Awesome stuff - I have copied some of your patterns to try. I am an artist - oils, portraits, but I don't have nearly the creativity in this kind of thing that you do. From a pro - don't rag on your painting! I love that antiqued look that your stuff has. I hate putting that plastic stuff out even to recycle. I believe your inspiration can help keep a lot of stuff out of landfills. Martha Stewart needs to get a load of your stuff!

she's noticed that the kids notice the presence or absence of goody bags, and is trying to be a good mom and hostess. FWIW. If goody bags are "expected" in your area, she should try to do something. It depends on the type of kids in the area Niece is crazy over the Jonas Brothers (heaven help us), and will be getting a JB pinata, and the kids can carry home whatever candy they collect in little bags. We're also going to look for the aforementioned pinwheels, or something equally inexpensive and relatively entertaining for the kiddos to take home when the party ends. I love the idea of crafts - in fact, on niece's last birthday, the kids decorated crowns and took them home (it was a princess theme), but there probably won't be enough time. The party will be scheduled for only a little over an hour, though, during which time cake and ice cream will be served and the pinata will be the primary entertainment. Don't the JB's wear 80's style sunglasses? I think they wear vests too. Maybe adding those to the party, take digital pics of everyone in their JB shades & get one vest that everyone uses for their shot, print them out and give on in a pre-decorated JB frame? Too bad the party isnt longer, she should be able to find cardboard type frames.. they can paint their names on them or something JB.. maybe glue JB pics to the frame? I have seen parties where one of the activites was their take away gift - like painted t shirts, decorated wooden frames (take pic of whole group to include), wooded vehicle sets you put together (Michael's has a bunch for $1). I love this idea For her, it isn't just a party bag -- it's a thank you gift to the friend for attending her party. If you ask her opinion, she probably think it's totally uncool not to have party bags. That's how I've always looked at goody bags as a thank you for coming Wow...never would have crossed my mind to give out goodie bags. My kids didn't, and I honestly can't remember them getting them. But then, my kids quit having kiddy parties over 10 years ago! haha. I can tell you that its a different world these days. My son is 24, gift bags weren't a big deal but these days it's all about the gift bag. I think we have Hollywood to partially blame for this.. Think Paris Hilton, star parties where they get gift bags with the latest phone or video game system. Lots of celebrity mags talk about gift bags, win the gift bag from such & such party, it's like a status symbol to get the best gift bag.

We had the same problem for years. We have a group of seven couples (all close in age). We would take trips together once every year or so but during the year we would take turns hosting a monthly dinner. Of course this always necessitated a hostess gift. All of us are comfortably off and at our age have everything (material) that we want or need. It drove me crazy because I was constantly being gifted with craft type items. I am just not into cutesy things and I had a difficult time coming up with items that I thought the other ladies would enjoy or use. I failingly ended up giving food items or fresh flowers. We all finally came to a consensus that we should stop doing hostess gifts and at Christmas put funds together to donate to a charity. Thank goodness! The pressure every month is off and we can give to those in need. It's a win/win.

We must attend a few parties every Decenber for DH's job, and they feel like parties that we should bring a hostess gift to. I don't for family and close friend get togethers. I was just at Williams Sonoma. If you know your host likes scented things, their Winter Forest candles and hand soap smell wonderful. I like to send flowers after the party. Other things I have done before, in combination or by themselves are pretty towels, cocktail napkins, nice chocolate, orchid, box of citrus fruit, throw blanket, locally roasted coffee, unusual liqueur. I also pick up things here and there throughout the year that would be suitable, like one time at an art fair I bought a beautiful, handmade trivet. For several of those things I mentioned, I feel like you have to know your host. I struggle with ideas for the hosts I don't know. One of our parties is quite large and I bet they get at least a dozen bottles of wine and maybe the same amount of other booze, so I like to come up with something different.