Mardi Gras is being celebrated on Tuesday February 21 this year. It is also called Fat Tuesday and it always falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It is celebrated city wide in New Orleans and on a smaller scale around the country.

Either you can fly down to New Orleans and celebrate there or you can host your own party or celebration at home. If you are planning on visiting the city then you will want to research some New Orleans hotels, find a parade schedule, and go have some fun.

Planning a party at home is also a fun idea. You may want to celebrate on the exact day or have the party on the weekend beforehand. Here are some of my best tips and ideas for hosting a Mardi Gras party.

I absolutely love the purple, green, and gold colors of Mardi Gras. It makes decorating a breeze. Get some Mardi Gras decorations such as these hanging swirls and a Mardi Gras decorating kit. Cover your tables with purple, green and gold tablecovers. Tape the swirls to the ceiling, hang up the banners and sign, and wrap the bunting around a table. Put some green, purple, and gold centerpieces on the table. Add some Mardi Gras beads as a finishing touch.

Costumes are a big part of a Mardi Gras celebration. From the people on the parade floats to the people wandering the streets, many people are in costume. Here are some Mardi Gras costume ideas for everyone. Every celebration needs a Mardi Gras King and Queen. Kids will have fun dressing up as jesters. A masquerade party can be a bunch of fun with everyone wearing a uniquely decorated mask. 

The food for a Mardi Gras party is really important too. Every celebration needs a King Cake. This is a fun thing to make if you do not have a local bakery that makes them. I love this King Cake recipe from Emeril (what can get more New Orleans than that?). Don’t forget to bake a little plastic baby inside. Tradition says that whoever gets the baby in their slice of cake either has to host next year’s party or bring the King Cake.

Other traditional Mardi Gras foods are Jambalaya, red beans and rice, and fried chicken. There may even be some regional favorites in your area, so make sure to include those in your menu.

Whether you are traveling or staying home, your Mardi Gras celebration is sure to be fun. Have a great time planning your Mardi Gras trip or party.

Share some of your own Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday traditions in the comments below. I would love to know what kind of local traditions that you may have.

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Party planning, if you have children, is an absolutely necessary part of life. Whether you love it or you hate it, it can be a big chore. Which is why I hope that this site helps in making it so much easier for you! I happen to love picking out the theme, figuring out the games, and planning the menu.

Today I figured I would talk about one way of making party planning easy and that is with the help of your smartphone. I absolutely love my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S and it goes with me everywhere, making it the perfect companion and helper. Here are just some of the ways that I use it to plan a party:

• Evite. The popular online party invitation site now has an iPhone app. Create an invitation, invite people, comment, add photos and modify the invitation all from your phone. This is great for those spare moments when the kids are in dance class or soccer practice and you don’t have access to your computer. I look forward to the time when it is available for Droid phones.
• Comparison Shopping. If I happen to get the urge to shop for party supplies at local stores, I always use my smartphone to check prices at Birthday Express before buying anything. I often find that I can get everything that I need cheaper and shipped to my door there, but sometimes there are exceptions. It is always good to know before I buy.
• Note app. Every smartphone platform has some type of free note app. I can open up mine and create a party guest list, a menu, a to do list, plan the party itinerary, and brainstorm game and party favor ideas. I do not always have a pad of paper with me but I often have my phone within my arm’s reach. Even better if you have some type of dictation app and then you can just tell it what to write down rather than type it all in.
• Plan your menu. There are many free cooking apps out there and Epicurious is a highly recommended one. Available for a number of different devices this app allows you to search for a recipe, create a shopping list, and add a recipe to your favorites so that you can find it again later. It has a really cool feature of being able to search by specific ingredients and returning recipes that contain those ingredients.

I hope that lets you see your smartphone in a whole new light. It can be super helpful in planning your next party. Let me know how you use yours for party planning in the comments below.

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Soon it will be time to start thinking of Thanksgiving. It is Thursday November 24, 2012. I want to help you out with some Thanksgiving Party Ideas to jumpstart your party planning. Want to invite the family over for a big dinner feast? Have some friends over for a fun filled evening? Or perhaps invite your children’s friends over for some crafts and games? I have you covered.

The Big Family Thanksgiving

Invite everyone over, roast a turkey, watch a football game and you are done, right? Not so fast. There is a whole lot of planning that goes into this kind of Thanksgiving party. First up is inviting everyone over. You can do that with some personalized Thanksgiving invitations in a number of styles and designs. Make cooking a little easier by asking everyone to bring a side dish or dessert. Have an area set aside for people who want to watch football. Decide ahead of time if the game is turned off during dinner or left on, or plan your meal around the football game schedule. Decorate the table with some beautiful (and clean up friendly!) Thanksgiving party supplies. Place an acorn at each places setting. When everyone sits down to eat, pass around a bowl, have each person say what they are grateful for, and put their acorn in the bowl. It will make a lovely centerpiece when you are done. Then you can play a game of flag football after the game to burn off all those calories you just consumed.

Thanksgiving with Friends

There is no rule that you have to get together with family on Thanksgiving or that you are limited to celebrating Thanksgiving on the actual day. It is for most people a 4 day weekend. Sometimes friends are family and sometimes family is just too far away to get together and celebrate with. If that is the case, then invite some friends over for an upscale soiree or laid back evening. Make up some Thanksgiving cocktails (the Apple-Pie Cider is my favorite) and serve some easy to prepare appetizers. Then move onto the main course of turkey, tofurky or any other traditional dishes that you like for Thanksgiving.

Kids Thanksgiving Party

Thanksgiving is also a great time to celebrate with your kids and their friends. Invite them all over for a game of pin the hat on the turkey, Thanksgiving crafts and more. The fun Thanksgiving party supplies pictured above are an absolute must to set the table with. Serve up a kid friendly Thanksgiving menu. Make up some Thanksgiving cupcakes to serve for dessert.

Everyone will have a wonderful time with these Thanksgiving Party Ideas. Share your own in the comments below.

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I love this time of year. The leaves are changing color, the temperatures are cooler and Halloween is almost here! Halloween used to be all about trick or treating but it really has turned into a season of it’s own. Costumes, decorations, and games! Today I want to share my top 5 Halloween Party Games for Kids with you.

1. Mummy Wrap – Split your party guests into teams of two. One gets to be the mummy, the other gets to be the wrapper. Hand the wrapper a roll of toilet paper and have them start wrapping the mummy. Whichever team uses the entire roll of toilet paper first wins.
2. Eyeball Relay Race – Get a pack of eyeballs (typically found in the Halloween section of a store & are sometimes high bounce balls) and some spoons. The object is for each team to race out to a point with the eyeball on the spoon, come back to the start line, transfer the eyeball to a teammate’s spoon, all while keeping the eyeball on the spoon. If it falls off they have to begin the racecourse again.
3. Pin the Eyes on the Ghost – Create a large white ghost from a piece of paperboard and outline with black marker. Also mark a place on the ghost where the eyes should go. Then create sets of eyes from black paperboard or construction paper. Put two sided tape on one side and let each kid have a chance (while blindfolded of course) to get them closest to the mark.
4. Pumpkin Coin Toss – You will need a carved pumpkin for this game. The object is for each kid to toss a coin into the top of the open pumpkin. The smaller the coin, the harder the game is to play.
5. Printable Halloween Party Games – Play a game of Halloween Bingo, word scrambles and Halloween riddles. Many of these games can be personalized.

Hope you enjoy these Halloween Games for Kids. Share in the comments below any of your favorite games to play.

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There is just something about October that makes me want to pull out the craft supplies and start making things. I just love decorating for Halloween and my daughter is a huge fan of making things. Put those together and you get Halloween crafting! To help you out with ideas I have put together a list of some Halloween Crafts for Kids that I know you will love.

• Faux Stained Glass Candy Corn – Here is a something that you can use to decorate your windows. You will need tissue paper, construction paper, glue stick, scissors, and some self laminating film for this project.
• Cardboard Box Jack o’ Lantern – Recycle an old cereal or graham cracker box and make a jack o’ lantern with your kids. This project calls for the box, construction paper, glue, and a black marker. This is a very fun Halloween crafts for kids.
• Modge Podge Pumpkins – Dress up some plastic pumpkins with scrapbook paper and some modge podge. This is the messy, have to get your hands dirty kind of craft that most kids love. So cute!
• Haunted Birdhouses – This Halloween crafts for kids will require adult help for sure. Unfinished wood birdhouses are easy to find at the dollar store or local craft store. Add some black paint and then some sparkle paint to get the right look. Add some little accessories and make a whole village.
• Salt Dough Ghosts – Salt dough is great for crafting. Here is a recipe and instructions on how to make some ghosts to decorate with. Kids love to make these as there is a making something in the kitchen element and then a crafting element.

I hope you love these ideas. Share in the comments below any Halloween crafts for kids that your own children love to do or if you have any craft suggestions.

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Halloween is just three weeks away and it is crunch time for planning a Halloween party. I absolutely adore these Halloween Fun Friends Party Supplies. They are fun and whimsical and perfect for a “not too scary” Halloween party. They incorporate many of the images of Halloween including witches, Frankenstein’s monster, pumpkins, spiders, and skeletons.

The colors of orange, black, green, and purple will make decorating so easy. If you have already decorated for Halloween they should fit with your existing decorations easily. If not, there are a number of available Halloween decorations that will fit with this party theme. I really like these Hanging Halloween Decorations:

Visit a local farmer’s market to pick up real pumpkins, gourds, hay bales, and corn stalks to decorate with as well.

Here are the available Halloween Fun Friends Party Supplies. Click on any of the following links to buy now:

Halloween Fun Friends Party Supplies	Halloween Fun Friends Party Favors
Halloween Fun Friends Plates	Halloween Fun Friends Napkins
Halloween Fun Friends Dessert Plates	Halloween Fun Friends Cups
Halloween Fun Friends Tablecover	Halloween Pumpkin Pinata
Witch Pinata	Pumpkin Cupcake Pan

And don’t forget to order your Halloween costumes now! I recommend BuyCostumes as they guarantee delivery for Halloween. Here is a BuyCostumes coupon code to receive 10% off any order over $40. They also offer Halloween decor and party supplies too. They offer same day shipping so you receive your order quickly. Did I mention that Halloween is only 3 weeks away? So much to do in that short of time. Better get shopping!

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I had such a good time with the Simply Birthday Stuff Giveaway. It was such great fun to check out everyone’s favorite party theme. And now it is time to announce the winner!

I put all the entries into a spreadsheet and then drew a number using Random.org. Here are the results:

Which means that:

Lisa is our Winner! She choose the Skullicious Party Theme as her favorite. Congrats Lisa, I will contacting you soon with the details of how to redeem your gift certificate.

Check out all the great party supplies that Simply Birthday Stuff has to offer.

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The tongue twisting books of Dr. Seuss are found in most children’s libraries. Before my daughter was even born, she already had several that had been given as gifts. Which makes it the perfect theme for a kid’s birthday party. Today I want to share some Dr Seuss birthday party ideas.

I came across this Dr Seuss party that was held for a boy turning 3. His mom went with a blue, red and white theme to match the colors of Thing 1 and Thing 2.

They had red velvet birthday cupcakes topped with blue cotton candy. She decorated with red flowers in vases decorated with blue hair. I love the blue and red paper lanterns that were hung from the ceiling and the use of many different Dr. Seuss books around the room.

The best way to plan this party is to either pick your child’s favorite Dr. Seuss book and theme the party around it or draw something from each of the Dr. Seuss books. It is up to you.

Don’t miss the sweets table with large jars decorated with ribbon that matched the party colors and then filled with various candies. Every kid loves those big swirly suckers. Each party guest was sent home with a red, blue and white treat bag.

Here are some Dr. Seuss party supplies to complement this party theme:

Dr Seuss Party Supplies

Dr Seuss Invitations

Dr Seuss T-shirt

Dr Seuss Plates

Dr Seuss Thank You Notes

Dr Seuss Party Favor Boxes

Dr Seuss Party Hats

Dr Seuss Balloon

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Picking out a party theme and party supplies for your child’s birthday can be a bit overwhelming at times. My hope is to make the whole process easier for you, which is why I was so excited to discover Simply Birthday Stuff! They offer high quality and unique party supplies that you and your kids are sure to love.

The first impression people will have of your birthday party is with the invitations, so you want to make sure that they set the mood from the beginning. Start out the party with these cute squiggle shaped Birthday Party Invitations:

They are customizable with all of your party details and you have your choice of 6 different luau girls. Their thank you notes also have that unique squiggle shape.

You can see in the picture above that all of the tableware has an exclusive shape and they are full of vibrant colors. All of their party themes also have personalized birthday banners too, perfect for decorating with.

I also love that they offer personalized party favor boxes. Put your child’s name and how old they are or add a special thank you message, it is up to you. You can fill the boxes with whatever you like or check out all the themed birthday party favors that they offer.

My absolute favorite item is their cupcake wrappers though. Everyone loves cupcakes and they are by far easier to decorate than a birthday cake. Take your birthday cakes a step further with these. All you do is bake your cupcakes in the usual way, then add a cupcake wrapper and some frosting and you are done.

Giveaway details:

SimplyBirthdayStuff.com has been gracious enough to provide a $50 shopping spree for me to giveaway! One lucky reader will win.

To enter:

• Main entry: Visit SimplyBirthdayStuff.com and let me know in the comments below which is your favorite party theme. You must do this in order to be entered in the giveaway.
• Bonus entry: Follow me on Twitter and let me know in the comments below.
• Bonus entry: Sign up for my email newsletter (signup form at the top right of this page) and let me know in the comments below.
• Bonus entry: Tweet about this giveaway with the following tweet: Win a $50 shopping spree to SimplyBirthdayStuff from @funbirthday here: http://www.funbirthdaythemes.com/238

Other details:

• This giveaway will be open until July 29th, 2011 at 11:00pm EST.
• The winner will be announced by Monday August 1, 2011.
• The winner will be contacted via email (so please use a valid email address in the comments). If the winner can not be reached in 3 days, a new winner will be chosen.
• The winner will be chosen with a random number generator from Random.org

Disclosure: This $50 shopping spree was provided by SimplyBirthdayStuff.com and the post above contains affiliate links.

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There is just something about summer that screams Tie Dye! Perhaps it is because you can get outside to do this messy activity and the resulting shirts and clothes are perfect to wear on a hot summer day. I found some great Tie Dye Party Ideas that will help you jump start your own creative process in planning the perfect party.

Asking your guests to bring a white cotton item to dye is a must. That way you know it will fit. It might be a good idea to have a few extra items on hand just in case though. I love how she provided all the basic items and food, but asked everyone to bring a snack to share. That provided a great variety of food to choose from.

Check out the Tie Dye cookies that she made too. They were perfect for this party and looked to be super easy to make. I also loved that she had a pool set up for the kids to play in. After dying their shirts, what a fun way to make cleanup easy. The best way to send a freshly tie dyed item home is by placing it in a ziploc bag. This allows the dye to set on the shirt. Send home care instructions so everyone knows how long to keep it in the  bag and how to wash afterward.

This party theme is perfect for a birthday party or a summer party. Check out these great Tie Dye party supplies that complement this party:

Tie Dye Party Supplies

Tie Dye Invitations

Tie Dye Kit

Tie Dye Plates

Tie Dye Thank You Notes

Tie Dye Party Favor Boxes

Tie Dye Cupss

Tie Dye Balloon

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