Looking for a special outfit for your birthday child for her upcoming party?  Check out Playdate N.Y.C!  The clothing the company carries is hand-designed with many unique touches.  Check out this Two Cupcakes T-Shirt.  The cupcakes are brown, fuchsia, and powder blue felt with embroidery stitching and a mother-of-pearl tops off each cupcake.  The quality of these T’s would have any kid proud to be ____ (whatever their age is!)

Special Offer: For a 20% discount off of these fabulous T-shirts, enter the code bday! 

A great T-shirt to wear at the birthday party or a great gift to give the special kids!

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Thank you notes are always in style, in vogue in my opinion.  I absolutely love this brilliant thank you note idea for your kids from doobleh-vay.

Looking for a great thank you note for your kids to create when they can’t quite write yet?  Check out this idea…with a blackboard, the present, your child, a camera, and a scribbled signature…you are all set!

Great creativity here.  Brilliant!

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Are you heading to a Cat in the Hat party or do you know a child that absolutely adores the books…and who doesn’t?  If so, check out Pottery Barn Kids, which is carrying a full selection of Cat in the hat bedroom items, including sheets, artwork, pillows and decals, as well as bath items, including wraps, towels, and accessories.  Bright, bold primary colors that bring out the whimsy of the books.  Check it out for present inspiration for an upcoming party or to simply give as a gift to your favorite Cat in the hat fan!

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FAO Schwarz is exclusively offering kids the opportunity to create their own Muppet Whatnot!  Kids can design their own Muppet either at the store in NYC or on-line beginning in February 2009,

For those not familiar with Muppet vocabulary, a Whatnot is a generic extra used in Muppet productions. And the workshop gives customers the chance to design their very own classic hand-rod puppet to their own specification, taking their pick of body style and color, eyes, nose, hair and outfit.

As of late October 2008, customers can drop in at FAO Schwartz’s New York store and design their Muppet of choice using a design kit. Staff assistance is on offer, along with video tutorials delivered by famous Muppet characters, displayed on screens around the workshop. Customers watch their Whatnot being constructed, which takes about 20 minutes, before taking it home along with the design kit as a souvenir. Designing and ordering can also be done through FAO’s website. The design kit costs $130 and covers manufacturing costs. Customers currently have to collect their design from the New York store, although from February 2009 they can submit orders online.

Muppets are so cool!  What a great idea for the holidays and all year round!

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Too Party - or Not…that is the question that the Wall Street Journal’s Juggle blog asked its readers recently. Lots of good comments here regarding how people keep party costs under control…whether that means:

• Cutting the number of guests being invited
• Inviting only the girls or only the boys in the classroom
• Baking your own cake
• Not doing goody bags
• Not serving a full meal, just snacks

Good ideas here for ways to control party costs.

For older kids, don’t be afraid to discuss budget with them. Get their feedback on what is important to them in a party, and if possible, get their buy-off. Maybe they are willing to do without decorations so that they can keep the invite list at a certain level? And lots of kids will be thrilled to forgo the store-bought cake if they get to help with frosting and decorating their own!

Another suggestion, look for clearance items. Both Birthday in a Box and Celebrate Express, companies that I often mention here, have clearance sections where you can save up to 40% on selected patterns. Right now, those patterns include Disney Princesses and Star Wars, among many others.

The Juggle also features the question of Gift-Giving in a Tough Economy, showcasing ways to reduce the amount of money spent of presents during the holiday season. Will you be making any adjustments to your holiday gift giving budget this year? How best to explain to the kids?

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The Wall Street Journal’s The Juggle Blog recently featured the topic of bringing gifts to kids’ parties where no gifts has been requested on the party invitation.  If you have received these invitations for your kids’ parties and you don’t know what to do, this blog and the comments are definitely worth a read to see what people think. 

I have already chimed in my thoughts here, but it’s an on-going issue with modern day kids’ parties.  Check it out!

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Five minutes after the last gift has been opened, do you ever sit back and calculate the time, effort and especially the cost that is now lying in shreds on your floor? You want the wrapping to be as special as what is inside the package, but when you add up the costs, is it worth it?

The presentation is part of the gift, so it is worth the time and effort. But good gift-wrapping doesn’t have to break the bank. Ann Conway shares a few tips to wrap around the house:

Keep an variety of solid bright colored papers to use instead of patterned paper. It is easier to wrap for different occasions. Look for them on sale after holidays and buy in bulk.

Make sure that you have white and/or brown craft paper rolls. They are fantastic because you can color it, stamp it or paint it to have an original paper to use…and it’s a great art project for the kids!

Pull out that pile of artwork from the previous school year that you are not sure what to do with.If your child is going to a birthday party, let him pick out which painting to use and he can tell everyone he painted it!

Recycle your newspaper: Use the comics for younger children and the black and white for teenagers. And if you want to make it a bit more interesting, wrap a gift in a bright colored paper, use the news paper as a ‘belly band’ to add interest, then add a bow.

Use a large tin can with a lid (formula cans are great!). It is great for anything breakable, and is ideal for when you need to ship the gift.

Take off the label, wash and dry the can. Measure the height of the can and cut a rectangle piece of paper long enough to have a 1” overlay. Most of the cans today do not have the ultra sharp edges that they used to have but if you are concerned, cover the edge with a tape like the blue or green painting tape that you probably have somewhere. Decorate the paper, stamp it, color it, or cut out shapes and glue them onto the paper. Use double stick tape to attach to the can.

Add a bow to the lid and you are done!

Mesh fruit bags are fantastic and simple to use.

Cut off the tags at the bottom and knot it. Using a complimentary color of tissue paper, roll your gift in it, folding down one side and leaving excess amount of tissue on the other. Place in the mesh bag, tie a bow and you are done. It is cute, easy and accessible…and you don’t even need tape!

Be creative, use up those odds and ends around the house, and have fun. So, let them rip…literally!

Ann Conway, a clothing designer in the fashion industry for over 15 years, is preparing for the Fall 2006 opening of her gift-wrapping and contemporary stationery store - Swee Swee Paperie, in Seattle, Washington.

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