In the early 1980s, I also arranged home party needlecraft demos for the Creative Circle. Their kits included crewel embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint, and applique projects. The guests had a lot of fun! Some of them bought the full-sized kits, some did not - they just came for the party kit and to socialize, which is also great! I looked up Creative Circle online, and the needlecraft company site said nothing about home parties, but they do sell kits online now. There is also a different company called Creative Circle that is a "recruiting and consulting services company". They have nothing to do with needle crafts. I still have, and display, my samples from when I was a party consultant. They are very high quality and beautiful.

Ugh! I lost the long reply I had to everyone. Don't have time to re-write right now but thanks to the ideas you offered up, I've decided on a theme (Team Umizoomi - my boy/girl twins love them!) and will incorporate their circle/shapes/numbers theme into a few of the games that were suggested - particularly the obstacle course. christina_ca - I am planning on an "adopt-a-puppy" (play) theme next year for their 4th. A friend suggested it & did it for her daughter. She said it was such a fun time. She collected stuffed puppies on sale/clearance in the months before the party. On the day of the party, she had each child go with her into another room so they could select their puppy privately and then each child went to different "stations" - check up by the vet (her DH is a doctor so he was in white coat with his basic dr kit), pretend bath & grooming station, puppy treats station and receive official adoption certificate station. That was enough activity apparently and it worked perfectly for everyone to have their puppies and go into ice cream & cake. My goal now is to use the theme but remember what I wanted in the first place: an old-fashioned backyard birthday party. Having the theme puts everything into focus for me now - I didn't think to have a theme until y'all mentioned it. Again, thanks for all the ideas.

Well, I had a friend who sold Pampered Chef and she talked me into hosting a party after my first kitchen remodel about five years ago -- I think I was vulnerable because I did want to show off the new kitchen. She is someone who has had a lot of bad luck and never seems to have money for the unexpected or sometimes even the necessities, so I was an easy mark and a softy and agreed to do it. BIG MISTAKE!!! She did a fine job with the presentation, and a good number of my friends came and bought stuff. But the processing of the orders was a nightmare, and she messed things up so badly that it took months and months to straighten them out, and was an embarrassment for me with those who had come and made purchases. It definitely affected our friendship, and I was relieved when she moved away because I was always afraid she was going to ask me to do it again. And while I did get some free stuff (which, other than the toast tongs, I don't use very often) I spent a fortune on the ingredients for the food that was prepared. So, be warned, while attending them can be painful and anxiety-producing for some, hosting the party can take you to a whole other level of torture.

I did buy one label. My BF in junior high and I went to Mervyn's so we could buy genuine Sonny and Cher labeled outfits. I bought the pants in the picture. But was a petite little hard belly and I rocked them with the mating halter style tummy tickler they came with. The low cut hip hugger pants and top were bright yellow daisy print. The eyelet was white with a bright hot pink/fuchsia velvet ribbon at the knee. The top had the same eyelet at the bottom with the ribbon. Wish I still had the outfit . It would be worth something today. My friend bought a more conservative outfit in turquoise. It was in a poorboy (vertical ribs) knit with large bells and a babydoll top. The pic is not me. I was a lot smaller than that girl. I just found the pic on the net to show the pants.