Water Fun Party

Here in Florida, temperatures have already been going into the upper 80°s. Over the weekend, Emma was invited to a Water Balloon party. The kids had such a fun time and there really wasn't much money spent or prep work involved.

Held in the backyard of Emma's friend, the party was all about water and summer fun. First, the girls had a water balloon toss.

After water balloons, the kids played in the sprinkler and on the swing set. Another easy idea is a Slip & Slide or a couple of baby pools filled with water and beach balls.

Refreshments included cookies, chips, Popsicles and a make-your-own sundae. At a previous party, the hostess set up a lemonade stand, which would have been just perfect at this party too.

To make the lemonade stand, the mom simply set up a card table covered in a plastic tablecloth and taped 2 wood poles to the two front corners of the table. She made a colorful sign and hung it between the two poles above the table. A cooler with push spout was filled with lemonade and set on the table, along with Dixie cups. Throughout the party the kids were able to serve themselves. It was a huge hit that my daughter still talks about.

This water fun party just goes to show you that you don't always need fancy decorations and activities for a fun party. A small budget and a little creativity made for a memorable time!

My Punchbowl Contest

Want to win a $25 Amazon.com gift card? All you have to do is post your awesome party ideas to MyPunchbowl.com's new user forums before Wednesday, April 15 and you could win! OK, I know that is today, but you still have time! The winner will be chosen at random.

Gifts on a Budget

My kids get invited to a lot of birthday parties, sometimes we have 2 parties in one weekend. The pressure to give a "nice" gift coupled with the expense of gift giving can be stressful. One of my favorite solutions to this dilemma is theme gifts.

The first thing I do is shop for toys on sale after holidays and seasons. This is a great time to stock up on brand name toys at bargain prices. I keep a box in my closet where I store all of extra toys I buy throughout the year and have a master list on my computer for quick reference.

I also keep any leftover party favors from my own children's parties - you never know when you can use them again. Stock up on colored galvanized buckets, sand pails and Chinese-style take-out boxes.

Below is an example of a gift my daughter gave at a party last week for a little boy. Separately, the contents of the bucket aren't impressive, but when combined into a theme package, it becomes a nice gift. A pretty package makes even the cheapest gift special - something little by itself becomes more significant when paired with like items.

I purchased the sand pail at Dollar Tree for, yes, you guessed it, $1.00! I wrote the birthday boy's name with a red Sharpie and filled the bottom of the bucket with red crinkle filler ($1.00). I decorated the bucket with road sign stickers from my scrapbook collection.

The theme of this bucket was Hot Wheels cars. I only spent about $5.85 putting this all together.


The contents of the bucket include:

1. 6 Hot Wheels cars - free with coupons at Christmas
2. Bubble Playset - free with CVS Extra Care Bucks, plus this was a leftover from Emma's Strawberry Shortcake party favors
3. Hot Wheels coloring book - $1.00 from Dollar Tree
4. Crayola Crayons - leftover from Strawberry Shortcake party favors
5. Giant Lollipop - $1.00 from WalMart
6. Personalized license plate - $1.47 from WalMart

Putting together a theme gift tells the recipient that you really put some thought into the gift. The Hot Wheels bucket was a hit and didn't break the bank!

My 9 nine year old recently went to a party where he gave a movie theme gift. I purchased a plastic popcorn container from Target's Dollar Spot and filled it with a $5.00 movie from WalMart (the Looney Tunes movie with Brendan Frasier), some movie type boxed candy (88¢ each from WalMart) and a couple of packages of microwave popcorn from our pantry. You could also do the same thing with a video rental gift card.

Here are some other ideas:

• Art supplies - Shop the school supply sales in the fall for great deals on crayons, markers, construction paper, etc. Put everything into a galvanized bucket personalized with the child's name.
• Bugs - Fill a bucket with a bug box, butterfly net, plastic bugs, gummy worms and a bug coloring book (all can be found at Dollar Tree)
• Gardening - Fill a pretty pot or watering can with child sized gardening gloves & tools, seeds, book of flowers and gummy worms
• Summer - Fill a sand pail with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, jump rope, kite, Sun Chips, pinwheel and sand toys (all can be found at Dollar Tree)
• Camping - Fill a galvanized bucket with smores ingredients, flashlight and a book about the outdoors
• Teen Girl - Use a pretty bucket or cosmetic bag to hold nail polish, toe separators, nail files and a teen magazine
• Book - pair a popular book like Give A Moose A Muffin with a muffin mix, whisk, mini muffin tin and child apron

The possibilities are really endless and they are so much fun to put together. Plus, you know that you are giving a unique and thoughtful gift that goes beyond a price tag!

I'm A Winner!

It is always nice to be recognized, but even nicer when you win money for it! One of my favorite places to find party inspiration is Birthday Party Ideas. It is so much fun to read about real parties thrown by real people, not just professional party planners. Don't get me wrong, I get tons of inspiration from the professionals too!

I was just notified that my Mad Scientist Party won a Runner Up award for this month and a $20 prize check is on its way! While $20 might not seem like a lot, when you plan on a budget, it really can stretch a long way! If you ever get stumped planning a party, I promise you will find great ideas at this site!