Pams Party & Practical Tips

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Dare to Share #520

It's Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

We made it through another week! Just a few more weeks to go until summer vacation. This week was another busy one for me. I tutor after school a few days a week, and I had to work at getting my apartment ready for a possible inspection. Every apartment was sent a paper stating that mandatory inspections were going to happen on Thursday, but we did not know which actual apartments would be inspected. The letter made it sound like every apartment was being inspected. We are also in the middle of getting ready to move next month, so the timing of this possible inspection did not really come at a great time. We have boxes everywhere as we are sorting through our belongings and starting to pack. Luckily we were not one of the apartments chosen, but we did spend several hours preparing in case we were that could have been spent on other things like my blog or my Etsy Shop. Now this weekend I plan on working on several new listings for graduation and Father's Day since now is prime time for those items on Etsy.

Hopefully this next week will be easier!

It is getting late, so I want to get this party started. Link up and HAVE FUN!

Dare to Share #519

It is Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

Is May busy for you, as it is for me? It is crunch time at school, and at home for me right now. There are only a few more weeks of school, but so many things going on, and many busy days for us building subs. I am also packing getting ready for a big move when school gets out in June. It is also a busy time of year for my Etsy Shop with Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Graduation. I'm trying to create listings for these days for my shop. I am also planning two big age birthday parties for bonus kids for this summer. Both of their birthdays are right after the move.

What do you have going on in your life this time of year? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

It's getting late, so I better get this party started. Link up and HAVE FUN!

Dare to Share #518

It is Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

Happy Friday! We are beginning our final countdown of the school year. We have less than 30 days of school left and the teachers at my school are counting down the days. We get out lightly later than normal in mid June this year. When does your local school get out for the summer?

This week I was posted two new posts. Since it is garage sale season, I thought it would be great timing to reshare my best garage sale tips. Over the years we have had several successful garage sales, and in my post I shared what things we worked for us at our sales.

I also shared ten tips throw and amazing party on a budget. My kids loved their birthday parties growing up, and everyone of them was thrown on a limited budget.

If you would like to plan something special for Mother's Day, I have several Mother's Day printables in my Etsy shop. One of the newer items is the printable Mother's Day breakfast menu

Another new item is my printable Mother's Day questionnaire

It is getting late, so I better get this party started. Link up and HAVE FUN!

Ten tips on how throw an amazing party on a budget

My favorite tips to throw an amazing party on a budget

I had the opportunity to go through some older posts this morning. Eight years ago this week I wrote a post about my tips on throwing a party on a budget. Since it has been quite awhile, and I still stand behind these tips, I thought it would be a great time to re-share the post, and update it for 2022.

First of all I am going to share with you a little secret. Do you sometimes see beautiful themed parties on the blogs and Pinterest, and feel in adequate because your parties don't measure up? While those pictures of parties are beautiful to look at, many of them cost a pretty penny to put together. Now the secret... Most kids really do not care about all the details. They do not even notice if things are not perfect. They just want to eat the treats that are on those perfect dessert tables. They are just as happy with a cake that is a bit crooked as they are with a high priced perfect one. So the next time you want to throw your child a birthday party, just do the best you can. If it makes your child happy, then you had a successful party.

Tip #1 The Dollar Tree and Dollar Spot at Target have almost all the supplies you will need at a fraction of the cost of the party store. When I am planning a party, The Dollar Tree is always my very first stop. They carry plates, plastic table covers, napkins, cups, plastic silverware, themed items, streamers, trinkets, and so much more. The Dollar Spot often carries many themed items that are perfect for goody bags, and they often go on clearance, so you can sometimes pay only .30 to .50 for each item.

Tip #2 If your child has their heart set on themed tableware, compromise, and buy one or two themed items such as the plate or napkins. Color coordinate your themed items with plain color items. The plates will be covered with food while they are eating , and then thrown in the trash when they are done. Wouldn't you prefer to spend $1.25 for 16 plain plates, instead of $4 for 8 just because it has a picture of a princess or ninja turtle.

Tip #3 Recycle cardboard and other items, and make your own decorations. It may take a little bit of time, but you can make them for very little money. My kids and their guests have always loved the unique decor we have at our parties. I used old cardboard boxes to make a Triceratops, and a six foot T-Rex for my son's dinosaur party. As you can imagine, the boys were beyond thrilled. I used paper mache to make the Pokeballs at our Pokemon party. All I needed was a few balloons, some old newspaper, and some paint. We had to make our own falling food at our Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs party, since it was such an unique theme. We used cardboard, poster board, and card stock to make the food, and hung them from the ceiling with thread. I recycled a few long boxes to make the life size surf boards that we used at my daughter's Beach Bash Birthday.

Tip #4 Do not bother to buy the cardboard party hats with the elastic. The elastic hurts, and kids really do not like them very much. Instead why not make a hat or accessory for the kids to wear. Not only will the kids be a lot happier to wear something fun at the party, but they can use them again when they play dress up. When my oldest was three, she had a Madeline party. All of the girls loved their yellow felt Madeline hats. I used craft foam to make Scooby Doo ears and ribbon to make the collar for my son's Scooby party. My youngest was so excited to wear her tulle Tinkerbell skirt and star crown at her Tinkerbell party. I remember her wearing the skirt for days afterwards. Guests at the unicorn party loved that they got to wear their very own unicorn horns made with a dollar store headband, felt and yarn.

Tip #5 Make up your own activities using items you already have at home. We set up stuffed animals all over the house and backyard for the Safari party. My son really enjoyed leading all of his friends on a Safari tour. One of the games we play at almost all of our parties, is the Pin the Tail game. I use poster board to make a game matching the theme. The lion in the picture was actually used twice. It was used for both our Safari, and our Zoo party. Some of the other Pin the Tail games have been pin the tail on Pikachu, pin the hat on Madeline, pin the rocket on the moon, and pin the cherry on the top of the sundae. The dinosaur dig was super easy to set up. We had to do it in the garage since it was raining too hard to go to the sandbox. We hid some dinosaur skeletons in a large box of sand. Each of the boys had a plastic shovel and paint brush, so they could become pint sized Paleontologists. Using a dollar store hula hoop and some rope, I put together the perfect lasso, for our cowgirls to try and lasso the foam board horse.

Tip #6 Use props, and make your own photo booth. I have been taking photo booth type pictures years before it became a fad. One of my favorites has to be the year my son turned one. The Teletubbies were very popular then, and all of the guests were three or younger. They all happily posed as the baby in the sun. Those photos made a really cool scrapbook page. My daughter looks teeny next to the very large T-Rex from the dinosaur party. I made a cardboard corral for the horse party. Each of the girls got to have their picture taken while sitting on Buttercup the horse that my daughter got for her birthday. (I found it for 50% off the day after Christmas. Score!) You may be wondering what is going on in the last picture. That is the monkey cage we used at the zoo party. A friend of ours is a rep for a blinds company, and had many long thin boxes we could use to make the cage. The monkey in the picture was actually a great investment several years ago when I bought it for $10. We have used it for four different parties. It has made an appearance at both luaus, the safari and the zoo party.

Tip #7 There is no need to waste money buying those plastic themed bags and fill them with plastic trinkets that the kids are just going to lose and break. It is possible to make a very nice goody bag that matches your theme for not much money. We found almost all of the items in the Beach Bash tote bag at the dollar store. The girls decorated the flip flops with fabric scraps as their craft. The frisbees were decorated with details of the party, and they were used as paper plate holders during lunch. Also included were a bottle of bubbles and a sun visor. Total cost for this goody bag was only $4 per person. The brown paper bag owls were from our Woodland Party. Inside was a notebook with deer pictures all over the cover, a necklace and a ring. The girls also got garden pad in the shape of a frog that were on clearance for .25 each. Total cost for this goody bag was $3 per person. I do admit to spending more on the Art themed bag from her art party. My daughter only invited a handful of girls. She wanted the bag to be filled with art supplies. The paint palette is only $1.29 at Michaels. The flip flops, colored pencils and wooden frames were all $1 each. The girls decorated their flip flops again at this party. The paintbrushes are from Ikea, where a pack of 5 brushes in only $1.99. The tote bags were leftover from the Beach Bash, so they did not cost anything this time around. Total cost for these goody bags were about $6.50, but every single item in it can be used again and again.

Now some BONUS tips to use during the party

Tip #8 One thing we did at all of our parties over the years was have the birthday child sit in a special chair. The guests should all sit on the ground or floor so everyone can see the opening of the gifts.

Tip #9 To lessen hurt feelings, put the names of all of the guests in a cup. Draw their names one by one to determine which present to open next. When their name is drawn they can go up and sit by the birthday child while the gift is being opened. Take a photo of the guest, birthday child and gift. Doing this makes it much easier to remember who gave which gift after the party. You can also send a copy of the photo to the guest in their thank you card.

Tip #10 Use a sharpie to put the guests' names or initials on as many things as you can. There will always be someone who loses their cup, hat, and even goody bag. Doing this will cut down on the number of cups that are used, and it will make it easier to find those lost items.

I am still using many of these tips to the present day. While all my children and my bonus children are grown up, I am still putting together theme parties. I definitely still go to the Dollar Tree for most of my items, and I still like to make decor like my Cinderella Tower Photo Booth. This summer we are throwing two birthday parties. One will be a Victorian Halloween (yes in the summer, but it is what the birthday girl wants) and a Taco Fiesta birthday party. I will be sharing both posts and printables for those parties soon!

My Best Garage Sale Tips

As the weather starts to get warmer, many people get excited because that means it is also time for garage sales to begin. When I lived in my old subdivision we had a sub wide sale every year. What was nice about doing it with an entire sub, we had A LOT of traffic come out and we did not have to do any advertising. While organizing and getting ready for the sale was a lot of work, it was worth it every year.

A few years back I wrote a series of blog posts with my best tips I learned over the years.

In my first post of the series I talked about why it was important not to wait until the last minute, and where to find affordable tables. (tables that I am still using to this day)

You can read the first post here.

In part two, of my best garage sale tips, you can read some of my favorite tips that I still use today. I share how I kept things organized, and divided the garage into sections.

In part three, I shared some more of my favorite tips, like what to do with all of those plastic toys from fast food restaurants.

I also have a list of other garage sale posts from some of my blogging friends. I am not sure how many them are still active bloggers, but the posts might still be available.

Do you have any garage sale tips you would like to share? Leave them in the comments below.

Dare to Share #517

It is Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

So I had something interesting happen this week. A few days ago I got an email from Dollar Tree saying that my local Family Dollar was having a grand opening. I was very confused by this, because our Family Dollar is not new, and had been open for a long time. On Thursday evening I drove by Family Dollar on my way to my student's house. (I tutor two evenings a week) I was surprised to see large flags in front of the store. Then I saw why... to my surprise there were the old $1 Dollar Tree signs on the windows of the store with the Family Dollar signs. It is being converted into one of their hybrid stores. On my way home from tutoring, I stopped in to see what they had. I was very happy I did. They had several cute items that I have not seen at the Dollar Tree, and some bonus type of items for $3 and $5. In the pictures above, I found a couple of small patriotic gnomes for $1, and a cute summer sign for $3.

When I first walked into the store I found these adorable bird houses for $5 each.

In the party section they had a lot of items for $1 and #2, and these pinatas for #3.

Here are some more $1 items that I have not seen at the Dollar Tree.

These Patriotic campers were a very nice quality and only $3 each.

If you like to DIY I found 3D trucks and campers perfect for painting. I think they were $5 each.

They had an entire endcap of graduation items, and many party supplies that they also carry at the Dollar Tree. Do you see what I see? It shows up better on my phone than on my computer, but it is the price. They had many of the same party items in both stores, but at Family Dollar they are only $1.

I did end up buy about $12 worth of items. They had a lot of empty shelves because they were waiting on the truck to deliver this week, but I will definitely be going back soon to see what else they get in.

Do you have a Family Dollar near you? Are they a hybrid store?

Well it is getting late so it is time to get this party started.

Link Up and HAVE FUN!

Dare to Share #516

It's Friday night, and you know what that means..

It is time to Dare to Share!

I hope you are having a good week. I can't believe how fast April is flying by. It is not unusual for me to feel that way though, I feel that way a lot lately.

D and I went out to the Friday night dance tonight, to celebrate our friends birthday. We had a lot of fun, and I think the birthday girl did too.

This week I was finally able to write a blog post. A week or two ago, I shared a post about the new Shore Living line at Dollar Tree. This week I shared several finds I found that would be perfect for a party. In this week's post Mermaid Party Ideas, I share all the finds that would be great for a Mermaid Party. The friend who is having the birthday this week, actually would love to have a mermaid theme party so one of these days I would love to actually have one.

Well it is really late and I want to get this party started so... Link up and HAVE FUN!

Mermaid Party Ideas

As you know from my post Amazing New Shore Finds from the Dollar Tree that I posted recently, that I am very excited about the Dollar Trees new Shore Living line that was just released.

Well I am happy to say many of the shore items have arrived in many Dollar Trees in the last week. While looking around the store this past week, I saw that there were many mermaid themed items throughout the store that would be great to use for a Mermaid Themed party. My best friend loves mermaids, so I while I have not thrown a mermaid party yet, I possibly will in the very near future.

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Mermaid Cabana House

I am definitely giving my friend this Mermaid Cabana House as a gift for her birthday. I have not seen anything like it before, and if I said An Unicorn Lives Here, I know she would buy it for me. This would be great as decor, on a tiered tray or as part of a centerpiece.

It is kind of hard to see the shell serving tray, but it is quite pretty in person. It would be quite memorable to use these as party serving plates.

Shore Living Tabletop Block

Mermaid Sea Wall Decor

Mermaid Wooden Signs

You can leave the mermaid's plain or paint and decorate them. I have seen several different ways to paint them over on Instagram.

Mermaid Tails

These mermaid tails come three to a pack. I could see using them as party decor or given as a party favor.

Mermaid Plates

Mermaid Napkins

The party plates, banner, and mermaid tail balloons are regular products in the party aisle. Be sure to check there often because they get new products frequently.

These cups would be great to give as a favor, or used as drinking cups. They are part of the Shore Living line, so if you want them you will need to get them soon. They come is two shapes, a mermaid's tail and a clamshell.

I loved these stencils. While I am not sure what I am going to use them for yet, I am glad to have them in my craft supplies for when I do think of something.

This mermaid tail stay magical picture box is pretty cute. It is also part of my friend's birthday present.

In the toy aisle, I found these glowing trident. They will be fun as decor or party favors.

While you might not be able to get the clam shell Easter eggs anymore, they are a great find for a future party. Dollar Tree has had these in stock the last couple of years, so they may be back again next year.

In addition to all the mermaid themed finds I found at the Dollar Tree, here are some more affordable mermaid party finds.

Mermaid Sparkle Tail Pinata

My kids always liked to have a pinata at their parties. This Sparkle Mermaid Tail is from Oriental Trading.

Mermaid Sparkle Silhouette Necklaces

Mermaid Tail Sequin Keychains

The necklaces and keychains would make great favors, and while they come in 12 packs, they are about $1 each.

Lifesize Cardboard Mermaid Tail Stand Up

At all of our parties, I set up a photo booth of some kind. Party guests can turn themselves into mermaid with this cardboard stand up.

I have two other ideas for a party prop backdrop. One is using plastic table clothes in different colors. such as a couple of blues hanging along a wall. You can see our rainbow back drop in this post Art Themed Slumber Party

And life size (well human life size) dinosaurs cardboard cut outs I created in this post Boy Party Ideas