Be prepared for that "Oh Shoot, I Need a Kid's Birthday Gift Now" moment...
Do you have birthday party burnout? Now don't get me wrong, everybody loves to celebrate, but when our girls started elementary school it seemed like we had birthday parties scheduled every other weekend. Running errands and fitting in a gift buying can be exhausting.
Below are 5 tips for keeping birthday party gift giving SIMPLE.
Let's get started...
1. Upcycle gift bags & ribbons - We keep a box full of gift bags that are still in good condition to reuse. It is perfect in a quick pinch.
2. Get creative with the wrapping - My girls love drawing, painting, or stamping their own wrapping paper. We keep a roll of Melissa & Doug paper for custom wrapping paper.
Here are a few cute ideas:
- Make bubble-wrap-art wrapping paper: Love this print!
- Wrap gifts with maps: A creative way to upcycle...
- Create photo tags: a simple way to personalize!
- Stamp heart paper: Use a TP roll for this adorable paper...
If you prefer traditional wrapping paper here are some simple storage ideas:
- Cut a slit in your empty toilet paper rolls and slip them over rolls of wrapping paper to keep everything nice and neat. See this simple tip in action. Brilliant!
- Upcycle a small (clean) trash can to keep your wrapping paper rolls in order. See it in action here, love the wheels in this example.
- If you want to be really organized, consider installing a simple wire shelf sideways in a closet. See an example here. Fairly inexpensive, and creative!
3. Own a rainbow of tissue paper - Have 101 colors on-hand. It is cheap, playful, and the simple dash of color can revive any upcycled gift bag.
4. Skip the store-bought card - Don't waste the money. Have your child make a handmade card or gift tag instead.
5. Have some pre-purchased gifts on hand - When we'd ask parents what their kids wanted, they'd often say, "They love arts and crafts." Over time we simple started a birthday party gift stash at our house. We'd keep a few standard, kid-tested and approved toys on-hand so we didn't have to shop every single time the girls got an invite.
Here are a few of our favorite birthday gifts for kids from when the girls were younger:
Featured items:
- Decorate-Your-Own Race Car
- Butterfly Wooden Bead Set
- Dinosaur Sun Catchers Craft Kit
- Sparkling Flowers Wooden Bead Set
- Reusable Sticker Pad - Dress-Up
- Reusable Sticker Pad - Vehicles
- Picture Frame Pad
As my girls got older, their tastes changed. Here are a few of our standard gifts now:
- Craft & Create Tape Crafts
- Blendy Pens Markers Surprise Art - 66 Colors
- Sprayza No-Fuss Airbrush - Magic Super Deluxe Set
- Suspend Family Game
- Design-Your-Own Bangles
- Craft & Create Mixed Metal Jewelry
If you keep an eye out over at Melissa & Doug's website they offer a lot of great Buy One Get One Free Offers. It is a great opportunity to stock up on a few additional items for your birthday stash.
To keep things organized, we created a "gift shelf" in one of our closets. It is a ONE-STOP STORAGE PLACE where you can find everything you needed to wrap a present in a jiffy.
Over the years, these simple tips have made birthday parties a cinch. Do you have any additional tips to share? Let's chat in the comments!
Blog Ambassador | Let's Lasso the Moon is proud to be part of the 2014 Blog Ambassador program. We worked hard alongside Melissa & Doug to explore fun ways to keep children inquisitive and to promote classic creative play. Click here to read our full sponsorship disclosure. See all Blog Ambassador posts by Zina on Melissa & Doug's blog Playtime Press.
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