rather than the actual contents. I always try and avoid any sort of plastic tat as I know how much I hate it so if I do them I usually include something along the lines of the following...

    Cake
    Small bag of penny sweets from the local sweet shop
    Sheet of stickers
    Smallish toy or maybe a book (one year I got a load of those styrofoam bird/plane models which I think went down well).

    And that's about it! If you find one of the online party shops you can get things like stickers pretty cheaply.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Susan4 January 2012 at 21:27

    I think party favours are pretty much expected these days, and have to say I quite enjoyed doing ones for my children last year. I tried to put things in that were related to the party theme, so for 4yo's Hungry Caterpillar party I put in a pom pom make your own caterpillar kit which I stuck in a sandwich bag with a little label. Last year my children went to a party and got a hula hoop instead of a party bag and I really like that idea, probably costs the same once you've brought a load of bits and bobs and has been used a lot since. Daughter wants a rainbow themed party this year so thought I would get gymnastic type ribbons in rainbow colours. Also I don't like my children getting sweets and crisps in their party bags so don't like to give them to other people! Have fun organising. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Moi4 January 2012 at 22:40

    Thanks everyone for all your comments and ideas! I've left it incredibly late and the party is this weekend. Whoops.

    Off to town in the morning to see what I can throw together - especially now I know that party bags are an absolute must!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Grace6 January 2012 at 06:53

    If you want to try a fun activity at the party and recycle at the same time - why not get the kids involved in making their own party bags from newspaper, magazines, old wrapping paper or a colourful picture they have drawn before hand? You could even make your own paper prior to the party and create really bespoke bags which match your theme and colour scheme!

    Cheap Party Bags

    ReplyDelete
  10. Utterly Scrummy8 January 2012 at 13:55

    I get kids to decorate their own party bags/boxes as part of birthday entertainment. I went down the same route as @liveotherwise and gave each a small book each and small choc bar & iced, shaped cookie on party theme. I didn't have an entertainer at my girls 5th birthday, couldn't afford it so they deocrated cupcakes, cookies, made fairy wands and decorated fairy wings. Had a treasure hunt too :o) I made all the food myself, Church hall venue was £10 per hour and all up cost me about £70 including afternoon tea for 6 grownups.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Party Bags by Birthday Creations23 April 2012 at 21:18

    Like you say, kids LIVE for party bags. It is the be all and end all of a party. It would be a brave mum to not give out party bags! There are great alternatives to plastic tat - it's only that way because the party bags probably the last thing on our mind when organising a party for 25 little ones! I always go for the less is more approach. Giving a lovely wooden gift that can be treasured and played with rather than last 5 minutes after the party.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Party Bags2 May 2012 at 20:37

    We love party bags over at www.partybags-uk.com and of course every party needs to end with them! However, we do offer suggestions for alternatives as we know there are plenty of parents who don't love them. My favorite alternative is home made cookie mixture for the guests make at home.

    ReplyDelete
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