Thanksgiving Party Favours

Every party needs a good gift for guests to take home, and I am in love with these adorable Thanksgiving party favours. Today, I'm sharing an option for adults, something for the kids, and FREE printable tags. Fun, right?!?!

Both of these favours start out with a fantastic seasonal cookie recipe. These soft and chewy ginger cookies, smell great and taste delicious. You can find the recipe here.

After the cookies have cooled, you can put them in a clear cellophane bag, and add the cute tag I designed. Click on the photo below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 4x6 photo.

Trim it to look like a gift tag, and tie it to a bag of cookies.

These really are the sweetest little "take away" for your adult Thanksgiving guests.

For the kids, why not make these adorable turkey cookies. Put one of the ginger cookies in a bag, tape a faux Fall leave to the back, add a cardstock beak and wattle, and glue on some large googly eyes.

That's it! What kid wouldn't love taking one of these sweet cookies home after Thanksgiving dinner.

These Thanksgiving party favours are perfect for small dinners and large gatherings... and they are easy and inexpensive to make.

What do you think of these Thanksgiving party favours? Do you think you will share these tasty treats with your guests this year?

♥

Gina Bell

(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

You might also be interested in the holiday celebration ideas here.

New Year's Eve Treats / Party Favours... KISS 2020 Goodbye!

2020 has been quite a year, and I think we are all ready for the goodbye party, am I right?!?! With Covid restrictions in place, New Year's Eve is going to look a lot different this year, so with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to create a fun treat for my family and friends to enjoy. Check out the perfect 2020 New Year's Eve treat (and free printable tags) below.

Isn't this a cute way to share Hershey kisses? I put a few kisses in a clear bag, and attached the tag I designed with a bit of curling ribbon.

To download the tags for FREE: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 4x6 photo.

It's pretty simple to make a bunch to share. You can enjoy them in your home, or you can deliver them for friends to enjoy while social distancing.

How are you celebrating New Year's Eve this year? Even if the group you are spending the evening with is small, it can still be a lot of fun with a few special treats.

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

 You can find MORE New Year's Eve ideas here.

Celebrating the First Day of School

Planning a celebration for the first day of school is a wonderful idea... and it can be done VERY easily. All you need is a little DIY decor, a simple treat buffet, and an inexpensive party favor. Today, I'm sharing my best tips for celebrating the first day of school with a simple DIY party.

Simple decor - To decorate for a simple first day of school party, start with what you already have. Stacks of books, wooden alphabet blocks, a vase full of apples, and chalkboards are fantastic. You can also use apples to "paint stamp" a fun banner, or you decorate with balloons and printed signs.

Party food - Kids will love this simple DIY first day of school food buffet. The centre piece is a giant cookie made with my favourite soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. Then, you can use dollar store jars, punny notes, and treats to create an array of goodies.  For example, you can include: sweet tarts (for a "sweet" start to the new year), gummy "book worms", teddy bear crackers (for a "beary good year"), and excel gum (for an "EXCEL"lent first day of school).

Party favors - No party is complete with a little gift / party favor for the guests. I love colourful dollar store party glasses for a first day of school party favor. They are super cute in a jar with a tag that says "LOOKing forward to a great school year!"

Cute ideas, right?!? To download the tags for the first day of school buffet and party favors: click on the photos below, right click, save them to your computer, and print them like regular 4x6 photos.

The first day of school can be pretty hectic, so a simple celebration is perfect for the occassion.

Important milestones deserve special celebrations, and I think this simple first day of school party is easy, inexpensive, and super-fun. Happy first day of school!

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

You may also be interested in this "smart cookie" bar.

The Cutest DIY CAMPING PARTY

I love a fantastic party filled with tons of easy and budget-friendly DIY details, don't you? Today, I am sharing all the elements of my boys' joint camping-themed birthday party. It's a wonderful party theme that appeals to a wide range of ages and personalities.

Camping party decor - For our camping party, we had tons of DIY signage, balloons, camping gear, and more. You can find all the fun camping party decor details here.

Camping party activities - For our camping party, we had a large variety of games and activities to entertain our party guests. We had a scavenger hunt, we cooked s'mores, we made candy kabobs, we had a prize punch, and more. You can find all the fun camping party games and activities here.

Camping party food - For our camping party, we had a wide variety of camping themed party foods. We had a bbq, bug juice, camp candy, campfire flames, bears, fish, and more. You can read all the details about the camping party food we served here.

Camping party cake - Homemade cakes are economical and fun. For our camping party, I made each of my boys their own campfire cake. My middle son had a chocolate cake, and my youngest son had a vanilla cake. You can find all the info you need to make your own DIY campfire cake here.

Camping party loot bag - A take home gift is always a great way to show guests you appreciate that they took the time to celebrate with you. For our camping party, our guests brought home prizes from a prize table, water balloons, and prize punch prizes. You can find out about our camping party party favors here.

For a quick video of our camping party, you can check this out....

 

My boys and their friends had a lot of fun at our camping party. It's a party theme that works for kids of all ages... and adults would like it too... with a few modifications. What was your favourite part of our party? If you throw a similar party for someone in your family, I'd love to hear about it!

♥

Gina Bell

(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

Find MORE DIY party ideas here.

Camping Party Loot Bag

Every party needs a fun party gift / loot bag, and today, I am sharing the simple camping-themed party favors I gave to guests at my boys' birthday party. I have a couple of treat ideas you are going to love.

First, I had a prize booth where the kids were giving the opportunity to choose their own gift. The kids went on a scavenger hunt, and when they completed it, they were allowed to pick a prize.

Every party guest was also able to claim a prize from the prize punch. I have been making prize punches from dollar store supplies for years, and they are a staple at all our parties. You can find the full tutorial here.

And finally, as the guests were leaving, they were given a package of water balloons with a thank you note that I designed using Picmonkey.com.

I love an easy, inexpensive, and useful party favor / goodie bag / loot bag, don't you? I especially LOVE how these little treats fit in perfectly with the camping party theme.

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

Find more camping party ideas here.

Party Prize Punches

Several years ago, I created a simple DIY party prize punch. My goal was to create a fun way to distribute hockey cards at my son's birthday party, so I headed to the dollar store and purchased some supplies. I made a fantastic prize punch with: a piece of foam core, plastic cups, tissue paper, and a glue gun. Since my first creation, I have made many different versions for all my boys' subsequent parties. Today, I am sharing everything you need to know to make your own prize punch... and trust me... if you can work a glue gun, you can totally make this DIY party game.

To make a party prize punch:

1) Fill plastic cups with prizes. 

2) Cut squares of tissue paper slightly larger than a plastic cup.

3) Use a glue gun to make a ring around the top edge of the cup, and quickly seal the tissue paper over the top of the cup. Repeat for all the cups.

4) Use hot glue to attach the base of the cups to a piece of foam core.

The best thing about prize punches is that you can fill them with whatever you want. My first prize punch was filled with hockey cards. I've also used mini chocolate bars, coins, candy, and dollar store trinkets.

You can also make prize punches in different shapes and designs. I made a pumpkin for Halloween and a heart for Valentine's Day. You could also make a Shamrock for St.Patrick's Day, an egg for Easter or a tree for Christmas.

You can also make them coordinate with any party colour scheme. I've also coordinated them with sports team colours and made them to match NERF gun bullets.

Usually the party guests just poke through the tissue paper, but you can be creative. For our carnival party kids threw bouncy balls, and at our NERF party guests had to shoot through the tissue paper.

Party prize punches really are easy and inexpensive to make, they add a custom detail to a DIY party, and they are a lot of fun. Give one a try at your next party. I guarantee that if you can work a glue gun, you can successfully create one using my step-by-step tutorial.

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)