When you’re planning your wedding, one of the things you’ll want to remember to budget for are the wedding favors. These are the souvenirs that your guests will take home from your wedding as a thank you for participating in your special day. So, this is not an area where you want to scrimp. You hope that your guests will enjoy your gift to them, and see it as a token of your appreciation. However, you don’t want to blow your budget on buying wedding favors either. Here are some ideas for great wedding favors on a budget.
Bulk gifts. Items like candy and potpourri can make lovely wedding favors. You can buy them pre-packaged from bridal shops, but it is smarter to buy them in bulk and package them yourself. Instead of shopping at an expensive wedding store, visit a grocery or hobby shop for discount pricing. To create your own gift wrapped packages, wrap bundles of the bulk item in tulle and tie with a ribbon.
Make homemade treats. For a personal touch, make homemade treats to give to your guests. Special cookies are always welcome. If you make homemade candy, that can also be a nice gift. When you wrap them up, add a handwritten note thanking your guests for sharing your day with you. It will be an extra special touch that will make your favour all the more meaningful.
Candles and votives. Candles and votives can be beautiful reminders of your wedding day. Look for candles in the same colors as your wedding decorations. Almost everyone enjoys candles so it is a practical gift as well. These are also very affordable when purchased at discount or bulk stores.
Bubbles. For a fun twist and lots of laughs, give each guest a small bottle of bubbles as a thank you. Tie a note with the date of your wedding around the neck of the bottle. These will provide entertainment during the reception too, as most guests won’t wait until they get home to blow their bubbles.
Make Music. Another idea is to burn a CD of music to commemorate your special day and give a copy to each guest. Be sure to follow copyright laws. Whenever they play your CD, your guests will think of you.
Flowers and Plants. If you’re having a spring or summer wedding, consider giving out packets of seeds as a wedding favor. These will be a long-lasting fragrant reminder of your nuptials. Alternatively, you can give out tiny potted plants for a spring garden. These are very inexpensive, and if you buy in bulk, you may be able to get further discounts.
Scented soaps. These are another item you might want to consider giving out as a favor. They have an attractive scent, and often come in pretty shapes and wrappings. They are another practical gift that is pretty to look at as well.
There are many options for buying great wedding favors on a budget. When you use your creativity for buying thoughtful gifts for your guests, they will be appreciated all the more.
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This is a large Collection of over 475 Ideas for all kinds of Gift Basket occasions. These are great gift ideas for people that like to give something a little different than your regular gifts.
Gift Baskets are so Personal. You know that the person that made it for you actually had to take the time to come up with what kind of Basket to do and then took the time to get the materials, most of which you probably already have in your home, and then put them together in a beautiful arranged basket or other container.
An example of what you’ll be getting:
Athletes Gift Basket ideas
Baby Gift Basket ideas
Bachelors Gift Basket ideas
BBQ Lovers Gift Basket ideas
Pasta Lovers Gift Basket ideas
Golf Lovers Gift Basket ideas
Gift Basket ideas for the Busy People in your life
Get Well Gift Basket ideas
Gamblers Gift Basket ideas
Dog Lovers Gift Basket ideas
Computer Gamers Gift Basket ideas
Bridal Shower Gift Basket ideas and Many Many More
Piñatas are all the rage at kids’ birthday parties. There’s just something about getting blindfolded, trying to hit a brightly colored object with a stick, and picking up the candy that falls when someone succeeds that young people (and the young at heart) love. Piñatas have become must-haves for birthday celebrations, but unfortunately they’re not cheap.
But did you know that piñatas are really easy and fun to make? You can create a colorful piñata with just a few supplies, and you can find some of them around the house. Here’s how to make a simple one.
Supplies
* Newspaper
* 1/4 cup flour
* 6 cups water, divided
* Large balloon
* Large bowl
* Poster paint
* Twine or other strong string
* Candy and/or small toys
Instructions
* Cut or tear newspaper up into strips 1 1/4 inches wide. Make more than you think you’ll need to cover the piñata, because several layers must be applied.
* Mix up some papier-mache paste. Mix the flour with 1 cup of cold water, and press out all lumps. Then put the other 5 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add a spoonful of boiling water to the flour and water mixture, and mix well. Continue stirring while slowly pouring the mixture into the boiling water. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes and let cool.
* Blow up the balloon and tie securely. Set it down in the bowl.
* Soak a strip of newspaper in the paste until soaking wet. Smooth it onto the balloon, wiping off excess paste with your fingers.
* Add more newspaper strips soaked in paste, overlapping each by about an inch and crossing the strips. Cover all but the tied end with two layers of newspaper.
* Let the piñata dry for 2 to 3 days.
* Pop the balloon and remove it.
* Decorate the piñata with poster paint. Glue on construction paper accents, streamers and other decorations if desired. Let paint and glue dry.
* Using an ice pick, carefully poke a hole on each side on the top. Thread a length of twine through the holes and tie the ends together to make a hanger.
* Fill the piñata with candy or toys. Cover the hole with masking tape, and paste some newspaper over the tape. Let dry for 24 hours, and paint to match the rest of the piñata.
If you like, you can use a large balloon and a smaller one to make a body with a head. Just cover the balloons separately, let dry and decorate as desired, then put the open ends together after you’ve added the candy. Attach with more newspaper and paste, and let dry.
Making piñatas is rather messy, but it’s also lots of fun. A homemade piñata is also much less expensive than a store-bought one, and it is completely customizable. The next time you’re planning a birthday party, why not try your hand at papier-mache?
A great baby shower needs one thing to be complete; great baby shower decorations. No matter what your budget you can make sure that any shower that you are planning has excellent decorations and creates the perfect ambience for your occasion. For those who are on a limited budget, a little creativity and imagination can stretch your dollars and turn inexpensive decorations into a baby shower that will leave everyone full of awe and admiration. Baby shower decorations don’t have to be elaborate, but they do have to have one thing in common, a theme.
The theme of your baby shower will determine the decorations that you use. Before you begin choosing decorations, accessories, or even the cake you will need to choose a theme and make your following choices based upon the theme. For example, if you choose a color theme, then you can easily use those hues to pick appropriate decorations. If your theme is based upon a character, this will also influence your choice of decorations. However, with a little ingenuity, you can create stunning decorations that compliment your theme, are easy on your budget, and add sparkle and pizzazz to your event.
One of the easiest ways to make certain that your decorations blend well and compliment one another is to base them upon the centerpiece. For example, if your theme is nursery rhymes or ducks, you can pick a color or image that is used in your centerpiece and use this as the basis for your decorations. For example, pick colors from the duck, such as the yellows and oranges and bring these colors into your choice of balloons, streamers, and banners. You can then add blue for water and create an entire themed decoration set that is comprised of whatever items you find, as long as they blend and compliment your main theme. Just because your theme is ducks does not mean that you have to go out and buy every rubber duck that you see and tack it to the wall. Pull colors, pictures, even fabric ideas from your theme and you’ll find that your ingenuity will reward you with an original and beautifully decorated baby shower.
If you have selected a theme such as pink for a girl or blue for a boy you can also use this as the basis of your decorations without simply choosing everything in one particular color. Again, a great basis for your theme is your centerpiece. If you have a diaper cake with flower or ribbon embellishments, try using those as the basis for your decorating theme. When the decorations are complete you’ll be amazed how it all pulls together and has a united feel. By choosing materials for inspiration you can pick out balloons that match the hue of the satin ribbon on the cake, or even add matching flowers to the tops of cupcakes and windows. Once you begin to look for themes simply choose to purchase items within your budget that matches and blends with fabrics, colors, and images. You’ll be amazed at how unified the finished look will be.
If you’re hosting a bridal shower, there are literally hundreds of games to choose from. Some are silly, some are serious, but all are about having some fun with the bride before she’s married. Here’s a sampling.
One fun game really puts the bride on the spot with regard to her knowledge of her husband-to-be’s life. Prior to the party, have someone ask the groom a series of questions, such as where he was born, what his favorite food is, things like that. Then at the bridal shower, put the bride on the spot by asking her the answers to the questions. See how many she can get right (hopefully at least half!). If she does well, give the girl a prize; she deserves one.
One all-time favorite game is toilet paper wedding dresses. This game involves separating the guests into teams consisting of at least 2 people and no more than 5. Give each team a roll or toilet paper (or 2) and have them fashion a wedding dress out of the toilet paper. One of the team members will volunteer as the model. Provide them with a “dress up trunk” filled with jewelry and shoes. They must make the dress out of the toilet paper, but they can accessorize with the provided jewelry, shoes, gloves and hats. Place a time limit on this (5 minutes is adequate) and have the bride vote on the best dress. Be sure to provide prizes for the winning team!
Another fun game that’s always a hit is making the bride get dressed while blindfolded. Tell the bride she is to pretend she’s on her honeymoon and the power has gone off. She must prepare for her wedding night in complete darkness. Provide her with a suitcase filled with items and then blindfold her. She must get dressed in a certain period of time (2 minutes is adequate) while completely blindfolded and with no help from the guests. Include some silly items like oversized sunglasses, garden gloves or a flannel nightgown just to make it fun. This is a photo opportunity, so be sure someone is waiting to record the end result!
Another fun game puts the shower guests more on the sport than the bride. In this game, everyone puts their purses in the center of the room. Create a list of items commonly found in a purse and assign a point value and create a list of less common items and give them a higher point value. So you might give lipstick 2 points, a tampon 3 points, and sunglasses 5 points. But a granola bar could be 10 points and a staple remover, 15 points. Then go through the purses awarding points and give the person with the highest number of points (and therefore, the most items and probably highest number of unusual items) a prize.
Before the shower, create bingo cards for this shower bingo game. In the squares, put pictures of items you think the bride will receive at the shower. So, boxes might include things like lingerie, towels and the like. As the bride opens gifts, have people mark off that item on their bingo card. If nobody gets a “bingo” give a prize to the person who marked off the most number of items.
This next game is a derivation of a popular game that’s often played at bachelorette parties and involves a stripper. This is the clean version. About 30 minutes into the party, have the bride leave the room and pass out pieces of paper. Have everyone write on the paper everything they can remember about the bride’s outfit, hair, etc. How many rings is she wearing? What color is her blouse? Is she wearing open or closed toed shoes? Once everyone is done recording their observations, the bride comes back into the room and a prize is awarded to the person with the best observation skills.
