Invitation Ideas

For Cinco de Mayo invitations, you can cover white card stock with greeting suggestions like, No time for a Siesta, it’s time to Fiesta!, Margaritas & Fajitas!, It’s Party Time, Amigos! You can even print these on your computer, and add graphics like cactus plants, chili peppers, sombreros, and the Flag of Mexico.

In green and red, on the inside write the date, location, time, phone, date, and dress code or costume suggestions. Be sure to ask for an RSVP, so you will be able to plan more easily, knowing approximately how many guests will be present.

Decorations

Simple, colorful decorations, in traditional Red, green & white streamers, do it yourself pinata, maracas, sombreros, red pepper lights, hot pink tissue paper flowers and plenty of other flowers to brighten the fiesta, can turn make your celebration more authentic, and truly honors the Cinco de Mayo tradition.

Music

Latin or Mexican folk music & mariachi are traditional for these celebrations, but popular Latino or Mexican performer?s music can be added in as well. It is great to form a conga line and dance and sing along with the music. Food

Corn chips with salsa & queasy, tacos, chili, fajitas, Margaritas, Daiquiris, Cerveza, Mexican wines, Tia Maria, and, of course, lots of Tequila is sure to make the celebration a hit. Party Favor Ideas

Mini cactus plants, toy maracas, small clay pots with candy Red Hots, bouquet of red, green & white carnations or other plants that combine the colors of the Mexican flag, or even small Mexican flags can be given as party favors. Most Cinco de Mayo party supplies can be found at local Mexican shops, groceries, or can be purchased online.

One final suggestion for your Cinco de Mayo celebration is to make it a block party where the guests can form conga lines from one yard to the next, taking advantage of the music, food, and drinks available over the neighborhood, and making everyone a participant in the Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies (http://partysupplieshut.com), using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Hut has a huge selection of free party games, coloring pages, word find, word scramble, printable baby and bridal shower activities. Holiday Party Decorations (Holiday-Party-Decorations.com), free games, menus, recipes, coloring sheets, theme ideas, and activities to help complete your event.

1. Don?t involve your children in holiday preparations: decorating the house, yard, or table; baking special goodies; buying and wrapping gifts; and preparing for guests. Children feel like an important part of the season?s activities when they?re involved in these very visible holiday activities.

2. Ask your children for ideas about special activities or decorating ideas and don?t use any of them: Sure, the younger your children the less practical their ideas may be, but to feel like they?re adding some value to the family?s preparation, try to incorporate a few of them.

3. Go to dozens of holiday parties while leaving the kids at home with a sitter: this is a family-oriented season?don?t let your child?s most memorable activities be sitting in front of the television with a disinterested teenager.

4. Have no way for your children to participate in parties at your home: leaving the children out of parties in your own home deprives them of developing social skills and learning more about your family through your friends.

5.a. Take your child?s wish list to the mall and buy everything on it: are you trying to encourage greediness and self-centeredness in your child? What will they do when they get older and not everything goes their way? It may be tough to learn about disappointment as a child, but it’s a whole lot tougher to be forced to learn it as an adult.

5.b. Take your child?s wish list to the mall and buy nothing on it: unless, of course, everything on it is inappropriate. Don?t look at the list and decide that you ?know better? what they ?need??if a few of the items on the list are within reason (even if you don?t see the attraction to them), go ahead and allow the kids to be delighted with having made some of their own choices.

6. Hold your kids hostage in the car for twelve hours a day with no age- or location-appropriate activities: it?s tough enough for youngsters to be cooped up in a vehicle for a long day?s drive to Grandma?s?don?t make it tougher by not bringing along fun activities like crayons and paper on a clipboard, music and movies if you have the technology onboard, books, and games to play.

7. Serve no kid-friendly foods for your special meals or at your parties: kids? tastes are not the same as grownups? and even though there are ?traditional? foods for each holiday, few children feel that the meal is as special when the table is filled with these strange ?delectables.?

8. Don?t share those golden nuggets of parenting wisdom that you?ve learned over the years: you may not be an award-winning parent, but you have figured out solutions to many everyday parenting dilemmas. Share your success stories at www.SmartestThing.com?or have some fun by sharing those dumb mistakes you?ve made on this new blog: http://DumbestThing.com.

The holidays should be a memorable time of year?make them happy memories for your children so they can continue that wonderful family tradition.

Kathryn Marion is the creator of the new book series due out in 2007 called The Smartest Thing I Ever Did?? She is seeking contributions of success stories and advice for the first six titles: ?as a Parent, ?for My Marriage, ?for My Career, ?with My Money, ?for Myself, and ?for My Business. Visit http://www.SmartestThing.com for complete details and to make contributions online. All contributions published will include a byline and author bio (which may include a website and/or email address, giving contributors valuable national exposure). She is also the author of Success in the ?Real World?, a book dedicated to helping graduates succeed in their new life in the ?real world? of work and independent living, which was distributed to almost 1.7 million students last year (available by visiting http://www.EducationForReality.com).

I like to use centerpieces on my party tables. A good Easter party centerpiece would be a basket filled with dyed boiled eggs. That way you have something to hold the boiled eggs which guests can naturally eat and you have an eye catching decoration for your party. Try tying a little pastel colored ribbon to the handle for an extra touch.

Lots of people see the thanksgiving turkey as the centerpiece of any thanksgiving dinner party, but often there is so much food that you need to set up several tables. Plus you may be mixing and matching your party themes to spice up those boring holidays. Why not create a thanksgiving luau party. You could have roast turkey and pork combination for the centerpiece on the main table and utilize the idea of the cornucopia filled with a mixture of Hawaiian items and traditional thanksgiving items on the extra tables you need to set up. They can be filled with leis, Indian corn, coconuts and bananas, and tiny squash.

Don’t forget to pick out a good tablecloth that matches the party themed centerpiece. That will help a lot, plus you can hide excess clutter under a buffet table that has a long tablecloth and no one at the party will know what a pack rat you are. Dishes and silverware are also good ways to accent your party theme. For a Cinco de Mayo party you can use solid colored dishware in reds, tans, greens, and oranges.

Little extra items like candlesticks, salt and pepper shakers, and flower vases can also be used to accent your party theme at the table. Every extra accent you make use of helps to build the atmosphere another step and helps to create a good party for your guests.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. Also look at Free Party Games to help complete your event.

Avoiding decorating may be a solution to some of the holidays, but it?s difficult to avoid Christmas and Halloween, especially if you have young children. Easter the children are content with an Easter basket full of candy and/or toys, and some may not even care much about Halloween decorations as long as they have their costumes and Trick or Treat bags, but Christmas is just not the same without decorations throughout the home.

What do you do when you just can?t get into the mood to decorate? What can you do to build the momentum and get into the spirit of the season? When it comes to Christmas, one thing that tends to put people in the mood is seeing decorations in homes and businesses. This does mean the decorations that stores put on display for sale, but the decorations that are delicately placed by homeowners, tenants, or business staff. Another momentum builder is visiting holiday villages such as Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?s Christmas Village with all of the many displays, many showing decorating ideas that have been used for centuries. Taking a walk through holiday villages such as this one with the lights shining, decorations displayed for viewing, and the sound of music radiating through the air is enough to make one feel the spirit begin to engulf them. Even better when it comes to Christmas is to see the snow falling upon the beautifully decorated trees and glistening among the many brightly lit holiday decorations.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. Holiday Party Decorations, free games, menus, recipes, coloring pages, and activities to help complete your event.

Always carry a flashlight! ? This is especially important if you are going trick-or-treating in an area without streetlights. Uneven pavement along the side of the road, holes in the turf along the edge of the street, and any kind of debris in your walking path can cause a serious fall. Not only will a flashlight help you find your way, but it will alert drivers of your location like a beacon.

Wear reflective tape! ? It may not be the most stylish, but reflective tape is one of the best and easiest ways to make you noticeable to drivers. You can get it in several different colors, so you can blend it in with your clothing or costume as best you can. You can place it around the entire outline of your trick-or-treat bag, as well, for that extra added visibility.

Make sure to stay in a group! ? Certainly don?t send your children out by themselves, but also plan on going in a group with other parents and their kids. The larger the group, the more unlikely it will be that you find yourself and your kids in trouble.

Visit homes of people you know! ? Although this may mean a trip in the car instead of walking this Halloween, it is safer to stick with those people you know and trust when accepting candy. Most people are friendly and trustworthy, but if you don?t know them you don?t know that for sure. It is best to know, especially if your kids will be eating what is given to them.

Look for organized gatherings ? When you want to keep your kids safe and within a confined area, look for organized gatherings celebrating Halloween instead of going out. You won?t have to worry about cars, you won?t have to worry about bullies, and you really won?t have to worry about the candy and goodies your child is getting.

These are just a few of the ways you can keep your children safe this Halloween. Contact your local police department or on safety websites for a more complete list that you and your children can follow.

Nicola always enjoys Halloween parties with her family. Visit her Halloween site for tips and information about kids halloween costume ideas at http://Childrens-Halloween-Costumes.Best-Halloween.com

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright Best-Halloween.com

Halloween party invitations are very important. They are the best way to get your guests excited about the party. Send out some great hand made Halloween party invitations, it will get the kids involved, and you can be sure your party will stick in people?s minds. Two weeks in advance is the best time to send them. Let them know there will be prizes for the best costume or scariest pumpkin (more about this later *)

- Create a cute ghost card using your kid?s footprint. Use some black construction paper and fold it in half. Have your child dip his/her foot into white paint and stamp the card with the footprint. Let your cards try. With a black marker a face to your ghost. Write a message with a gold pen inside your card.

- Use some of our printable Halloween invitations and write your message with a shaky hand, then wrap it in a little cob webbing and enclose little black plastic spiders for extra creepiness.

Create the spooky ambiance Halloween is famous for. Hairy spiders in webs in ceilings and corners is the classic but here are some other decorating tips:

- Cover tables with black table cloths and decorate with pumpkin cutouts and pumpkin garlands (you can get a pattern to make it yourself)

- Cover sofas and chairs with white sheets.

- Light essential passageways to the toilets or the bar with inexpensive rope lights but try to keep general lighting to a minimum, substituting black or red light bulbs.

- Have a pumpkin contest (announcing it in your invitation). * Ask your guests to bring their carved pumpkins to the party and you will have some of the best decorations delivered to your door.

- Make a pumpkin patch. Put some boxes on a table to get different heights for display, draping dark fabric over them. Add some real vines of leaves or green ribbons for contrast and of course use tea lights to illuminate. This could also be a good place for your snacks.

- Roll up orange napkins with black cutlery inside placing it inside a bat napkin holder.

- Place rows of tombstones with the names of your guests leading up to your door. Use decorated cardboard or cereal boxes.

- You can also hang Halloween lights around your front door and use a fog machine to welcome your guests (available at party rental stores)

Games and Activities can really make all the difference and they encourage people to mix. Don?t forget to have lots of prizes on hand.

- Create a Halloween photo backdrop for everyone to get a picture taken.

- Have an area where kids can create their own frame for their photo.

- Have a dance contest to the Monster Mash song.

- Have a Halloween Lotto giving out prizes of miniature candy bars or party favors.

- Rent Halloween videos for later in the evening.

When it comes to food and refreshments, it?s hard to know where to start. Serving chips and dips in black plastic cauldrons or floating a rubber hand in the punch bowl are just the beginning. There are many sites with great Halloween resources.

Halloween isn’t just ghosts, witches and monsters or about candy or costumes. Halloween is a perfect time for spending time with family and friends. Having a Halloween party offers plenty of easy and interesting decorating projects and activities for kids as well as for adults.

Jolanda Garcia is a former teacher and educational content designer and runs several websites. Her goal is to give parents and teachers great resources to nurture their children?s development and creativity through crafts and activities. Visit her websites at:http://www.KidsSoup.com and http://www.HalloweenPartyBox.com

So where do you begin? Let us help you! Take the time to browse through our site for some great tips on creating the your favorite costumes. Think outside the box, and get really creative! Here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling!

You can always do something traditional like a vampire, and add the flowing black cape, white shirt, pointed fangs, and the gruesomely red fake blood, or try something different and dress as a cat, ghost, skeleton, scarecrow, spider, or pumpkin.

To complete these costumes, most would require makeup, tights, hair dye, and a hat, if necessary. If you?ve got to wear a mask all night, just ensure that the holes for your eyes and mouth are large enough so you can stay comfortable. If masks aren?t your thing, you can try something else and dress like a celebrity (Marilyn Monroe, or Donald Trump), or an action hero (guys always look great as Superman!). The possibilities are endless!

Why not try something really gruesome this year? Bring Frankenstein back to life, or better yet, be a mummy coming back for revenge! The important thing is to have fun with it, and let your imagination run wild. The more unique your Halloween costume idea, the better chance that you won?t have anyone else dressed the same as you at the party! So make this Halloween memorable, and enjoy checking out the variety of ideas available on our site!

About the author: Maria is the the author of ?1st In Halloween Costumes? available at http://www.1st-in-halloween-costumes.com A great source for Halloween Costumes online! You can easily find and compare halloween sites offering quality adult halloween costumes, sexy halloween costumes, kids costumes, pet costumes, and halloween masks.

I don’t know about you, but I have certainly been engaged in that familiar pre-Christmas holiday hustle and bustle this past week. Each day boxes have been arriving with gifts ordered online and I think I have purchased one of each design of wrapping paper that Walmart carries. I have been traveling most of December so far, and last night finished setting out my holiday decorations and table centerpieces.

While I have been doing all of these activities with holiday spirit and a love for this time of year, I have also spent a lot of time reflecting on which holidays in the past, were the most memorable.

Each of my most memorable holidays, had the same thing in common. The holiday spirit went beyond the four walls of our house and wrapped around the community or another family.

When my brother and I were little, we saw the true joy of giving from my mother. Although we didn’t have a lot to give, my mother still found a way to share the holiday spirit. I remember one particular year, a man in our small town had muscular sclerosis. His illness had been progressing and he was now wheelchair bound. He didn’t have the ability to cut down his Northwoods Christmas tree, and his family was without the means to purchase one. My mother found an additional tree, and we piled it atop our little car (quite a funny sight as the tree was so large I dare say it was a cousin of a Redwood)! Fortunately he only lived a mile away and we dashed through the snow to deliver it. The feeling we had as we carried this tree through their door was so overwhelming– I knew that feeling was the spirit of Christmas. His family cried at the gesture and we all sang songs together and enjoyed cider around the beautiful tree.

Giving is an important part of all of my memorable holidays (and days in general). Whether the gift be small or large, connecting to the community outside of these four walls allows the spirit of the holidays to spread.

Mark Twain wrote, To get the full value of joy you must have somebody to share it with. While that is true on a daily basis, I believe it is especially true at this time of year.

The holidays haven’t always been the happiest time for our family. My older brother died suddenly just short of the holidays eight years ago. My mother and I had already finished our shopping and as we sadly stared at this wrapped presents, we went back to the one thing we do very well–giving. We carefully selected a friend of his to receive each thoughtful gift. And while the holidays can be a sad time, or a stressful time, when we connect to something bigger than ourselves, we can find the true joy and meaning of holiday spirit. And that spirit is something you won’t find under the tree, and you won’t find in the shopping flyer of the Sunday paper.

Your Turn:
This week, find a way to spread the holiday spirit through kindness. Here is a simple idea I discovered while reading a magazine last night.

Last night I was reading a story in Family Circle about a mother whose Marine son was in Iraq. She began an effort of building Christmas stockings (with a goal of 1400) for troops that are overseas. Operation Stocking Stuffer by Julie Ann is a wonderful example of the holiday spirit.

In the article it included this simple link, if you are looking for an idea to reach out during the holidays. If you don’t know any soldiers overseas but still want to send someone a gift, try Treats for Troops. Soldiers register on the site and are matched up with gift giving civilians. You can select a soldier by branch of service, home state, gender or birthday. Or if you don’t have a preference, they’ll send your package to the soldier who’s been waiting the longest. www.treatsfortroops.com

Here are some gift-giving ideas from Julie Ann (most oft requested items) – beef jerky, corn nuts, protein bars, Frisbees, Nerf balls, Chapstick, disposable cameras, Olive green T-shirts and socks (because laundry is hard to do), baby wipes (for hygiene), hand and foot warmers.

Julie Ann’s organization can be accessed here =>http://www.operationstockingstuffer.org/

Brook Noel is the creator of the best-selling 70 Day Life Makeover Program for Women .. The Change Your Life Challenge. http://www.changeyourlifechallenge.com This program has helped thousands of women take control of their home, finances, relationships, clutter, time-managmenet and more.

She is the author of 19 books and maintains three free newsletters. The Daily Rush is devoted to quick and easy recipes; Good Morning! is a daily newsletter to get your day off to a great start and The Challenge Weekly offers a personal challenge for self-improvement each week. To sign up for these free newsletters please visit http://www.changeyourlifechallenge.com/news.htm

Shooting hoop ? You can not go wrong when you have this game at your Halloween party. Everyone loves to test their skill to see just how many times they can make the basket. It?s fun and exhilarating.

Pumpkin carving contest ? This is a great way for your guest to test their skills against each other to see how they measure up on carving a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern.

Throwing darts ? Throwing darts is a great game of skill. It will keep your guest busy for hours. You just want to make sure that it is located in a safe place where you won?t have to worry about any accidents occurring.

Karaoke ? Karaoke is a favorite of many adults. They love to show off their singing talent in front of an audience. Even if you prefer to not join in on the actually singing, who don?t like listening to others perform their songs? It?s very entertaining and you can even offer a prize for the one voted the best from the response of audience.

Tug of war ? Tug of War is a great game of strength that is a Halloween hit. Both men and women alike love to show how tough they are. What better way to do this than by participating in a nice game of tug a war. You can have couple match or divide the men and women into two groups and have them compete against each other. The guest can form their own teams and compete against each other to see who is the strongest.

If you still feel like you need a little extra to keep your party exciting, how about a dance contest? Many couples love to show off their dancing skills and this would give them the perfect opportunity. When you include these ideas in your Halloween party you will have something for everyone to enjoy.

Nicola always enjoys Halloween parties with her family. Visit her Halloween site for tips and information about Easy Halloween Costumes at http://Easy-Halloween-Costumes.Best-Halloween.com

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright Best-Halloween.com

Here are some other can’t-miss gifts for Christmas for a newborn:

Piggy Bank: A piggy bank can be so much more than a place to hold loose change – a hand-painted and personalized bank is a collectible gift that will be treasured for a lifetime. It will also come in handy when the child is older as a great way to teach a young child how to start saving and managing his money.

Classic Baby Toys: Nostalgia is the new new. Parents love to see their kids play with the toys of their own youth. Shop around for old-school Fisher Price people and buildings, wooden ABC blocks, shape sorters, Care Bears, jack-in-the-boxes. If you know the parents well it should be fairly easy to figure out what classic toys they enjoyed as children.

Diaper Cakes: If you ask new parents what they spend the most money on they will almost always tell you it is diapers. Diaper cakes are a thoughtful gift – they are made up of either disposable or cloth diapers to resemble a tiered cake – think wedding cake for babies. They almost always include other accessories such as toys, bibs, clothes, socks, pajamas, rattles or blankets and often a keepsake as a little gift for mom. Diaper cakes are also perfect for baby showers or to present on arrival home from the hospital.

Educational Toys: Every parent loves educational toys. Why not maximize playtime by learning a motor skill? There are plenty of toys geared toward fine motor development or that have striking contrasting patterns for baby to look at and talk to. Teethers and blankets with tags or a satin stripe of a blanket offer various sensations when baby rubs them or puts them in his mouth.

Books: Another great idea, and something I always buy for new babies, is a book. Parents are swamped with toys and clothing on the birth of a baby and at Christmastime – toys break or children get bored with them, but you can start building a library that the whole family can enjoy for years. Soft, squeaky or washable books are perfect for babies and real little kids, but don’t be afraid to buy books that are a little ahead of where baby is – he will grow into it soon enough and it will live on his bookshelf longer.

Spend some time thinking about the baby and his parents and family life and try to tailor your decisions to what is important to them – is the family religious or spiritual? are the parents musically inclined? is mom a writer? is dad a NASCAR fan or a hockey fan? You are sure to come up with a perfect gift every time if you strive to make it personal and meaningful.

Copyright 2005 Katie Rose Kids Clothing Toys and Unique Keepsake Gifts

Katie Rose is the owner of Katie Rose Kids – an online boutique for clothing, toys and unique gifts for preemies, infants, toddlers, preschoolers and moms too. We have baby shower gift, as well as bath accessories, baby slings, books, decor, educational toys and personalized clothes, blankets and keepsake gifts. Perfect for Christmas, Easter, Valentines and other Holiday presents and Katie Rose Intimates Sexy Costumes and Lingerie – a fine lingerie shop featuring romantic Christmas and holiday gifts, fantasy clothing, leather and lace and intimate apparel in sexy, erotic, romantic and unique styles – with special attention for the plus size woman.

ATTENTION WEBMASTERS and EZINE PUBLISHERS – Permission is granted to publish this article on your site or in your Ezine but ONLY if my bio paragraph is included and all links are hyperlinked.