Great Birthday Party Favor Ideas!

In a decade where every child's birthday party appears to be as big a production as a small wedding, party favors can quickly get out of hand. This article offers some hints and tips at how to find and create your own affordable party favors when the obvious solution of cutting down the guest list to a few close friends isn't feasible.

First, theme parties that dwell on famous animation characters such as Mickey Mouse, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Madagascar can get expensive fast due to the price of licensing such products. If your child loves Thomas or Madagascar, one quick way to save money on party favors is to make the theme broader - such as trains or jungle animals. If you can do this, you will give yourself more leeway in finding party favors fitting a theme at dollar stores.

Second, limit the number of favors per child. Children are happy to receive any favors - you do not need to go overboard. Settle on a number (say five small items) per bag. Another option closely related to this is making receiving the favors part of the games you play. Either have prizes for each of the children, or make a treasure hunt. Stick to your guns on the limits.

Third, you can have a craft activity where the children make their own favors. You can find kids' craft supplies at Michaels, Jo-Ann's, or another craft or hobby store. For a jungle theme, the children could make masks of the various animals using paper plates, pom poms, pipe cleaners, and paints. For a train theme, perhaps use foam frames and different small foam shapes to allow children to make train-themed frames.

Fourth, you can make your own favors for the event. For the remainder of this article, I will focus on a few example favors that are easy (and inexpensive) to make.

Picture Frames: I already mentioned making picture frames as part of a party activity. If, however, you would rather go the route of having a prepared favor bag, you and your child can do this together as a fun activity. For example, if your daughter wishes to have a princess party, it might be fun to make some "princess" frames. At your local craft store, purchase some card-stock picture frames. Then either buy "foamies" or pom poms or even a feather boa and have fun with it!

Homemade Candies or Cookies: Another great do-together project is making homemade cookies - you can buy cookie cutters in the shape of a theme object, and then bag them in sandwich bags (you can buy Pillsbury ready-made sugar cookie dough if you like, just roll it out and use the cookie cutter to create the shapes you want.) At the craft store, you can often buy candy molds where you can make party-themed candy with your child.

Coloring Books: This could work one of two ways. You could either have your child draw several line-drawing pictures, scan them into your computer and then print out and bind the coloring books. Or - you could have children at the party create line-drawing pictures and then scan and bind the coloring book as a party activity and as a way to make a party favor that's different than what you'll purchase in a store.

Pom-Pom and Pipe Cleaner Animals: This is a fun project. Purchase a large bag of pom-poms, some glue and a bag of assorted pipe-cleaners. You can wrap the pipe cleaners around the pom-poms to create legs, tails, wings - anything that creativity dictates. Then, glue the pom-poms together to make the animals. For example, you could create an ant using three brown pom-poms that progressively became larger. Purchase some wiggle eyes for even more fun!

Beaded Jewelry: This is another favor that can be a lot of fun. Purchase a skein of elastic thread, and some various beads to make bracelets, necklaces, rings, etc. This is a project that can be as easy or complex as you make it. For example, you may want to make personalized bracelets or necklaces for each child using alphabet beads. You could even make earrings (either clip on or pierced) by purchasing the appropriate supplies and stringing beads.

The above are only a few of the many things you can craft for your birthday party goodie bags. With homemade party favors, your creativity is really the limit. You can craft favors that are as complex or simple as you wish. When you save money on the party favors, then you free up the ability for other party treats. These suggestions will get you on your way to giving your child the birthday bash they want - on a budget.