Playing Hostess

“Hospitality should have no other nature than love.”
-Henrietta Mears

Inviting people to your home, whether for a play date, dinner, holiday or PTA meeting, is always an interesting undertaking . . . whether a big or small gathering, there is some planning beforehand and then the actual event, all in the midst of keeping your household and family on their regular schedule! Displaying hospitality is a warm gesture to others (and a wonderful “teaching moment” for your children). Following are three practical ideas to help keep the stress-level to a minimum:

1) The day you are hosting, keep the day free of errands and outside commitments. If you are having people over for dinner and you will be out during the day, rushing home to get everything ready is overwhelming. Pre-plan your day in advance to make schedule adjustments so you will be home for the day.
2) Map out your day. Either on paper, or in your head, make a check-list of what you “ideally” need to have happen to be prepared (i.e., set the table, prepare food, rearrange furniture, decorate, etc). Do whatever you can beforehand!
3) Ten-minute tidy (borrowed from “The Big Comfy Couch’s” 10 second tidy!). An hour before your guests arrive, take a laundry basket and go through the living room and/or any other room you may be hosting in. Put anything that doesn’t belong in the room (i.e., toys, newspapers, shoes, etc) in the basket to be put away at another time. There have been times when we have had to use a couple of laundry baskets to quickly pick-up last minute clutter. Stash the baskets/bags in an out-of-the way place. Finall, the kitchen and bathroom should always be clean when you are expecting guests; these are the 2 places in your house that will be visited by all! Wipe down the counters; make sure there is a full roll of toilet paper (and even an extra one) available, some nice hand soap and empty garbage cans.

Put on some music, light a candle (we are fans of the flameless candles for safety reasons), brush your teeth and you will be ready to greet your guests.

Have a great time!

Creatively Yours,

Planning your child’s birthday party

We love planning children’s parties! Kids are such fun and so easy to please . . . give them some music and space to run around and they are thrilled to bits! Sometimes it’s us, the adults, who are the ones who make it more stressful than it needs to be. If you keep in mind that this should be a celebration of your child (and also, kudos to you, for making it this far as a parentJ), than everything will fall into place. Here are some tips that will help:

Pick a theme: Themes are a great starting point. Remember, you don’t have to go over the top crazy with it! If your child likes butterflies, it can be a butterfly party. Or, if your child likes to cook, you can do a cooking party. As young as 3 a child will most likely be able to share with you what type of party they would like. Suggest 2 different types of parties and then let your child choose. For example, “Would you like a pirate party or a baseball party?” Giving the child the opportunity to make a decision helps give them ownership of their birthday and will make them feel involved. It is important to remember that the party is about your child . . . not perfection.

Choose budget/stay organized: Do not try and “keep up with the Jones’”. This will only give you agita and stress. Remember, the party is about your child, not trying to impress others. If you’re not sure how much you can afford, keep a running tab of the receipts of your purchases. Having a file folder or even a gift bag where you can keep all of your party lists, ideas, and “stuff” is helpful; even if everything is just thrown into the bag or a box, at least you will know where it is and you won’t go crazy looking through the papers on the dining room table or hoping they are not at the bottom of the dirty laundry pile (yup, I’ve found mine there many times).

Choose venue, date and time of party, and make guest list. We love home parties, especially for children’s birthdays. Their memories when they are older will be of their childhood home, so having their party at home is part of their history. If the party is going to be outside, be sure to have a back-up plan and/or a rain date. However, be realistic . . . if you plan on having 75 guests and your home will comfortably fit 40 people, it would be wise to rent a facility instead of cramming everyone uncomfortably into your house.

Prepare decorations: We like to call this “set-design”! A welcome sign is always nice. Balloons are great. Have your child get involved with helping. If you are having a butterfly party, your child could decorate (i.e., with glitter, beads, glue, colored paper, markers, or paint) pre cut-out butterflies from the internet or a craft store. Then, they can be hung from the ceiling, or strung across an area like garland. If your budget allows, maybe buy some butterflies to release. Lights and music, of course (see previous entry on “Light, music, cue the party!” from January ‘08).

Menu: Choose your snacks, main food, beverages and dessert (if adults will be at the party, this may alter your menu selection).

Activities: Most kids are happy with “free play”. However, it’s nice to have a few activities planned. We are fans of Pin the tail on the donkey; you can modify it to your theme. For a dinosaur party it can be Pin the tail on the dinosaur; for a circus party, Pin the nose on the clown. We like to KEEP IT SIMPLE! To reiterate, kids are not that difficult to please when it comes to what they need to have fun. Tattoos are always a hit, and kids have a great time with a piñata. Opening gifts is an activity and a great opportunity to teach kids how to communicate appreciation and thankfulness to their guests.

Favors: You can give the children their favors upon arrival, for example if it is a barn/hoe-down, children receive cowboy hats and bandanas upon arrival. Or, the piñata goodies can be their take-home favor. A little bag with items related to the “theme” and tied with a thank-you tag is nice.

Above all else, have fun with your child and family during preparation and the actual party. Get your child involved with as many details as possible; making the invitations, decorations, putting together goody bags, cleaning up the house to get ready for the guests. Dig deep, put on a smile, and remember, your child will love their party no matter what! Take lots of photos and make lots of memories!

Many moms have commented how much they love our Birthday in a Box ordering site. Click on it through our on-line ordering and everything is at your fingertips: invitations, thank-you’s, party ware, decorations, favors and games. Plus, there are monthly coupons especially for our clients!

Happy Birthday, little one!

Creatively Yours,

The Bookends of a Party – Invites and Thank-yous

First impressions are important and the first impression guests have about a party is the invitation. Invitations set the tone for an event. When people receive something that is different and unique it piques their curiosity . . . . Hmmm, I wonder what this shin-dig is going to be all about?!! There are so many ways to make an invitation shine. For example:

Use iron-on paper to print out invitations and then iron them on to a piece of cloth; fold the cloth into a diaper for a baby shower, a napkin for a cocktail party, etc. Easy-peasy!

Roll up invitations and mail in tubes; great idea for graduation parties (tied with a ribbon it looks like a diploma), pirate party (make it out like a map) and princess parties (represents royal scroll). Keep in mind that mailing tubes require extra postage.

After printing out invitation, you can make it into origami shapes, ie fold it into an airplane for a plane-themed party, a flower for a garden party, a heart for a Valentine’s Day party, an elephant for a zoo party, etc. There are many websites and books at the library that show simple folding techniques. Plus, you can have your children help you . . . great for developing their fine motor skills and manual dexterity!

Buy store bought invites and embellish them with gems, glitter, or give it a stitched look by ‘sewing’ embroidery floss around it (use a heavy needle for this and be careful).

On the back-end of the party come the thank-you’s. It is proper etiquette to express your gratitude to your guests and this now becomes the last impression of your event that you leave them with. A little creativity can go a long way, for example:

If your party was influenced by a certain cuisine or country, use the authentic wording for thank-you. For example, a luau could be followed up with a card that reads ‘Mahalo’ (Hawaiian for thank-you) or ‘Muchas Gracias’ for a fiesta.

A photo thank-you is always special. It can be of the guest of honor or of a photo from the party; taking a group photo at the party is great and then you can use it on your thank-you card.

Embellish your thank-you with a small charm like a heart for a bridal shower or a diaper pin for a baby shower. Adding these effects may require extra postage or a heavier envelope.

For invitations and thank-you’s, our on-line ordering sites of Carlson Craft and Birthday in a Box offer sample wording and are a great starting point. If you are going to spend a little extra effort, put that energy into your invites and thank-you’s . . . it makes a big difference!

Creatively yours,

Lights, music...cue the party!

A simple way to spice up ANY party is to add lights and music. They add that something “extra” and cost little or next to nothing.

Before you pack away your Christmas lights, place a strand or two in the linen closet for easy access the next time you have a party. They can be strung:

§ Over the dining room table for a fun dinner party
§ In the hallway for a festive entrance to your child’s birthday party
§ Around the deck or backyard for your summer barbeque
§ Anywhere, anytime you want a little bling – you can even make Tuesday night meatloaf supper different for your family by stringing them around the kitchen table!

You get the idea! If you do want to splurge, tiki torches are great for an island theme or a ghoulish feeling at a Halloween party. Candles always add ambiance; be sure to use with extreme caution! There are great “flameless” candles on the market nowadays, too. Hands down, though, those white Christmas lights are our ABSOLUTE favorite to use in decorating.

For music, you can turn on the radio and wha-la, instant atmosphere. Go to the library and check out all the free CD’s you can borrow . . . from Latin music to children’s circle time favorites to creepy, scary music, pirate music, children characters (i.e., Dora, Princess, Spiderman, etc), golden oldies, luau, Swiss yodeling, etc. Most libraries have their catalogs on the internet which makes it even easier. And, of course, with Ipods and ever-changing technology, you have the availability to access and download whatever type of musical genre you fancy to use at your party (fees may be associated with downloads). We love the library option; borrow and return after the party . . . easy-peasy.

Bottom line is, whenever you are entertaining, remember these two items.

Lights, music . . . cue the party!

Party Tips and more...

After 2 ½ exciting years on this journey as mompreneurs, we are thrilled to be able to share our experiences with you through our new site. When we first began thinking about how we wanted our business to take shape, this was definitely on our “wish list”. We are always on the hunt for new ideas and wanted to be able to have the opportunity to be a source for others. We were fortunate enough to find a very talented web designer who, through many emails, helped us create our dream site.

Party tips and MORE…This portion of our site will allow us to be more interactive with you, our clients and friends. When you have a question or need party advice, email us and we will post the reply on this page. We welcome the opportunity to share our ideas and suggestions with you. Be sure to check back monthly for creative and practical ideas for your next big (or small) bash!

Thanks again for your interest in Graced Moments. May all your celebrations be graced moments!

Creatively Yours,