Start drafting your soldiers with some simple invitations. Using tan or army green cardstock, fold in half and on the front write “Official Orders” in a block print. Inside, add “You’ve been recruited to ____’s birthday party, so report at ____ (use military hours).” If you choose some messy activities, you might want to remind your unit to report with a change of clothes or a towel. There are authentic looking pre-made invitations available, as well as awesome party supplies.

As your troops arrive on the big day, hand them their dog tags before starting their training.
-    Field Training: Set up an obstacle course with lots of things for them to jump over, crawl through, shimmy under, climb up, etc.
-    Target Practice: have water balloons (grenades) and water guns prepped before the party. Set up targets all over the yard, like little plastic soldiers or aluminum cans, for the kids to aim at.
-    Hot Grenade: pass a water balloon to music just like in the game of Hot Potato
-    Code Breaker (for older kids): write a message in numbers and have the children work together to solve the puzzle
Before you send the troops home, reward their hard work with a fabulous Special Forces party favor box.

All of their hard work will build quite an appetite, so the mess hall needs a good array of filling food. My Marine Corp Dad recommends Spaghetti and Meatballs. But, you can also serve up hamburger, veggie sticks, energy bars, Mediterranean Rice, and a nice slice of hot apple pie.  Top it all off with a Special Forces birthday cake.

With these activities and entrees, I would call the Special Forces Birthday Party a huge success (and parents with tired children might heartily agree!).

Technorati Tags: Aluminum Cans, Birthday Party Ideas, Cardstock, Code Breaker, Dog Tags, Energy Bars, Hot Apple Pie, Hot Potato, Marine Corp, Mediterranean Rice, Mess Hall, Obstacle Course, Party Favor, Plastic Soldiers, Shimmy, Spaghetti And Meatballs, Target Practice, Water Balloon, Water Balloons, Water Guns

They have a wide selection of flat and folded cards, many with multiple photo options.  You no longer have to choose from just one picture.  And with the help of the Tiny Prints card designers, you can upload a variety of pictures and they can help you choose the best one.  They even edit the photos too, cropping, sharpening, and removing red eye.

Love adding a letter to your Holiday cards?  You can do that too.  Personalize the card to fit your style.  They have a low 10 card minimum order.  Plus their Studio Basics line gives you options that start at just 69 cents a card.

Want to make ordering Holiday photo cards even easier this year?  Choose the Mail for Me option.  They will address your envelopes, stamp them, and place them in the mail for you.  All you have to pay for is postage and envelope printing.

Check one thing off of your Holiday list and order your personalized photo cards today.  Enjoy the season this year, rather than running around trying to get everything finished at the last minute.

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Invitations can get pretty creative with this theme. How about purchasing coconuts and writing the party details right on them with a black Sharpie marker? Or you can cut out a sand castle shape from colored cardstock and decorate with shell stickers before writing the information on the back. Of course, if you order your party supplies in a cute hula theme, you can add on coordinating invitations. In fact, there are some neat personalized banners available in the “Let’s Hula” theme, too!

As your guests arrive, gift them with their own lei necklace or bracelet before starting the activities. What to do? Easy! HULA! Have a contest to see who can hula the longest. Other games can include the Limbo, Water Balloon Toss, or Island Hop (played like musical chairs). The kids will have tons of fun.

Arrange trays of cooked chicken, ham, pineapple, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and cheese so your party visitors can create their own kebabs. Serve up additional bowls of fruit salad, pasta with pesto, and Hawaiian Pizza and everyone will proclaim “’Ono, mikomiko!” (delicious)

Even if you aren’t on the beach with sun and sand, a Let’s Hula Birthday Party will be the ticket to take you there (symbolically, of course).

Technorati Tags: Birthday Party Ideas, Cardstock, Cherry Tomatoes, Coconuts, Cooked Chicken, Fruit Salad, Hanau, Hawaiian Pizza, Hula, Kiddo, Let's Hula Birthday Party, Limbo, Musical Chairs, Party Details, Party Supplies, Pesto, Sand Castle, Sharpie Marker, Sweet Gal, Tons Of Fun, Water Balloon Toss

Let your guests know the date and location by making up some invitations. Print out Mr. Men and Little Miss images and paste to white cardstock. Write the details on the back. Or you can cut out an image of Mr. Tickle with long gangly arms from orange cardstock with information on the back. There are some vividly colored ones you can purchase, along with coordinating party supplies, should you choose to go the pre-made route.

The age group of Mr. Men and Little Miss fans makes it easy to entertain with fun games!
-    Mr. Men/Little Miss Says (like Simon Says)
-    Cut out images of the Mr. Men/Little Miss Characters out of cardstock and have a scavenger hunt. Whoever finds the most wins!
-    A pull string piñata! Who doesn’t love goodies falling from the sky!

Kid friendly food is a must, so think about sandwiches cut into fun shapes, goldfish crackers, brightly colored fruits and vegetables, and strawberry lemonade. The chow seems even cooler when served up on Mr. Men & Little Miss placemats that your guests can even take home!

With their bright colors and cute smiles, a Mr. Men & Little Miss Birthday Party is a fabulous choice for your child!

Technorati Tags: Birthday Party Ideas, Bright Colors, Children Around The World, Colored Fruits, Cute Smiles, Falling From The Sky, Friendly Food, Fruits And Vegetables, Fun Games, Goldfish Crackers, Mr Men And Little Miss, Mr Men And Little Miss Books, Mr Men Little Miss, Mr Tickle, Mr. Men & Little Miss Birthday Party, Placemats, Roger Hargreaves, Scavenger Hunt, Sky Kid, Strawberry Lemonade, Youngster

Create an invitation by folding cardstock (in your chosen theme color) in half. Write in black glitter “Sweet! You’re invited!” Decorate around the words with stamped stars and then embossed with silver embossing powder. Write your party details on the inside and, before sealing, include a sprinkle of star confetti. There are also some snazzy premade invites you can purchase, as well as some matching party supplies like tableware, streamers, and decorations.

Prior to the party, collect gift certificates to various teen venues (fast food restaurants, chocolate shops, nail salons, etc) and any other teen-friendly items you can use for gifts and awards. Your activities can be as simple or elaborate as you wish:
-    Treasure hunt. Create two puzzles out of a photo of your daughter, take it apart, and place in a drawstring bag to hide. On index cards, write elaborate clues that lead to more elaborate clues until eventually, your two teams find the hidden puzzle bag. The team that finds their puzzle bag and puts it together first wins!
-    Trivia Game: include questions about your daughter, popular movies about sweet 16, hit songs, etc.
-    Hide prizes inside sparkly balloons and at the end of the party, hand one to each guest. Instruct them to pop the balloon to see what they won.

Make the meal a nice sit-down for the guests with classy entrees. You can use your daughter’s favorite foods or create a simple menu theme such as Italian, Chinese, seasonal, etc. For example, if you choose Italian, serve hot garlic rolls, Penne Pasta with a Red Tomato Sauce, Mixed Greens, and a Sweet Ricotta with Chocolate for dessert. Instead of a cake, offer a glorious array of cupcakes! Mmmm!

Hopefully these ideas get you rolling for a fantastic Sweet 16 Birthday Party. Remember, your sweet daughter deserves to sparkle and shine …

Technorati Tags: Cardstock, Chocolate Shops, Confetti, Drawstring Bag, Embossing Powder, Fast Food Restaurants, Favorite Foods, Gift Certificates, Glorious Array, Index Cards, Momentous Moment, Nail Salons, Party Details, Red Tomato, Ricotta, Streamers, Sweet 16 Birthday Party, Tomato Sauce, Trivia Game, Vivacity

To get the word out, make up invitations to look like treasure maps (parchment paper with torn edges and drawn in brown pencil to look faded) with a big red “X” over your house to mark the spot. Write your party details on the back. To make it even cooler, roll into scrolls and stick into a bottle. Another idea is to purchase invitations that look ultra pirate-y along with your party supplies and party favors.

The kids will enjoy dressing up as pirates, so have some eye patches, bandanas, and black eye pencils on hand. They can adorn themselves with the items and draw on mustaches or beards to complete their look! Send the scurvy scallywags off to dig for buried treasure in your sand piles where you placed golden chocolate coins. Follow it up with pirate booty that can only be earned by breaking the piñata!

The galley needs to serve food that pirates can really sink their teeth into such as chicken legs and wings, potato wedges, banana bread, and skewered fruit. Aye, the blasted mates will cheer “Yo-ho-ho” after this fine meal.

No need to make anyone walk the plank after this awesome Pirate Birthday Party!

Technorati Tags: Banana Bread, Beards, Birthday Party Ideas, Black Eye, Black Patches, Chicken Legs, Chocolate Coins, Eye Patches, Eye Pencils, Galley, Mustaches, Parchment Paper, Party Details, Party Kids, Pirate Booty, Red X, Sand Piles, Scurvy, Torn Edges, Treasure Maps

For simple invitations, fold cream cardstock in half and decorate the front with Thanksgiving themed stamps such as pumpkins, cornucopias, or fall leaves. Enhance the images with gold embossing powder. Write your party details on the inside in a delicate font, being sure to include pot luck information should you go that route (makes party day SO much easier!). After making the invites, determine your seating and tableware needs. Fine china is not a requirement for Thanksgiving Day so consider the pretty disposable plates, napkins, and silverware that are available.

While some of your guests might enjoy watching the traditional football games on TV, others will very much treasure time spent on “bonding activities.” Set up a tag football game outside while the turkey roasts, enjoy the antics while Bobbing for Apples, or entertain the children with Hot Pumpkin (played like Hot Potato). There are even some fun Thanksgiving party games you can print from your home computer, like Turkey Trivia or Thanksgiving Bingo.

Traditional Thanksgiving Day means roasting (or frying for you southerners) the customary turkey and cooking up any number of your favorite sides like stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, waldorf salad… the list of yummy-ness can go on and on. If you indicated a potluck to your guests, then savor their generosity.

Thanksgiving Day is a special time of year for many of us – relish in the gifts of friends, love, and togetherness.

Technorati Tags: Bobbing For Apples, Cornucopias, Dinner Rolls, Disposable Plates, Embossing Powder, Fine China, Gratefulness, Hot Potato, Party Details, Party Games, Pot Luck, Potato Casserole, Special Time, Tag Football, Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Party Games, Traditional Thanksgiving, Turkey Roasts, Turkey Trivia, Waldorf Salad, Warm Food

Print out an image of the Simpsons family onto white card stock. Cut out a “word bubble” shape for Bart and write something like, “Don’t have a cow, man! It’s just a Birthday Party!” Include party details on the inside in black ink. Alternatively, you may want to order premade invites along with some wicked cool party supplies.

To keep your guests entertained, try activities like a Donut Eating Contest, a Simpsons Trivia Challenge, Homer Says, or a Marge Dress-Up Relay (find some wigs and spray paint them blue, green dresses, blue high heels, and gaudy necklace). Be sure to hand out Simpsons party favors like yo-yos, stickers, and a laser spinner.

Krusty Burgers are a big favorite of the Simpsons family, so make up your own Homer-style Burgers to serve with fries. Lisa is the vegetarian of the family, so have some pita wraps and veggie tray with dip to offer, as well.

Guests will proclaim “Aye Caramba!” (in joyful surprise) after the fun they have at your Simpsons Birthday Party.

Technorati Tags: Bart, Birthday Party Ideas, Black Ink, Blue Hair, Card Stock, Cow Man, Donut, Eating Contest, Fries, High Heels, Joyful Surprise, Krusty Burgers, Party Details, Simpsons Birthday Party, Simpsons Family, Simpsons Homer, Simpsons Trivia Challenge, Stickers, Wigs, Wraps, Yo Yos

You can find all kinds of gear bedecked with the number 2 now-a-days and in fabulous themes! Ideas like Cupcakes, Two-Two Trains, Yo Gabba Gabba, or Mod Monkey will be a thrill for your toddler and guests. Companies are even offering more than the proverbial cups, napkins, and tableware as they expand out into personalized banners, placemats, and super cool party favors.

Your toddler will delight in a big Number 2 balloon or a pull-string piñata, which is easily filled with lovely surprises and trinkets. Play fun games like Simon Says, Duck Duck Goose, or Ring around the Rosy and take lots of pictures for your scrapbook. Talk about a fun day for the 2-crowd!

Celebrate their 2nd Birthday as fabulously as you did the first. Even if they don’t remember it, they will always feel the excitement and love you hold for them. Their special day is the second in many more to come…

Technorati Tags: Balloon, Bedecked, Birthday Party, Crowd, Duck Duck Goose, Excitement, Fun Day, Fun Games, Important Event, Independent Thinkers, Interactive Explorers, Monkey, Napkins, Party Supplies, Scrapbook, Surprises, Tableware, Trinkets, Two Trains, Yo Gabba Gabba

Today is the last day for guaranteed delivery before Halloween though, so do not delay.  Order now!  And Happy Trick or Treating!

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