ooh goodie... bags

so i originally wasnt going to do goodie bags for the kiddos, but i love kids and was doing good on the budget and to-do list, so when i found a package of 60 mini card games like these:

for $8 at costco, i couldnt pass it up. i knew i had about 20 clear cellophane goodie bags leftover from another occastion and a big ziplock of small toys and goodies from other goodie bags and pinata, i decided to go ahead and make up goodie bags. each one had a card game deck, an orange or blue tootsie pop (we picked through the bulk candy bin at Winco for the wedding colors. 2 orange wrapped off brand peanut butter cups , a few little toys, a puzzle book, and a noise maker.

(yes my then-fiance thought i was nuts for including noisemakers, but i really wasnt worried about the noise, i trust parents not to let the kids play with them for the ceremony and wasnt worried about the reception. it was pretty casual. afterwards, i dont regret it at all, i dont remember anything negative about the goodie bags. )

i tied each bag up with ribbon, and put them all in a wrapped box lid. (some were wrapped different and were peanut free, with carmel cups instead of pb cups)

we ended up with about 10 extra. some kids got 1 at the RD and 1 on wedding day. i had gifts for all the 11 kids in my wedding, but my bridesmaid and groomsman brought their kids to the RD, and since they didnt have gifts, i gave them a goodie bag early.

since we didnt ask for exact RSVP #s I wasnt sure how many children would actually be there, but i went through the guest list and estimated if everyone brought their kids, how many i would need. i counted about 40, but since there were 60 card games, i planned to make all 60, but i only had 59 baggies.

even though i tied them with curling ribbon, it was easier to twist-tie them shut first, then add the

The bags were a big hit, and the parents were happy for the thought put into giving the kids wedding favors, no one missed not getting traditional wedding favors.

COST OF PROJECT: under $30 for 59 bags with lots of leftover goodies.

• card games: $8 (i also saw the same things in smaller amounts in the halloween aisle at walgreens, but it was a better deal at costco, extras will be used for other goodies later.
• baggies: i think, $2 for 50, with twist ties + some i had from before
• candy: under $1o
• other misc toys and puzzle books: under $10 the party aisle at walmart
• ribbon: free, leftover from my Spring Wreath
• box: free and recycled printer paper box lid
• wrapping paper: leftover from Card Box and wrapping attendant gifts

Afterwards, I had quite the mess in my craft room and had to organize it, I undid the leftover baggies to store for future occasions. Possibly Christmas, since our budget wont let us get gifts for each kid individually.

Have our cake and eat it too!

In liu of favors, which in my opinion are often a waste of money, time, energy, and resources, we are offering the option for our guests to take home the extra cupcakes in little to-go cups.

(all you need is LOVE... and cake! )

I designed 5 different lables so they wouldn't all be the same. Kinda like the hot sauce packets at Taco Bell

(have our cake.... and eat it too) (thanks for making our day sweeter)

(how SWEET it to be loved by you...) and my fave: (you take the cake! No really, take it.)

(the colors on these images arent quite right, the orange is more orange)

The cups and lids came from a local fastfood restraunt supply store Cash N Carry

I had the lables printed on sticker paper (also known as full sheet lables) at Staples. They werent going to print them for me, they said that the machine gets too hot and it can make the stickers peel and jam in the machine, but had had such a bad time with Staples, the girl took pity on me and offered to try it. between each sheet, it took a moment to get them ready for printing, so the machine had a chance to cool down. So my tip would be to either print at home, or find out ahead of time if the printing place you go to can handle sticker paper.

My wedding craft fairies cut them out using a Fiscars shape cutter and the circle template.

(photo courtesy of google images and vickie)

the price breakdown:

the cups came in a package of 50 for 5.95
the lids were 50 for 3.99

I already had some full page sticker/lable sheets. If I didnt have them, I would have printed on regular paper and used my xyron, because sticker paper is expensive, I had gotten the paper years ago from my employer for a project where I didnt end up using them, so free to me.

I was able to fit 15 lables per page and printing was only $0.49/page at Staples. I printed 5 pages, so 2.45 total.

for all they cost $12.39 for 50 cups, less than 0.25 each.

Afterthough: Since we are hosting Thanksgiving the month after the wedding, any of the cups that arent used can be repurposed for Thankgiving leftovers rather than using ziplock bags or paper plates. In fact I like that idea so much, I might pick up another package of the containers just for leftovers.