Looking to whip up a cooking party for your child’s next party?  If so, I have to pass on this amazingly creative invitation that Design Mom has designed for her Les Petites Chefs party for her daughter’s upcoming party.  I love homemade invitations like these that deliver something useful and thematic to get your guests in the party mood.  Look at how she used different kitchen shapes and tucked in the party details on an additional card as well.  The whimsical ribbon is quite sharp too!

Great design!

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Contributed by: Amy, Scottsdale Arizona

It is a little different, but after going through many birthday parties and NEVER getting RSVPs I have devised a trick.  It doesn’t work for family members, but I don’t feel bad calling them to see if they are coming…but, for school friends…

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Here’s a fun party freebie from Cookie: darling, printable invitations for your next kid’s party. 

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Today, Courtney has some great ideas and tips for your kids’ party invitations, where each and every party begins, of course!

• I’m a big fan of custom invitations whenever possible. It helps raise anticipation for the event and makes people (even the parents) want to come to the party. So many moms are into scrapbooking these days. Why not create an invite with the same methods and materials you would use in scrapbooking? This can become a real momento of the event and is worthy of then being put in an album or a…well…scrapbook for future memories.
• If you’re not into scrapbooking, head to Target and buy a package of print-your-own invitations. They offer lots of designs that are fresh, fun, and compatable with any home computer/printer.
  Try a specialty stationery store with cute and different invitation styles…have them printed up for you or fill them out yourself. (But please…please…use nice handwriting.)
• For a birthday party I gave for my youngest – in the midst of Christmas and decorating for a huge wedding – I was short on time…so I filled out invitations by hand with a large crayon and childish (but still neat) handwriting. It was actually a pretty cute look.
• For the Elmo party, I purchased a font at www.myfonts.com that looked just like the crayon writing in “Elmo’s World”. That font, combined with colorful scrapbook paper and some Elmo clipart, made a super-cute and custom invitation.

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I recently addressed my daughter’s class regarding Diabetes, type 1 and 2, and discussed what each were and how this affects my daughter.  The class already knew about her disease because she discusses it openly herself. Since giving this talk to the class, my daughter has not been invited to any birthday parties.  She feels snubbed and thinks the parents are worried about handling the sugar issue at the party.  How can I find out if this is the case and do something to help the situation?  I feel like I made it worse having given this open talk to the class?

One thing to keep in mind is to make sure that this is the reason your daughter is not being invited is due to this situation instead of other reasons, i.e. not being close to the birthday child or the other families limiting the number of kids being invited.

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Looking for a way to make sure your guests RSVP.  You might want to try putting next to the RSVP line in your invitation, “Regrets Only!”  Many people assume that if they plan on attending, that they don’t need to RSVP because the host parent assumes you will be there.  So, if you write “Regrets Only” on the RSVP line, you are doing exactly that, assuming that the guests will attend, unless you hear otherwise. 

It’s a good idea to try!

I want to limit the age of the kids who attend my kids’ party.  I don’t want kids older than 5-years-old attending the party since it is at a museum that is targeted to this age range.  I am concerned that my extended family will want to bring their tweens to attend this party.  I really don’t want this!  How can I say it nicely so they aren’t offended?

Be proactive with those that you are concerned about.  Pick up the phone and let them know directly that you are limiting the kids to the age range you have in mind.  If there are only 1-2 kids you are concerned about in your family, you may want to provide them the opportunity to help out at the party with the kids.  This gives them a helpful role to you, and you avoid having to say a complete “no” to their attendance.  If there are other guests with older siblings that you are concerned about outside of family, make sure to direct your party invitation only to the child being invited.  Be prepared when the RSVPs come rolling in with people asking if siblings can also attend. 

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