You only need two pieces of  paper of choice to make these pretty heart shaped bags.

Cut the two pieces of paper in equal sized shapes as shown on the diagram, fold each shape in half and cut a slot in each.

The [...]]]>

These woven heart-shaped party favour bags are also known as Danish Sweethearts.

You only need two pieces of  paper of choice to make these pretty heart shaped bags.

Cut the two pieces of paper in equal sized shapes as shown on the diagram, fold each shape in half and cut a slot in each.

The size of the hearts will depend on the size of your paper shapes, the only thing to keep in mind is that after you have folded them, the length of the cut to slot them together, should be the same length as the folded edge.

The two big hearts in the photo had a size of 10 cm, the smaller ones 6 cm and 4,5 cm.

Follow the diagram to interlace the two paper shapes

Here’s how the bag looks when you open it  up.

Punch a hole in the center of each side and thread with narrow ribbon, or cut a length of paper and glue on the inside for handles.

You can then fill the heart shaped bags with small party favours.

Idea: The 6 cm hearts can be used for party invitation envelopes. Write your invitation on a smaller heart-shaped card, insert and close the heart-shaped envelope with a pretty metal brad. (link opens in a new window)

Have fun when you make these paper heart-shaped favour bags

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to products. If you buy one of these products, I will receive a commission.

Danish Sweetheart Resource: “Let’s Have a Party” by Maureen Roffy 1974

There also instructions to make the salt dough, tips and ideas for baking, painting and varnishing the salt dough items as well as instructions to [...]]]>

The last few days I have been busy updating my Squidoo lens where I have a step-by step photo tutorial on how to make a nativity scene from salt dough.

There also instructions to make the salt dough, tips and ideas for baking, painting and varnishing the salt dough items as well as instructions to make a stable to display the nativity figurines.

You can also download a pdf. file with images of salt dough Christmas tree ornaments that fits well with the nativity figurines.

Every year from October to mid-December there are a lot of traffic to this lens and visitors are asking questions on how to use salt dough to make Christmas ornaments and gifts.

I love salt dough! Even though it is often only thought of as something to keep kids busy with on rainy days, adults can enjoy playing/working with it just as much as kids do.

Way back in October 2006 I started my first blog centering on “cheap” gift ideas. My first post was about the  nativity scene (on the photo) and Christmas ornaments I made from salt dough in 1993.  (We still use this nativity set every year at Christmas time although the figurines are starting to show their age now.)

For one reason or another, this gift blog evolved into a salt dough “creations” blog that lasted well into 2007. The more salt dough items I made to feature on the blog, the more ideas I came up with. So for nearly 7 months I had a wonderful and fulfilling salt dough crafting life.

Here are some of the salt dough items I featured on my ezi-gifts-galore blog:

Ok, to come back to salt dough for party activities and party favour purposes…

There are so many recipes for salt dough on the internet, but the one I like to make for children to play with, is the cooked version. It is very pliable, keep the shape of items better and also keeps longer in the fridge.

Whenever I use salt dough to make gifts or ornaments, I use the “normal” salt dough recipe where you just mix 2 cups flour and 1 cup fine table salt with one cup water. During the years I have worked with salt dough, I made a few changes to the original recipe, like adding another cup of flour to the basic recipe. Sometimes I like to add white glue to the water, sometimes a little bit of oil to make it more pliable…sometimes I just use the salt, flour and water mixture. After a while you really “feel” if the dough will work well or not.

Here are recipes for the two versions of salt dough as well as a  mashed potato edible play dough.

So, to incorporate salt dough into your party preparations, a few ideas:

• You can make playing with the salt dough, part of the party activities and then each party guests can take their salt dough back home after the party, or…

• You can make one or two batches of salt dough, divide evenly into balls and hand it out as party favours at the end of the party. You can put it into ziplock bags with a cheery bag topper together with  one or two cookie cutters.

• You can also start making small salt dough items a week or two before the party (enough time to bake, paint and varnish) and then just slip it into the party favour bags.

Smart Idea: Why not have a salt dough theme party and let all the kids make their own salt dough and items. It is a good time to teach them about the origins of salt and flour, texture, colour and shapes.

Obviously there will not be enough time for them to bake and paint the items, but they will have a great time playing with the dough. You can also offer to bake each guest’s “creations” for them afterwards. Your child can then go and deliver these when he or she delivers the thank you cards a few days after the party.

You don’t have to keep only to salt dough for this party. Let them make edible playdough too and eat their “creations” later.

Salt Dough Party Favour Ideas:

• Alphabet Animals – make the first letter of a child’s name with salt dough, form a small animal and join to the letter before baking.
• Paper Weights, Pencil Holders and Pencil Toppers
• Photo Frames and Framed Handbag Mirrors
• Hanging Wall Ornaments like clowns, dolls, animals
• Earrings,  Bracelets and Necklaces
• Brooches and Badges
• Jewellery Boxes or Smaller Trinket Boxes
• Potpourri
• Mobiles

Don’t forget to watch the video to see some examples of the above-mentioned party favour ideas.

That’s it for now, so go and be creative with salt dough for your child’s next birthday party!

The following two books are filled with heaps of salt dough projects. My children and I spend lots of enjoyable hours making many of the projects featured in them.  I can recommend them with confidence if you would like to learn more about salt dough!

Have fun when you start on your journey with salt dough!

Let’s start off the activities by letting the party guests make their own snow globes to take home after the party. The kids can build their “winter scenes” in the lids of [...]]]>

In this last part of the winter wonderland, snow-filled party theme, you can find a few ideas for party activities and party favours.

Let’s start off the activities by letting the party guests make their own snow globes to take home after the party. The kids can build their “winter scenes” in the lids of the bottles by gluing  miniature toys or figurines to the insides of the lids and while they are waiting for the glue to dry, they can have a “lesson” about how snowflakes are formed in nature.

Let them complete the snow globes after the lesson and then they can enjoy the rest of the party, eating, drinking and having fun. By the time they have to go home, the glue would be dry enough so they can take the snow globes home with them.

To make the snow globes, you will need the following:

• Small jars with lids that seal tightly (baby food jars are ideal)
• Strong, quick-drying glue
• Glitter – white or silver
• Miniature waterproof toys or figurines to build a “winter scene”

1.   Spray the lids in colour of choice and leave to dry.

2.   Glue the toy or the “scene” to the inside of the lid with strong glue and allow to set.

3.   Fill the jar with water and mix in a couple of tablespoons of glycerin (available from pharmacies). Make sure that the jar is filled right to the top.

4.   Add some glitter, but not more than half a teaspoon or the water will become too cloudy. Screw the lid closed.

5.   Smear some waterproof glue around the rim of the jar before sealing it tightly. Leave until the glue has set.

Tip: If you do not have glycerin, dissolve a few teaspoons of sugar in hot water, leave to cool completely and pour into the jar. The glycerin or sugar makes the water “thicker” so that the glitter falls more slowly.

Bubble Fun:

Buy or make your own bubbles to add to the favour bags so that the kids can have fun with them at home. Decorate the bottles of bubbles with a pompom and make a face and hat.  Add a scarf by cutting a thin strip of green felt, fringe it by snipping the edges, wrap it around the neck of the bottle and glue in place.

Quick and easy favour bags:

Fill small plastic bags (small freezer bags work well), with a selection of white sweets and beaded snowflakes. Cut stiff white paper into 5cm snowflake patterns and print a child’s name on each tag.

Have them laminated (optional), and cut out the snowflakes, leaving a 2mm rim of laminate around each. Punch a hole in each one and secure with an eyelet. Thread a key ring through the eyelet and slip the ring over the top of the bag. Secure each bag with silver cord with a pompom on each end.

If you do not want to use plastic freezer bags for the favours, buy snowflake patterned cellophane bags or make your own favour bags using gift wrap paper with snowflake patterns, or use plain green or light blue paper and decorate with snowflake stickers before you make the favour bags.

Lesson Time:

Teach them more about the wonderful world of snowflakes.

Here are the other parts of the snow party theme:

Winter Wonderland Snow Party Invitations

Winter Wonderland Snow Party Decorations

Winter Wonderland Snow Party Birthday Cake (Snow Village)

Winter Wonderland Snow Party Food and Snacks

Remember to stay warm when you plan this winter wonderland snow party and if you live in a part of the world where it never snows… stay cool!

They measure about 5cm across but it is easy to make them larger by simply enlarging the patterns, either by measuring and drawing it on a piece of paper or by enlarging it on a photocopier machine.

To make the [...]]]>

These little boxes are perfect to use as party favours for a girl’s birthday party.

They measure about 5cm across but it is easy to make them larger by simply enlarging the patterns, either by measuring and drawing it on a piece of paper or by enlarging it on a photocopier machine.

To make the boxes you will need the following:

- Medium-weight cardboard

- A hobby knife

- Craft glue

- Plain-coloured paper

- Contrasting gift wrap (optional)

A piece of ribbon, (optional)

Do this:

Draw patterns for base and lid on to cardboard. Score along dotted lines and cut along solid lines.

Bend sides of base up, glue flaps inside. Cut a strip of gift wrap 32cm (approx 12.8 in)  x 5cm (2 in).

Glue gift wrap to sides, leaving an extension at top and bottom. Slit extensions at corners, fold and glue down underneath and inside box.

Cut a piece of gift wrap 2cm larger around lid. Glue lid to this paper, slit at corners, fold extensions under, glue down.

Cut a piece of gift wrap 4,5cm (1,8) x 5cm (2 in), attach lid to base with this strip (see Diagram).

Line box and lid with gift wrap or plain-coloured paper.  A piece of contrasting paper may be glued around edge of lid to decorate. Attach ribbon to front of lid if desired.

Click on the diagram to open in a new window, right-click and save to your computer.

Fill the boxes with small soaps, a dainty handkerchief, lip gloss, bracelets, hair accessories or small trinkets that will suit the theme of the party and the age of the girls.

What would you put into these little boxes? 

By recycling   plastic bottles in this way, you not only do your bit for Mother Earth, but you also have quite unique favour boxes for your child’s birthday party. Older children can make these boxes too, but please [...]]]>

Difficult to believe that these five party favour boxes were once plastic bottles that contained soft drinks.

By recycling   plastic bottles in this way, you not only do your bit for Mother Earth, but you also have quite unique favour boxes for your child’s birthday party. Older children can make these boxes too, but please supervise the cutting procedures.

You can use the bottles as is and just decorate with ribbons and a  bows, and add small items for further decoration.

You can paint them, decoupage them, cover them with modge-podge or white glue that dries clear and add glitter or simply add a few stickers for decoration purposes.

You can fill them with snacks or anything else that will suit the theme of your child’s birthday party.

The party favour boxes are made in the same way as the small snackholders I showed you a few weeks ago but  with the big (2 liter) soft drink plastic bottles.  I was a little bored on Saturday afternoon so I decided to make a few favour boxes and take a few photos to show you step by step how to make them.

I used a black marker pen to show you where and how to cut the bottles, but once you have made one, you will most probably be able to cut them without marking the distances.

Gather enough bottles for the number of party guests you are going to invite. Draw a line around the middle of the bottle.

Use a measuring tape (I used a flexible silicone ruler) and divide the bottle into 5 equal parts. Draw lines of approximately 5 cm down to the base of the bottle. Use a craft knife to cut the bottle in half.

I find it easier to use scissors to cut the bottle in half after using the craft knife to make a slit in the bottle. Using scissors, cut the edge straight.

Cut down the lines about 5 cm from the top so that the bottle looks like this.

As you will have to round the edges of the 5 parts, you can also draw  lines like this before you cut on the lines down to the base. It can be a little difficult to round the edges if you cut downwards first.

Now you have 5 “petals” that have to be folded to close the favour box. Start from one side and just fold them inward, one on top of the other.

like this… and there you have your favour box.

Here are close-ups of the party favour boxes on the first image.

Popcorn Party Favour Box with label on top of popcorn

You can download this label by clicking on it so it opens in a new window. Right-click and save image to your desktop  to print and cut out for your popcorn favour boxes.

This is definitely my favourite of the 5 boxes – I used thinned down white glue and 2 layers of soft tissue wrapping paper to cover the bottle. Tear the paper into pieces and work on only a small part of the bottle at a time. Repeat until the whole bottle is covered, let dry completely and apply a second layer of paper pieces. After it has also dried completely, you can apply two coats of white glue to seal and protect the paper.

The potpourri  favour box was also “painted” with white glue and then covered with glitter. The box on the right has some hair accessories and bracelets, decorated with ribbon, fake flowers and small white butterflies.

I used star stickers on this box, spray painted it with silver and removed the stickers after the paint has dried completely.

I think this favour box will be perfect for an outer space theme party.

So there you have it, a very easy way to recycle empty soft drink plastic bottles and turn them into lovely party favour boxes.

Do you have any other ideas to recycle plastic bottles and use them for your child’s birthday party? Please leave a comment and share your ideas with all the other readers of my blog. It will also be great if you send some photos of  the party items you have made from empty bottles.

As always, have loads of fun when you plan your kid’s birthday party!

I made my first cubic origami box in 2004 after trying quite a few times to come to [...]]]>

I actually wanted to post this tutorial before Christmas last year, but children have birthdays or parties every day of the year, so these cute (and easy) origami favour boxes can be made whenever you need them.

I made my first cubic origami box in 2004 after trying quite a few times to come to terms with the folding terms (like valleys and mountains, for instance) used in the book that I had at that time.

However, once the actual folding process “clicked”, I could not believe that I had so much trouble with it.

Nowadays I sometimes find myself folding these boxes when I am waiting for the food to finish cooking or whenever I am bored. I folded a very, very small box the other day, it was only 3cm in diameter…

Anyway, I am digressing. Let me show you how to fold these boxes yourself to use as party favours or gift boxes for any occasion.

Oh yes, for the purpose of this tutorial I used a square of paper cut from the inner brown paper rolls used for gift wrapping paper. It is quite a sturdy paper and ideal to make boxes with. The colour also lends itself very well to other decorations you would like to add.

So, first things first. These boxes are always made from a square piece of paper. You can easily make a perfect square from any oblong piece like this:

Unroll the brown paper and fold it as in the diagram above to make a triangle.

With sharp scissors or a craft knife and ruler, cut along the bottom of the triangle to give a perfect square

Fold the paper over as shown, open and repeat to the other side – (Origami term – Book fold and unfold two mountain creases)

Fold (Valley) the corners into the middle, then divide into horizontal lines and vertical lines as shown in the next few images

…like this – open and repeat on the other side

Unfold two opposite corners so the paper look like this

Now fold the two opposite sides like this to re crease  – Up until here it was quite easy, now comes the tricky part.

You have to hold these two sides and then collapse  the paper at one end so it looks like this

Now lock  the corner point over the rim of the box so that it rest on the bottom of the box. Repeat with the other side

…and here is your origami box!

Make a lid in the same way as the box but alter the placement of the creases to let the lid fit over the box without squashing it. If you look to the diagram, the black lines represent the creases of the actual box and the red line the creases for the lid.

Remember that this is just an example and not actual measurement. You can make different size boxes by altering the size of the paper square and then alter the width of the outer edges. The bigger the outer edge, the deeper the box will be and vice versa.

Experiment and make notes, for instance a 5cm x 5cm deep box can be made from a 20 x 20 cm square piece of paper, a deep lid for this box would only be slightly larger, but to make a shallow lid you would need a square piece of paper of about 11.5 cm x 11.5 cm and the outer edges would be approximately 2.5 to 3 cm.

You can use thin paper, thick paper, plain paper glued to the back of gift paper, two-coloured paper and even hand-made textured paper. The basic rule is to use thin paper for small boxes and thick(er) paper for larger boxes.

Here is another box I made after I saw this advertisement for a duvet in a magazine. I used pastel cardboard for the box itself.

I would like to hear what you think about this tutorial, so please leave a comment. If you have any queries, please drop me an e-mail at kidtheme (@) kids-theme-parties dot com.

As always, have fun when you make these favour boxes for your child’s birthday party.

Update: Apart from the fact that the images are not totally aligned in this post, (I will figure it out one day), I also forgot to tell you that I compiled a file with step-by-step diagrams and photos that you can download by clicking on this link

The file is in Winrar format, but if you download the free open source software called jzip you will be able to open Zip and Rar files as well as a few other archive formats  (and then I don’t have to give you a link to download Winrar every time I upload a file).

The photos in the pdf. file have been taken in 2007 and it shows you how to make the original cubic origami box.

Have fun!

They can be filled with small party favours like lip gloss,   hair accessories, friendship bracelets or candy.

Teenage girls will love rose petal soap [...]]]>

Today I have another free gift for you. These pretty flower boxes can double up as party favours for your daughter’s birthday party or even be used as a party activity.

They can be filled with small party favours like lip gloss,   hair accessories, friendship bracelets or candy.

Teenage girls will love rose petal soap when they receive it as a party favour. Simply buy a few silk roses, take them apart, melt grated glycerine soap in the microwave or on the stove (over low heat, as the soap really melts quite quickly), add one or two drops of fragrant oil, use tweezers to dip the rose petals into the melted soap.  Place on wax paper dry. Use a pretty  box (like these flower boxes) and arrange the soap petals on tissue paper inside the box to look like a rose.

The boxes can also be filled with small friendship cards, one for each year of your daughter’s age.  Your daughter would also enjoy making these cards herself if she is old enough. The friendship cards can either be made on the computer using images from a card program or from the internet and then be printed using the business card printing settings/option in the card program or in a word processing program.

I used this idea a few years ago for a friend of my daughter on her 21st birthday… 21 cards with inspiring quotes… and her friend really loved this small gift.

The flower box on the left in the photo was the actual box that I used for the cards. I printed the template on A4 size paper and took it to the copy shop to have it enlarged to A3 size. Then I glued the cut out template to the lovely hand-made paper.

The red flower box was made using another version of the original template and glued to the back of gift paper. It can be quite tricky the first time to “close” the petals, so I suggest you just print out the template on white paper and experiment before you make the boxes to use as party favours.

If you want the party guests to make these boxes themselves, just print out a template for each guest, provide enough pretty gift wrapping or paper, scissors and glue. Also provide some ribbon, lace or other embellishments they can use to decorate their flower boxes with.

Download the PartyFavourFlowerBoxes templates  and save the file in your download folder or on the desktop. Please note: You will need Winrar to open the zipped folder. If you do not have it on your computer, you can download it here

Recommended Book of the Week

Have fun planning your kid’s birthday party and making the flower boxes.

You will need hair slides and ribbon of choice, beads, buttons, small fabric roses or [...]]]>

A girl can never have enough hair accessories and these ribbon-covered hair slides are so easy to make that your birthday girl (depending on her age) would enjoy making them as party favours for her guests.

You will need hair slides and ribbon of choice, beads, buttons, small fabric roses or flowers or any other small odds and ends you can use for decoration.

The small pineapple on the blue ribbon is a button…  I threaded the ribbon through the little eye at the back and tied a knot around the pin of the slide before I started the actual weaving. I also found that the narrow ribbon gives a neater finish than the wider ones.

Here is a step by step tutorial on how to cover hair slides with ribbon:

Cut a length of ribbon – about 30 cm in length, open the hair slide and slide the ribbon through.

Measure the ribbon so that the sides are of equal length.

Start weaving by folding the ribbon over and under.

Do the same from the other side and repeat until the whole slide is covered.

Push the ribbon back every now and then to cover the slide neatly, try to keep the ribbon flat.

Turn the slide over and tie the ribbon into a tight knot, decorate further as you wish.

Making these ribbon covered hair slides can also be part of the activities at a slumber or tea party for girls and the girls can take it home with them afterward.

Have fun when you plan your kid’s birthday party!

Whether you are celebrating the first birthday of your child or planning a wonderful theme party for your kid’s 16th birthday, I hope you will be able to come [...]]]>

Another New Year has dawned and there are birthday parties to be planned but I first have to say Happy New Year to all of you!

Whether you are celebrating the first birthday of your child or planning a wonderful theme party for your kid’s 16th birthday, I hope you will be able to come up with super ideas to make this day an unforgettable experience for your child.

As I have mentioned a few times, coming up with ideas for party favours can be quite a daunting task sometimes.

When you plan a theme party for your child’s birthday, you should always include him or her in the planning and preparations as much as possible.

Making friendship bracelets to hand out as party favours will not only include your child in the preparations but teach him/her the value of hand-made gifts and of giving and sharing something of him/herself with the party guests and close friends.

Depending on the age of your child, friendship bracelets can be as simple as a toddler using silver or gold pipe cleaners to thread coloured beads or a teenager planning a more intricate design.

Friendship bracelets need not be expensive, all you really need are a few beads and some shirring elastic for a really quick and easy friendship bracelet.

Beads come in all shapes and sizes these days and I personally like the small square ones with initials. It can lend a special touch to a friendship bracelet if you and your child use these to make a bracelet.

Making friendship bracelets can also double up as a party activity and then you won’t have to worry about finding something to give as a party favour.

Have fun planning your kid’s theme party!