tips & tricks

May 28, 2009 No Comments

planning for a rainy day

rain-date-on-invitation It’s the worst when you’ve planned your child’s birthday party or your girlfriend’s baby shower to be outside and it rains! You want to hang pom poms from your pergola, all the games require open spaces, your living room just can’t accommodate 15 running and jumping children… What do you do!?

Well it has become so common that almost 15% of the invitations we print have a “rain date.” Typically it’s the next day, but we’ve also seen some moms plan for the next weekend. Either way, we wanted to share this brilliant way to ensure the event you’ve so painstakingly planned for doesn’t get drenched.

Happy planning!

gift wrap embellishments

giftwrap I know how tough it is to simply get around to purchasing the gift for an upcoming birthday party, much less finding the time to wrap it. But if you can muster the energy, you can add a lot of fun to your gift with only a few minutes of effort.

Most craft stores have a section filled with wooden die cuts and often they sell ones that are already painted, like my little dinosaur here. For less than a dollar you can really add interest to your gift.

And this is not exclusive to boxes. Even if you’re sending your child out the door with a gift bag, a fun accessory gives it a personal touch.

twist on the placecard

I love this idea from Southern Weddings magazine. We always put the placecard in the same place. Makes perfect sense; it goes on the table. Right? Well it doesn’t have to. This idea is perfect when you’re having a gathering:

with more than one table,
where everyone knows each another already, or
when you have limited space for each place setting.

Think outside, or in this case off, the table.

appreciate your hostess

We’ve all been there, someone invites you to a party or a family dinner (i.e., Thanksgiving) and when you ask what to bring, they say “nothing.” Take it from me, they don’t really mean it… plus etiquette compels you to ignore them. Here’s our advice, if it’s a dinner, take at least a bottle of wine (your meal will cost much more than it and you didn’t even have to cook). If it’s a cocktail party, the bar is stocked… give your hostess a personal gift. Remember, she worked hard and thought enough of you to invite you.

who sits where on Thanksgiving

One of our “Party Chat with the Experts” readers on OpMom.com asked a great question today. What do you do when you’re having the entire family over for Thanksgiving and the “main” table isn’t big enough for everyone to sit at? She also asks whether or not the kid’s table should be in the same room. Here’s what we think.

The “main table” situation is always tricky. You know your family best and who might take offense to being at the “second” table. If someone is going to raise a fuss, put them at the “main,” unless you really don’t want to! {smirk} Or, if you want a more diplomatic way to arrange, you could let everyone draw a number and sit in the seat they drew. (See how to make cute turkey placecards.)

As for the kid’s table, location is definitely tied to the age of the children. If above 4, I would say in another room is just fine. They’re going to giggle, play at the table and probably get up after 10 minutes anyway. {wink}

planning for a rainy day

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who sits where on Thanksgiving

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