Celebrate Birthdays –For Any Age — the Fun, Easy Way

Celebrate birthdays easily, creatively, and non-calorically with personalized goodie bags!

So, you know you want to celebrate an upcoming birthday – either for yourself or for someone else – in a small, fun, but meaningful way that doesn’t break the bank and that definitely doesn’t involve the over-played cupcake scene or wreak havoc because of allergies. The solution is simple: personalized goodie bags!

Supplies Needed
1 fun photo of the birthday person
Your computer
Printer
Scissors
Letter-size mailing labels, if available
Lunch bags, as many as you want to hand out
A variety of goodies and as many as are needed

For your own set of personalized goodie bags, take a bunch of those brown – or white – lunch bags that have been lying around in your kitchen for ages and put them to good use! Count out the number of bags you will need and set them aside. By the way, it is best to fill them up with all the good stuff after the stickers have been affixed to the bags.

For the stickers, take an old and/or humorous photo you have in your photo library of the birthday boy/girl and play around with the photo effects choices offered in the software program you use regularly. Add whatever text you like, and put a box around it all. Next, copy and paste as many photos as possible at the desired size onto your letter-sized template. Print the photos out onto letter-size mailing labels found at any office supply store. Then, cut them out in your desired shape and stick them onto your goodie bags.

Try to fill up the bags with fun items such as Pez candy and dispensers, hand games such as that old classic, “Magic Square,” lottery tickets, snack-size treats, mood rings, or anything else that seems entertaining and nostalgic. Et voilà! Birthday fun in a bag at a fraction of the cost of most anything else – and with no major calories or allergies to worry about!

Happy Birthday, everyone!

– PM