Personalized Party Favors

If you are one of those people who are depressed just by thinking of how much money they need to spend in buying party favors for their party, then this is the best time to consider giving personalized items.

It is best if you stop feeling low because you dont have much money to spend in buying expensive party favors for the people who will be attending your part. But, you really need not worry so much because there are so many party favor ideas out there perfect for all occasions. All you need to do is to make a list of the people whom you’ll give the items to and jot down at least one or two of their interests or favorite activities.

After doing this, you can now visit various department stores, specialty shops, novelty stores, and craft shops to find the perfect party favor item for your friends without having to spend so much money.

Unisex items as party favors

While giving presents such as party favors would really touch your guests’ hearts during a special occasion, it is important to remember this should not rob you off your money. Instead of spending money in buying items as party favors, why not try to create your own “gift” using your creativity and resourcefulness? If you have the time and the talent, ideal party favor ideas perfect for any occasion might include:

1. Personalized items. These can be considered as the most inexpensive yet valuable item to give out in almost all occasions. Personalizing items does not only save you some money, time, and effort in strolling shops looking for that perfect item because you can do in inside the confines of your own home. This is actually one of the best party favor ideas out there because you can literally personalize just about anything. All you need to do is to ask the person about his or her favorite item or interest and create your own masterpiece out of it.

2. Sweets and treats. For people with sweet tooth, sweets such as chocolates, cookies, and sweet breads are surefire hits. If you that knack for baking, you can bake your own goodies and wrap them in a special colorful box or jar to make it presentable.

3. Custom-made stationeries made at home. For those who are into writing letters, one of the best gift ideas for them is a collection of custom-made stationeries. What you can do is to collect all unused envelopes, specialty papers, and unique items to come up with a custom-made stationary set.

The good thing about this is that it will not only help you save money by buying cheap materials for the party favor but can also serve as a bonding activity for you and your family members or friends. Aside from that, the process of making the items itself is fun and easy. While doing the items, you and your friends can squeeze out your creative juices and each other to explore different possibilities of the craft to make it more beautiful.

Party Favors That Kids Will Enjoy

Want to give the best party to your kid? Then definitely you will need to have a plan that will ensure that your child and his friends would have the time of his life. I know throwing parties could get expensive. But you could find ways on how to provide a child a great time without costing too much. You could start by making your own party favors.

Party favors are important in any childs party. Children are looking forward in receiving them. It does not have to be expensive, since there are easy do-it-yourself favors. You can even your child help in preparing them. You can even include it in the party. A great idea to keep children interested in the party and at the same moment, kill some time, would be to involve them in activities, like designing cookies or cupcakes or constructing simple wooden craft. You could involve them in designing cookies and letting them take it home.

If its not possible for you to hold such activity, then there are other great ideas for party favors.

Sun visors, canvass bags or baseball caps. You could put the childrens name on them, personalizing the items. You could ask the local craft store to do that or you could do it your own. You could even incorporate a design which is unified with the theme of the party.

Coloring Books. There are coloring books that you could download from the internet. You could choose the images that will go with the theme. You could reduce the sizes and make the coloring books smaller and fit in the goody bag.

Candies and chocolates. Kids love something sweet. You could have the candy and chocolate wrappers personalized. You can do it in your own computer. There are different programs which would help you make a template and put some personal message like thank you in the candy wrappers. If you are not confident with you design skills, there are stores that offer this kind of service.

Jewelry making. Bracelets and friendship pins are very important in a little girls party. So instead of wooden craft, you could have the children making their own jewelry. There are different beads that can be bought in your local craft store. Items necessary for simple jewelry making could be found easily.

Bubbles. Children love bubbles. You could give bubble bottles with customized labels.

A childs mind is very creative, so explore that in your kids birthday party. You could even encourage them to paint their own masks and have a masquerade theme for the party. You could ask your own child what kids are interested nowadays. This would help you get an idea what party favor or activity can be introduced to the guests.

But other than that, it is important to explain to your child that you are not just giving things to his friends. It is a way of sharing and thanking them for celebrating and giving your child some gifts. These party favors are small tokens of appreciation and could go a long way.

Party favors that everybody will enjoy

Most of the time with any parties, we end up having to carry a party favor that will only clutter our homes. But since we have so much respect for the people whose party we attended, we do not have the heart to throw them in the trash. Instead we put them anywhere imaginable until they become eye hazards inside our homes.

This is not to say that party favors in parties are ugly. The opposite is true. Party favors are carefully chosen by the party planner to represent the mood of the party and the occasion that the guests are celebrating at that time. However, they are often useless. Among the really popular party favors that are beautiful but utterly dispensable are small figurines and magnets.

Although beauty is good, one must also remember the function. It is important that what you give people when they leave your party is something that they can use after. That way, they will remember you every time they use it. That is after all the reason for giving party favors, as a souvenir or something that will make guests remember that they have been part of the event.

Below are some ideas for party favors that people will actually be able to use.

1. Cake

One of the best things that I received when I attended a wedding is a party favor in the form of a cake. A very delicious cake at that. It was so yummy, I even asked the newlyweds where they had it baked. This is the kind of thing that you can give your guests. They will not have another clutter in their closet and they also have a full stomach.

2. Music Cd

Another brilliant idea is to give music cds as party favors. You can give a compilation of songs that will best describe the event. For the newlyweds, maybe some songs that played a great part in their lives. In a childrens birthday party, maybe a couple of your kids favorite songs or maybe even an recorded episode of his or her favorite TV show. Its cheap and its light and its not much work. Best of all, guests can store the data into their computer and throw away the cd if they so incline.

3. Perfume or cologne or any cosmetics products

Depending on what the occasion is, you can give cosmetic products that you know they will be able to use as party favors. Maybe some lip balm for the younger ones, perfume for a wedding. You can find a lot of cheap products in grocery stores. What is great about giving these products is the fact that they seem more expensive than they actually are.

Party favors need to also be functional so that guests will be able to appreciate them more. There are a lot of things that you can give that can symbolize the party without sacrificing practicality. In this time of crisis, function is actually essential.

No Backyard? Try Planting Vegetable Gardens Indoors!

Nothing beats the fresh wholesome taste of vegetables freshly picked from your own garden. Planting vegetable gardens can be a challenge if you dont have a backyard, but you can still grow vegetables indoors. Just follow a few simple garden-smart guidelines.

Choose Appropriate Vegetables

Different plants have different requirements and with indoor gardens the major restrictions tend to be available space and available light. If you want to grow fruit bearing plants, these will require large amounts of sunlight. Salad greens like lettuce, miniature cabbages, swiss chard, and spinach require less light and do quite well indoors.

The size of your pots will also determine your choice of plant, choose containers big enough for the plants full growth. Small root crops such as radishes and onions are great choices, and there are even small root carrots available. Herbs are a popular choice because they are compact and do not need much space. Miniature varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant can also thrive inside when given the proper care.

Find the Perfect Spot for Growing

As mentioned earlier, lighting is an important consideration for an indoor vegetable garden. A bright south-facing window is your best bet, but any spot that gets a minimum of 5 hours of continuous light can be used. In addition to natural light, you can set up supplemental artificial lighting if you are really serious about growing healthy plants.

Traffic flow is also another important factor to think about. Vegetables in general bruise easily so you want to choose fairly quiet spots so minimize accidental human contact. If you have small children or pets at home, you may want to locate your garden well out of their reach. It is also important to think about proximity to your gardening tools and easy clean-up if things get messy.

Optimize the Microclimate

Plants grow best in high humidity and moderate temperatures. Indoor gardens usually suffer from low humidity and this needs to be addressed. Container grown plants tend to dry out faster and will require more frequent watering. However, it is important not to let the plants get waterlogged as this may cause root rot. Make sure that there is good drainage by raising pots with a pan of gravel underneath. Evaporation from these dishes also improves humidity so they serve a dual purpose.

Another great way optimize your microclimate is to group plants together. You can mix your vegetables with more decorative houseplants to create groupings that are not only beautiful but also functional. Temperature is actually easier to control inside the house, as it is easy to provide more shade by simply drawing the curtains. Just make sure plants are protected from drafts.

Get Good Potting Soil

Potting soil for indoor gardens should drain well and contain the nutrients required to support growth and development. You can purchase premixed potting soil that already incorporates the proper amount of fertilizer. If you prefer to go organic, you can get organic potting mixes from your local garden shop. Add nutrients with caution, as fertilizer buildup is quite common in containers.

Planting vegetable gardens indoors can be incredibly rewarding, so do not be afraid to give it a try. You may even end up growing enough produce to give as gifts to delighted family and friends.

Planting Vegetable Gardens For Stress Relief

More than letting you reduce the sum of money allocated for food, there is another very beneficial effect of planting vegetable gardens that will really give your health a great deal of favor: stress relief.

We all know how stress wreaks havoc to our overall health. Aside from the more obvious fact that stress takes out joy and serenity in our lives, it is also the root of many illnesses known to man. The negative effects of stress in our lives can and will bring several problems such as: heart diseases, depression, migraine, eating disorders and many others. Having your own garden in the backyard is an easy and highly accessible method of stress relief. Since a vegetable garden is fairly easier to look after than one with ornamental plants, you know that working on your garden does not simply create additional stresses.

The weekends are perfect to unwind and make up for stressful hours during a week-long of taxing hours spent at the workplace. Different people have different ways of getting rid of stress. Imagine if you have a vegetable garden in your backyard; just don your gardening attire, step out and you can immediately get in touch with nature and put behind you the stresses of life. Now compare that to a weekend at the beach. Just the long hours of travel, heavy traffic, and the additional expenses for gas and accommodation will only add to your already stressful life.

Relishing the sunlight

Getting enough sunlight while tending your vegetable garden alone will already significantly improve your mood. Its also a great and productive way to have enough vitamin D, which is necessary for proper absorption of calcium in your body. Try to picture some of the happiest moments of your childhood; it is without a doubt that most of them were spent under the nourishing radiance of the sun.

Hours spent at the office means exposure to unnatural light. Not that it is bad to be exposed to light coming from incandescent bulbs, but the lack of being exposed to natural light of the sun is. For sure those skyscrapers are blocking out the sunlight from directly hitting your skin even as you walk to work in the morning.

Attending to the needs of your vegetable garden in the backyard is a great opportunity to get enough sunlight. However, it is best if you forego gardening from 11 am to 3 pm as the sun within this timeframe is most likely to cause you irreversible skin damage and cancer.

Surrounded with life

Being surrounded with plants alone is both invigorating and encouraging. Days and days spent indoors and at the workplace prevent us from getting in touch with nature, thus we tend to have limited means to appreciate everything thats grand and beautiful in life. Picture yourself being surrounded with plants that teem with life and growth, and their edible parts improve the appetite and nourish the body with essential vitamins and minerals.

Having your on little piece of nature can help you get rid of stress. The sight of your vegetable garden alone gets rid of stress by giving you that rewarding feeling, knowing you raised those healthy plants with your own hands. Raking, digging, weeding, pruning and harvesting all these activities done while planting vegetable gardens provide a constructive outlet for all the tensions that the body amassed during a week of stressful work.