Bright Ideas

I recently purchased a book all about kids parties, because we do spend most of our lives planning kids parties, and i came across a section called Bright Ideas by the M&M/Mars Company. They had such cute ideas for cakes, favors, invitations, and activites to do . Their website BRIGHTIDEAS.COM has all of this information and instructions, you can even make invitations, or like we mentioned before the ever popular e-greetings.

Online Invites

It seems that most of us have gotten so used to the world of the internet that we even send out our party invitations this way. Which is great for close friends and family invites, but I still like the old fashioned way better. I love seeing what kind of unique invitation the person has used, and it gives me an idea to the theme of the event as well,(which can usually help you pick out a gift).
But if you must send out online inites i suggest you use E-vites, they offer a lot of different designs and you can have everyone rsvp with their count of how many are coming, you can even set it up for people to pick what item they want to bring with them if you are doing a potluck.

Tip of the Week

Always looking for the best deals on your party supplies? Why not research some of these party supply direct selling companies, or sites like makes parties.com. Becoming an independant sales rep you can benefit from sales you make but also get a discount on purchases.
A Company like Makes Parties doesn't cost anything to sign up as an affiliate, plus you get wholesale pricing, and commission on sales, and you get an online store already stocked. Take a look at mine to see what it looks like.

http://www.simplywrapd.makesparties.com/

LOOKING FOR RESOURCES

SINCE I STARTED THIS BLOG ABOUT PARTY PLANNING I FIGURED I SHOULD AT LEAST MAKE A LIST OF SOME GREAT RESOURCES FOR SUPPLIES, VENUES, PLANNING, ETC. SO I AM CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH SITES AND MAKING MY LIST WHICH I WILL POST HERE WHEN I'M DONE. IF YOU KNOW A SITE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL INCLUDE IT.

A LIttle Help From a Checklist

Most of us know that trying to plan anything without some kind of list is hard to do. We usually need something to help remind us of what it was we still need to buy or order. But if you are anything like me, I tend to forget where I put that list at.
There is a site that I came across today, while doing some research for my little one's birthday, that has a lot of useful checklists and worksheets for different types of events.
You might want to check it out, print out a few checklists, and start to get organized for your party.http://plannersguide.com/event_planner.htm

Reason to have a party?

Looking for a good reason to have a party check out these national days for the month of August.

Daily:

1 National Raspberry Cream Pie Day

2 National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

3 National Watermelon Day

9 Book Lover's Day - start a book club

10 National S'mores Day - get out and barbeque and roast some smores

15 Relaxation Day - great time for a spa party

More on the topic of themes

One of the things that I take into consideration when choosing any theme, is what are my decorating choices. I'll usually decide on 2or 3 themes that i would like, let's say vegas, mardi gras, and hollywood, I then start researching party supply stores to see what they have to offer. Seeing how many different options I have for supplies ie: centerpieces, wall decorations, favors, odd and end pieces to pull it all together, helps me make choosing much easier.

Deciding on a Theme

This is the fun part but also a little stressful. Of course we want to pick something that we would enjoy, but more importantly will your guests. First you need to look at your guest list, what is the age range of adults, will there be kids there. This should help narrow down your list somewhat, especially for you wild ones out there. If you are having a mix of kids and adults make sure it's something that can cater to both like a luau.
Speaking of Luau's , which would be great in the summer time, the time of year your event is can also help you decide what type of theme works best.

Simply Wrapd

OK, I'm still getting this whole blog thing going but I thought I would give you guys some background as to why I started my business Simply Wrapd.
Yes like most moms I was looking for a work at home job, and was doing a lot of research online on different options, but I was always interested in party planning, party favors,etc. I eventually happened across this really great site called Wrapcandy, they offer software to design candy wrappers, boxes, bags, all sorts of cool stuff, so i gave it a shot and loved it.
Now being that I have kids, I know what it was like to have your child request a certain themed party, and not being able to find any party favors to go with it, or even have something that was just a little bit more unique than the rest. But now that i started Simply Wrapd I can design anything that I want, and I wanted to share that with everyone else out there who knows what that frustration is all about.To give you an idea of what some of the stuff looks like here is a picture.

First Day

This is my first day trying to get this going so bare with me as I sort all this information out, and start posting.