Sometimes you want to throw a party, but you also want to do something to help out a good cause. So by all means do both!. Throw a Charity Party! It will be a fun event for friends and a big help for a good cause.

How does a charity party work? Choose your charity and go from there. For example, my pet charities are PAWS (our local animal rescue group) and The Children's Home (a home for neglected & troubled children). Once you decide which charity, comply a guest list, a party theme and what you want to contribute to the charity. Your contribution could be items from a food or clothing drive or to raise money.

The Children's home is in constant need of clothes, toys and household supplies. The goal of the Children's Home party would be to collect these items. At this charity party, everything would revolve around the party theme kids. All the decorations would reflect children. For decorations, I would choose bright primary colors for my streamers and tableware. The focal point of the party would be a kid's theme cake like Sesame Street™. On the invitations, I would ask that guests to bring a donation of clothing, toys or household supply for The Children's Home.

The same basic principles will apply to a charity party for PAWS. An animal rescue charity party can easily be decorated using dog biscuits that are strung together on fish line. Serve the food like dips for vegetables and chips in new clean dog and cat bowls. Serve dog bone theme cookies made by a local bakery as the sweets for the party. Send out invitations that tell why and what the name of charity is and ask guests to contribute by bringing items the charity needs: dog food, cat food, cat liter, ect. The bowls used for the dips can be given to the animal rescue as well.

Charity parties can be extravagant or causal, for large groups or small. They can help celebrate birthdays or just for the fun of it. But, one thing to keep in mind is to have a good time while you help a good cause.

Your primary goal when planning for a children's birthday party is to make sure the birthday child feels special. Your secondary goal is to ensure that everyone has a good time at the party. The entertainment part of a children's birthday party is a very important part! You want to be sure that the entertainment you have planned is well thought out.

Let's start off with a little entertainment that doesn't take a lot of work to get planned. Children usually have a large imagination and just about anything will get their attention. The number one thing to add festivity to the air of a birthday party is music. Play kid-friendly songs, or have a musical DVD playing on a TV in the main party room. Besides the music , children's party activities always make a party a lot more fun for every child.

Here's a simple idea that doesn't cost much to do. You could set up a game room inside your home, or even outdoors. This game room could be arranged with a variety of homemade games that cost very little to do. You could then provide each child that completed or won the game with a "prize". This could be anything from candy bars to glow sticks, whatever you think would be fun for any child. A couple of homemade games you could set up are soda bottle bowling, or even mining for jewels. Sounds fun!

Need bigger entertainment ideas? One major hit at most children's parties is to book an entertainer. This could be a standard clown or magician. To change things up a bit, you could even book "character entertainers" who come as popular TV, movie, or story book characters. But before making your decision to hire an entertainer, you need to be sure of a couple of things. Try to see them in action performing before the party to determine if they are the right entertainer for your child's party. Another thing is to be sure and let your entertainer know ahead of time if your child is shy. This would prevent the entertainer from asking your child to participate in the show, if you know that's not what your child would have in mind.

Another entertainment idea that any child is for sure to enjoy is to rent out a "bounce gym" or also known as a bouncer. Kids love them! These bouncers usually tend to cost $150+ per day including delivery and setup. They also come in lots of fun themes. Not only do kids love them but these bounce gyms are even actually good for their bodies. They have fun while doing a little exercise. Talk about two for the price of one!

Regardless of which of these entertaintment ideas you use, your birthday party is sure to be well entertained. Just make sure to have back up plans in case one of your entertainment ideas ends up not being possible. Which is why planning ahead of time is always a good first choice!

Sometimes we just can't afford to have a dog and pony show party for our children. Yet, we still want them to have a special party.  Throwing a party for your child can be done frugally and still filled with with fun. Inexpensive treats such as popcorn and movie rentals are just the ticket.

Your thinking popcorn is not a party theme. A party revolving around popcorn is boring. Not so! Popcorn can be a fun party activity, a great party theme and a hectic of a good time.  You can pop your own and make popcorn balls or pop up a big batch of plain popcorn and set up a table with "fixings" for the popcorn. You can even rent a popcorn machine that looks like an old popcorn cart.

How To Make A Popcorn Party Exciting

Create a special popcorn table with all the "fixings". Your "fixings" table should have some sweet items, sour items, flavored salt and cheese toppings. Sweet popcorn fixings are items like raisins, M&M's, peanut butter chips, gummy bears, anything sweet and chewy.  Sour items such as mustard, sour patch candies and pickles will add interest to popcorn.  Flavored salts or cheese need to be shakable. Black pepper, garlic salt, shakable cheese and special popcorn salts that come in a variety of flavors will satisfy and intrigue many palates. All of these toppings will create a Yummy treat!

You can put the popcorn in paper coffee filters and allow each child to mix up his/her own popcorn. Now you have both a treat and a great party activity (you get a twofer with this one). Kids will mix all kinds of things like mustard and gummy bears and dare each other to eat their creations. What could be more entertaining. Kids will love it because they get to make decisions. Kids like to feel important.

What goes better with popcorn than a movie. Movie rentals are inexpensive and a convenient way to take the party up a notch. Need a bigger screen? One thing you might look at is renting a projection screen. One day projection screen rentals can be very inexpensive and it certainly gives the kids the feeling of a movie theater with out the cost of the movie tickets.

Everyone knows that a party is more fun if there is a theme involved. That’s why whenever hosting a party, I  try to have some kind of central idea to focus around whether it be Hawaiian themed, Mexican themed, or holiday themed. Here lately, I have been in a rut with my party theme ideas. I really needed some fresh ideas.  So, I started exploring possibilities outside of my norm. I considered weird wacky themes, outlandish themes and even considered recycling some old themes.  Then in the midst of my brainstorming, I thought of a new and exciting idea for any kind of party: Decade Themes.

With a decade as a theme, you can incorporate many aspects of entertainment into your party planning including: popular foods, clothes, games, and music. To make sure the theme really takes off, be sure and send out party theme invitations ahead of time incorporating elements of the decade. Let guests know that decade attire is required for the party. Guests decked out in decade party attire will add to another element to your party decorations, not to mention some good laughs. Think of how much fun guests will have putting together outfits for the event. You can even have a contest for the best decade outfit.

Choosing what to serve at your party is completely up to the host. Regular party food is always fine. However if you want to get creative, find or make some foods that were popular during that time. Entertainment is a must. Games are optional of course, but games such as Twister and Super Nintendo sure do bring some laughs to a room full of MC Hammer pants. Of course pumping it up with a little music, is probably the best way to immerse your guests in the decade, as well as, entertain them.  To add that special musical ambiance to the party hire a band that plays a variety of songs from the decade. If you can’t find the right live entertainment for your party, a good decade music list from your Ipod will work just fine.

A decade theme party is a fun and unique way to throw a fabloulous shin-dig.  So pick a decade and let the good times rock and roll.

Parties in general are sometimes complicated to plan, but children parties always seem to be a little more stressful. Parents and grandparents always want their child’s party to be the most fun, the most decorated, and with the cutest theme. And why shouldn’t it be? The question for most party hosts is, “What kind of party will we have and how will I entertain these kids?”

Choosing A Party Theme

These days it’s all about the theme and a must have before you can plan any further. There are endless theme ideas for children parties; some more elaborate and creative than others. Cartoon character or movie character parties are always exciting themes for children; plus invitations, decorations, and even party favors can usually be bought pre-made in corresponding theme motif thus keeping the planning stress at a minimum. Remember your child's interest when choosing a party theme.

Providing Entertainment

Without entertainment of some form a kids party isn't a party.  One great and effortless form of children entertainment is inflatable game rentals. This entertainment option is perfect for kids’ parties.  Many inflatable game rental companies have packages that revolve around themes.  Set up is easy for "mom" since the rental company provides that service.

For more creative party theme ideas, the entertainment may need more work and planning. Camping themed parties and sleepovers are always great for school age kids and lend themselves to many forms of entertainment.  If weather permits, you can have the party outdoors with a campfire, tents, and s’mores.  For an inside party, you can set up tents or drape blankets indoors, and roast hot dogs over the fireplace. Telling stories around the "campfire" while roasting food is an inexpensive form of entertainment.

Guest Participation

The more the guests are allowed to take part in the festivities the more fun they will have.  So plan your party around guests participation.

Need a great party theme and entertainment for older children? Try  is to have a decade party. 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s themed parties are fun for both boys and girls.  Ask guests to dressed in decade attire. With their attire the guests will become part of the decorations and involved in the party fun.

With any party the invitations, entertainment and decorations can be coordinated with the theme you choose. So start with a theme and build from there.  Don't forget to check with your local bakeries. They can help you with themed cakes for the party and other themed sweet treats.  After all you can't have a party without cake.

Invite Excitement With Creative Party Invitations

Of all the responsibilities of throwing a party, the invitation is often the most overlooked—and the most important. The party invitation is the first thing guests will see. It gives them an idea of the theme, atmosphere, and basic information about the party. If you rigorously work to throw a party, you want the invitation to show it!

For every type of party, there are hundreds of invitation possibilities. While creativity at a party is somewhat optional, it is a must for the invitation. It’s the “calling card” for the event. Invitations represent the event in its entirety.

Add A Personal Touch To Party Invitations

Invitations for common events, such as weddings and birthday parties, are opportunities to display some uncommonness and personality. Elaborate invitations are always an option; however, the more personality injected into an invitation, the more effective it will be. For example, with birthday parties, try a snapshot of the guest of honor in his or her youth with information on the back or, for something more formal, place the photo inside of a more intricate invitation.

Find a humorous or endearing photograph from a scrap album, have copies made at any photography development counter, and add the time, date, and location on the back or on the rest of the invitation. Imagine getting a photo in the mail of a friend dressed like a cowboy as a four-year-old and how difficult it Continue reading "Party Invitation Ideas" »

Last year we threw my niece, who was turning 6, a bouncing princess party. We rented a bounce castle house. Inflatable rentals are great and you can get packages that come with other games for the kids. We selected a bubble machine to go with our castle. All the kids had a great time jumping in the inflatable castle and catching bubbles.

Princess theme party items were easy to find at our local party supply store. The store had matching princess plates, napkins and table cloths. We even found little princess themed purses at our party supply Continue reading "Bouncing Princess Party Theme" »

When throwing a birthday party, decorations and details are very important. Utilizing color and making it the base of your party is the easiest theme you can choose. It can revolve around sport team colors, school colors, or the birthday person’s favorite colors.

Choose one or two favorite colors of the birthday man or women. Start with decorating with crepe paper. String crepe paper from each of the four corners of your room to make a crepe paper canopy. To the center Continue reading "Color Me Surpised Birthday Party Theme" »

This is a very versatile party theme. It great for childrens parties, adult parties or birthday parties and involves something everyone loves – cheeseburgers.

The Cheeseburger in Paradise party theme for children is easy and takes minimal planning. Send kids party invitations in the shape of a cheeseburger. Before guests arrive, place a Welcome to Paradise sign in the front yard. Upon arrival give each child a cheeseburger-shaped goody bag that includes party favors; like Continue reading "Cheeseburger In Paradise" »

Bridal showers call for special out of the ordinary parties … so throw the bride a Flower Power Party. It’s easy to set up your backyard for a Flower Power party. Utilizing party rentals you can rent chairs, tables, gazebos and even linens to make a gorgeous garden party setting.

Your invitations should carry the flower theme so look for delicate invitations with flowers. While choosing the invitation find matching napkins, plates and cups.

If your backyard is lacking in the flower department call in a floral specialist. Have your local florist design table centerpieces and corsages using a flower that matches the invitations. Have pre-printed flower name Continue reading "Flower Power Party" »