Birthday Party Loot Bags

This post about loot bags for toddlers got me thinking when I read it last week... 

Basically the mom who wrote it was saying that it is impossible to make up loot bags for parties that aren't all junk food or junk toys and that they can get kinda costly if your not careful... and I have to agree for the most part. 

I hate that most parties send kids home with lots of junk too... that's why I don't do it because it bugs me... I do however feel that you can certainly tell your kids (you know cause your the grown up and the boss of them...) that they cant have whats in the bag because they just left a party that pumped them full of sweets and cake. Its even OK to toss the toys or give them away when the kids aren't looking (as long of course as they aren't the child's new favorite toy... ) especially if the toys are indeed junk...  

but that is just my 2 cents... 

I do also believe that if you are the parent throwing the birthday party you control what goes into the loot bags and if your willing to put in a bit of time you can save yourself a little money and even make a few other parents happy as well.

In the blog post referred to above the mom suggests a gift card to the book store or a potted plant or musical instruments as alternative to the loot bag, however I feel that the gift cards may get pricey, the potted plant needs looking after and lord knows this Momma has a black thumb! and the instrument could get you in just as much hot water with other parents as the junk food and toys... but if you have a scroll down you can see how I made loot bags for Delaney's 2nd birthday (which was Playhouse Disney themed) for less than $2 each!

 

I started with a brown paper bag, simple and cheap enough at $1 for 50 then I added a cut out of Mickey Mouse made out of black scrapbook paper.

Then I baked up some shortbread cookies cut them out with a Mickey Mouse shaped cutter and drizzled with semi sweet chocolate melted in the microwave.

I made matchbook style notebooks out of colored printer paper, scrapbooking card stock and glitter glue. They were made to represent the Imagination Movers coming up with great ideas!

I picked up a box of (Winnie the Pooh of My Friends Tigger and Pooh) crayons at the dollar store and wrapped 4 different colors in ribbon. (I did this rather than purchase the little boxes of crayons at 3 for $1)

I found Mickey Mouse stickers and cut down the sheets so that each kid got 2-4 stickers.

I made these coloring books out of scrap booking card stock, and then printed the coloring sheets off of the Playhouse Disney website then I stapled them together.

And that was that!

Each loot bag was plenty full and had only one sweet in it! 

I did also print off a current picture of Delaney with the wording "Thanks for celebrating my 2nd birthday with me!" and added that to the loot bags (I had a print credit so that was free but at 19 cents a print it wouldn't have broken the bank anyway...)

It's simple and thoughtful and will likely go over well with the kids and the parents! 

What are your typical party loot bags like? Are you a lover or a hater of the loot bag its self? Leave your 2 cents and start a discussion in the comments (I'd love to hear other mom's opinions!)