I am having an 80th birthday party for my mom. I need an idea for party favors that the guests could have as a remembrance of the event. I need to have around 100 and need to keep the cost reasonable. Also any decorating ideas would be appreciated.
How about little potted plants? Sounds strange I know, but you could grow them from seed if you have time, and you can decorate cheap plastic pots with colour coordinated paper and ribbon.
It's something they will keep for a long time, depending on the type of plant, plus it will give the table lots of colour!
When my Mum celebrated her 80th, I baked gingerbreadmen and gingerbreadladies using commercial metal cookie cutters and decorated them in suits with ties or overalls and skirts and tops or dresses using various colours and styles. Each cookie I individually placed in a cellophane bag, heat sealed closed and labeled with the relative's name on the top.
When my parents had their big birthdays, we created candy-bar wrappers with photos of the birthday-person and a thank you sentiment printed. There are companies that will do it for you, www.customcandybars.com/
and
www.sweet-reflections.com/
and some computer programs you can find that will help you create your own labels. It's not too hard to do.
How about taking a photo of your mom, making some business cards with her photo, some little message on them, maybe the date, and a thank you for celebrating with us type thing. You can print them on the computer, I do my boss's business cards all the time! You could do them for less than $10. You could even have a variety of different pics of your mom! You could "fancy" them up by using a paper punch and tying a piece of ribbon or curling ribbon on each.
Hope you have a great celebration!
Pam
I like the idea of little plants, too - think of "evergreen" as a theme. I just replanted the shoots of a jade tree in my yard - Does anyone have anything like that around - succulents are very easy to replant. Or perhaps your 99 cent store has small plants - ours does...
I'll share an idea that I have received which can be adapted for most occasions. Prepare small gift boxes or bags (from 99 cent or $ stores) or prepare your own using clear or colored plastic wrap tied with ribbon (which will be less expensive). You can order personalized labels to stick on the bottom of Hershey's Kisses with the name, date, balloons, etc.
You could get memorabilia from ebay. Like magazines or music from the era she was born, late 1920s or 30s, and use them for decorations on tabletops or the party invitation. For my dad's 70th, I designed a fake newspaper headline and used a picture from his childhood to make the party invitation.
You could also use Google to find out interesting info about our country during that time; how much gas cost, milk cost, houses cost, what was the # song, etc., and type up that info in a festive way to use as centerpieces on the table (kinda like drink menus at restaurants. Put the info in clear plastic upright frames.) Or print them out and put them at each place setting just laying flat.
You could put the year she was born at the top and then all kinds of fun facts underneath. It would get people talking and her reminiscing about the old days! Have fun!
-Lee in FL
How about little net bags with 80 shiny new pennies in each with a "tag" about 1 shiny penny for each shiny year of life!
