It's been 3 weeks since I last posted. So, now that I'm back, I am ready for some fun stuff!
I for some reason absolutely love party favors. I know a lot of people think that they're a complete waste of time and money, but seriously, don't you kind of wish that you could go home with a swag bag after every party you attended? I think that would be pretty cool. I have been collecting things for 3 months to put in these favors for a couple reasons. 1. This helps to spread out the cost. 2. I buy things as I see them. And 3. I have been planning his party for 3 months and I keep getting new ideas; so every time a new idea comes, I collect something new!
In the past, I have put together really cheap favor bags that cost me maybe $1/bag and I just didn't feel like doing that this time. I wanted things that kids would really enjoy instead of some cheap favor toys that parents would throw away as soon as they got home.
So here are the amazing bags that I put together and the price breakdown of everything:
1. Yellow Reusable Bag = $1.75
2. Happy Birthday Cup = $1.60
3. Minion Playpack = $1
4. Fruit Snacks = $0.40
5. Minion Bracelet = $1
6. Candy necklace = $0.50
7. 2 pieces of Minion candy = $0.15
8. Minion sticker sheet = $0.40
9. Goody bag from the zoo = FREE!
Total = $6.80
Now, that may seem like a lot to you, but these are just some ideas. I go above and beyond what most people do for birthdays. And I'm sure everyone has their favorite thing. Mine happens to be gift bags.
Just for fun, let's take a look inside the goody bag that the zoo sent home with everyone! It looks like this:
Contents: Activity Page (coloring, word scramble, maze, code puzzle, word find), Color by Number at the Zoo Coloring Book with stickers, Paddleball Game, rubber bracelet, stamp, pencil topper eraser, ruler, 3-pack of crayons, and a coupon for one free youth admission to the Miller Park Zoo.
Showing posts with label birthday party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday party. Show all posts
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
6th Birthday Party at Miller Park Zoo
This year, my son's birthday was held at the zoo. They have 2 options for parties. One is outdoor at their covered area right after you enter the zoo ($125 for 20 people for 2 hours; $7/person extra up to 40 people). The second option (the one we chose) is in the large classroom ($175 for 20 people for 2 hours; $9/person extra up to 40 people). Both of these options include a treat bag for each child. You can purchase carousel rides for $1 per rider. You can also get an animal encounter for 20 minutes with 2 animals of your choice (in advance) for $75. We were going to choose to add both of these add-ons to make our party experience complete, but it was raining that day so we decided to just get the animal encounter.
Members of the Miller Park Zoological Society receive a 10% discount.
My son wanted a minion party. And I think it turned out pretty great! (But that's a post for another time.) We called 3 months in advance and both times on Saturday were already booked. However, Sunday was wide open. We chose the later time (1pm-3pm) because the early one on a Sunday just seemed too early (10am-12pm). Well, we ran into quite the issue about 2 days before the party. They had double booked the room and accidentally written ours on the schedule from 10am-12pm. This was very stressful and I still get sick whenever I think about it. They did not handle this in the correct way at all. The simple fact is that we booked first so we should have gotten to keep the room. But no! That's not how it worked out. We ended up with a much smaller room that was half way across the zoo. It turned out to not be a HUGE deal, but I can tell you that after the party was over, I was definitely thinking about how the party would have gone much smoother if we had been in the larger room. They did, however, wave the fee for the animal encounter.
Overall, it wasn't the party that I wanted and I'm very disappointed in it. I would say that I wouldn't recommend using the Miller Park Zoo as your party venue. However, one of the employees did say that they're surprised this doesn't happen more often which leads me to believe it's not a very common occurrence so I suppose you could give it a try.
Members of the Miller Park Zoological Society receive a 10% discount.
My son wanted a minion party. And I think it turned out pretty great! (But that's a post for another time.) We called 3 months in advance and both times on Saturday were already booked. However, Sunday was wide open. We chose the later time (1pm-3pm) because the early one on a Sunday just seemed too early (10am-12pm). Well, we ran into quite the issue about 2 days before the party. They had double booked the room and accidentally written ours on the schedule from 10am-12pm. This was very stressful and I still get sick whenever I think about it. They did not handle this in the correct way at all. The simple fact is that we booked first so we should have gotten to keep the room. But no! That's not how it worked out. We ended up with a much smaller room that was half way across the zoo. It turned out to not be a HUGE deal, but I can tell you that after the party was over, I was definitely thinking about how the party would have gone much smoother if we had been in the larger room. They did, however, wave the fee for the animal encounter.
Overall, it wasn't the party that I wanted and I'm very disappointed in it. I would say that I wouldn't recommend using the Miller Park Zoo as your party venue. However, one of the employees did say that they're surprised this doesn't happen more often which leads me to believe it's not a very common occurrence so I suppose you could give it a try.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Octonauts Birthday Decor: Porthole Door Wreath
We're getting closer and closer to Owen's birthday party! Only 1 more week! I've shown you the invites. Now for the first DIY project I did for this party (and I did a lot). I wanted to make something for the front door so that people would be taken on an Octonauts adventure from the moment they walked through the door. So I made a Porthole, of course!
What You'll Need:
duct tape
pool noodle (I got mine from Dollar Tree last summer)
orange ribbon (and lots of it)
pin/small nail/tape
1 piece of scrapbook paper that looks like water
Steps:
1. Bend your pool noodle into a circle and secure it with duct tape. I found that this was much easier to do with two people. My husband held the pool noodle in place while I duct taped it together. This will be your 'wreath' base.
2. Secure the end of your ribbon to the pool noodle using your pin/small nail/tape. Honestly, I used a small nail because it was the only thing lying around the house that I had. And it worked. Now begin wrapping the ribbon around the pool noodle until the entire thing is covered. I ended up using about 2 ½ rolls of the orange ribbon I got from Wal-Mart.
3. Tape your scrapbook paper to the back of your 'wreath'. I found a piece of scrapbook paper that looked like reflections of light under the water at Michael's.
That's it. I think it turned out pretty good. Hopefully everyone that comes to the party can tell what I was trying to do here. lol
What You'll Need:
duct tape
pool noodle (I got mine from Dollar Tree last summer)
orange ribbon (and lots of it)
pin/small nail/tape
1 piece of scrapbook paper that looks like water
Steps:
1. Bend your pool noodle into a circle and secure it with duct tape. I found that this was much easier to do with two people. My husband held the pool noodle in place while I duct taped it together. This will be your 'wreath' base.
2. Secure the end of your ribbon to the pool noodle using your pin/small nail/tape. Honestly, I used a small nail because it was the only thing lying around the house that I had. And it worked. Now begin wrapping the ribbon around the pool noodle until the entire thing is covered. I ended up using about 2 ½ rolls of the orange ribbon I got from Wal-Mart.
3. Tape your scrapbook paper to the back of your 'wreath'. I found a piece of scrapbook paper that looked like reflections of light under the water at Michael's.
That's it. I think it turned out pretty good. Hopefully everyone that comes to the party can tell what I was trying to do here. lol
Monday, March 3, 2014
Octonaut Party: Invitations
Shoot! I am so sorry. I post every single day at 6:30 pm and here we are at 8 pm and I haven't posted yet! Have you ever just had one of those days? Seriously. It's now March and I am officially in Birthday Party Planning Mode. My son is turning 4 on the 24th and this year, I have done something absolutely INSANE! I have decided to have 2 parties for him. What? I know, right? Crazy.
The first party (on the 22nd) is for the kids we have met in this past year in our neighborhood. These are my son's first official friends! I'm so excited. I've only ever planned parties for family, not actual kids. I hope it turns out well.
The second party (on the 29th) is just for family. We've decided to have the parties in our basement and having 30 people (if everyone shows up) in one space seamed very excessive. Hence the 2nd party.
For the invites, I saved the image of the GUP A from this website. Then, I took 2 pictures (one of the beach and one of my son) from the vacation we took a couple months ago to Myrtle Beach and Photoshopped all 3 of these things together. I added a talk bubble and all the details for the party. I think it turned out great. I actually used the same invite and just changed the dates and times for the second party. Here's what it looks like:
The first party (on the 22nd) is for the kids we have met in this past year in our neighborhood. These are my son's first official friends! I'm so excited. I've only ever planned parties for family, not actual kids. I hope it turns out well.
The second party (on the 29th) is just for family. We've decided to have the parties in our basement and having 30 people (if everyone shows up) in one space seamed very excessive. Hence the 2nd party.
For the invites, I saved the image of the GUP A from this website. Then, I took 2 pictures (one of the beach and one of my son) from the vacation we took a couple months ago to Myrtle Beach and Photoshopped all 3 of these things together. I added a talk bubble and all the details for the party. I think it turned out great. I actually used the same invite and just changed the dates and times for the second party. Here's what it looks like:
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