We have been doing friend birthday parties on the even years and this year was a party year for all 3 older boys. Since we don’t live by family, I actually enjoy having parties for them and giving them a chance to get all their friends together and celebrate. One thing I don’t love doing is party bags. As my boys get older, there are very few things I can put in a bag that won’t get immediately thrown away, and after spending a decent amount on a party the last thing I feel like doing is adding $50 to the tab for gift bags for older boys.
So, this year we mixed it up and it seemed to go really well. I bought large movie theater candy in a variety of flavors (Walmart $1 each) and let each boy choose which one to take home. I had a few extras so no one was disappointed with what they ended up with and the boys seemed to think it was pretty cool to both choose the candy and have a huge one all to themselves. Plus, it was WAY easier and cheaper for me. I did attach a little tag that said,
“Thanks for making my birthday BIG fun. Parker.”
I’m sure someone creative out there can make that into a cute printable or you could just print them onto little mailing labels. What do you do inside or instead of gift bags?
Very cute idea!! 🙂
I so hate gift bags. Giving and most of the time getting them (because the stuff they contain is useless.) One time I tried just giving out cute pencils and all the kids thought I was lame, so that didn't work! haha! I personally feel like coming to the party IS the "gift bag". This is a great idea.
I hate the party favor bags too! Great idea, totally going to do this next time! Thanks!
Melanie, I did the same thing once. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and I felt like the loot they went home with was good enough. Everyone asked, "Where are the goodie bags," and try as I might to ignore it, I still felt lame. This is a nice happy medium.
Thanks Heather!
Yea I agree with you that gift bags are too expensive but I don't buy gift bags anymore because I make them at home by following tutorials on Youtube. They are so easy to make and simple. You should try them as well.
gift bags