First, who has time to run to the supermarket before school starts, and get to work on time?  Not me.  Although I work from home, I don’t have time to go to the supermarket with a 3 and 4 year old — wait in line behind someone who is doing their MONTHLY grocery shopping — for a box of cookies or brownies for one of my children’s class parties.  But, what choice do you have?  You have a lot of choices, actually.  I’ll be posting many more ideas later, but here’s one quick solution:

I’m sure we all have Animal Crackers, Cheerios, Goldfish Crackers, cookies, etc.  Choice one of the above — or, the snack of your choice.  Take regular-sized zip-lock bags and grab some of your childs stickers (we ALL have stickers in our house.  A child not having stickers — that just doesn’t exist.  That’ s like us not having air). First, place the stickers on the zip-lock bags , then fill the bags with snacks  (see photos below).  The does NOT take long.  Say your child has 25 students in his/her class.  It should only take you about 10 minutes — tops!  Trust me, I know — I’ve done it.  And, it certainly beats that (dreaded) supermarket visit. 

Please keep in mind (and, I will post these later), you can get very creative and invest more time in home-made, frugal goody bags or party favors for your child’s party.  This post is the quick, simple and cute solution.  The kids’ lose their little minds whenever they see the stickers.  They are no longer just “animal crackers” — Oh, NO! NO! NOOOO!  They are “Dora” or “Spider-Man” animal crackers.  It just makes them taste so much better .

The tone of your party is set from the time your guests’ receive your invitation. 

You have several options when sending invitations for your child’s special day.  My personal favorite is www.Evite.com.  They have designs for almost any theme imaginable.  If they don’t have what you’re looking for — no worries!  They give you the option of uploading your own image.  For example, my daughter is about to turn 3 years old.  She is very much into the Little Einsteins.  Although they didn’t have a Little Einsteins invitation, I was able to upload the most adorable Little Einstein image into the invitation.  Many people like to have a hard copy for their child’s memory book.  If you would like to have a hard copy, simply print the invitation.  By doing so through www.Evite.com, you are able to see all of the wonderful comments people type.  Many people type things like …. “We would love to attend.  Thank you for including us.  We wouldn’t miss it.  Love, The Smiths”.   How great is that to have? 

Still not sold?  Prefer the old-fashioned invitation?  Check back soon.  I have a wonderful idea, which I will post soon.