22600

Think Green Party -17yr- Food Donations

March 2011

Anna in San Antonio, TX United States

Special Mention

Think Green Party: 17 yr old girl (for a supervised boy/girl party) 

Invitations: Invitations for this party were fashioned out of cardboard from cereal boxes or any other food brand a kid would find on a t-shirt. Printed information about the Think Green Birthday Party was added on scrap book paper and attached to the cardboard. Listed on the invitations were two separate times, one for boys and one for girls (girls spent the night). Admission to the party was 5 cans of food to be donated to a food bank, and girls were instructed to go through their closets and bring items they no longer wore for a clothing swap. (Cost of invitations: $2) 

Activity 1 & favor: As each guest arrived boys received a plastic reusable cup with their name written on it and girls received a tea cup and saucer from the thrift store which the girls got to monogram and decorate with a special pen for china. These cups were soon filled with either softdrinks or the special green cocktail" punch. (each cup or teacup cost about $.25) 

Party Decorations: We didn't want to go too crazy with decorations so a table cloth was made from newspapers and a table runner was made with a photo time line (think history class) of the birthday girl and her friends. We also used a decorative tree limb from the yard as a wish tree and had everyone write their wishes for the birthday girl on a piece of paper that was tied to the branches with pretty ribbon. There were also fresh cut flowers in vases purchased at the thrift store and decorated recycling bins (bright colored trash cans labeled with rhinestone letters). (All of this only cost about $10!) 

Party Snacks 1: The kids had pizzas chips chicken and veggies and any waste was recycled. (All of this ran less than $50.)  

Activity 2: After everyone had eaten their lunch we set out to the mall for a scavenger hunt with cameras in hand. I made gender neutral wrist band bracelets from up-cycled tshirts in two colors which they got to keep. (see online tutorials) I placed the the wrist bands in a bag and had each person draw one out to determine which team they were on. The scavenger hunt was an information scavenger hunt and each team received a piece of paper with a list of questions like: How many tables are in the food court? How many elevators are in the mall? Etc. There was a time limit and points were awarded per question. Points would be deducted if they reached the meeting time late or were loud or caught running and bonus points were awarded for getting photos of specified silly things along the way being the first team back etc. (This whole activity was free!) 

Party Snacks 2 (cake): After the scavenger hunt everyone returned to the house for cake and fun. The cake was a round cake with marshmallow fondant icing in the shape of the earth and letters saying Think Green. There was a small separate green birthday cake for the birthday girl to blow out the candles on and with keeping the green theme in mind we had mint chocolate chip icecream and green candy in pretty glass contrainers from the dollar store. The birthday girl opened her presents and we took a group photo. (Since I made the cakes myself this only cost about $25.)  

Activity 3: Next we had music playing from a personalized playlist and a volleyball net horseshoes basketball goal and movie going on simultaneously so that everyone could just hang out for a couple of hours or so before the boys left. Before each boy left I rinsed out their party cups and stuffed them with candy for them to take with them. (free activity cost of candy already factored in) 

Activity 4: After the boys left the girls gathered for the clothing swap. Everyone had gone through their closets and found things they didn't wear anymore and each girl went home with something "new". This helped them feel better since they went to the mall earlier and didn't get to buy anything. There were lots of laughs and funny pictures taken of things that didn't fit or were rediculously out of style. The remainder of the clothes were donated to the local charity. (free activity) 

Favors 1: This is when the girls' party bags came out. I hand painted reusable shopping bags for each of the girls. Inside the bag was a reusable popcorn container from the dollar store 20 or so softdrink can tabs and a cute magnetic photo frame for their lockers I made out of recycled boxes and metal bottle caps. The girls put their "new" clothes in the reusable bags. (each bag = $1 each popcorn container = $1 other craft supplies ran less than $5) 

Activity 5: The girls got out the softdrink can tabs to make tab bracelets with ribbon (there are tutorials online). These make surprisingly cute bracelets and the girls all wore them immediately! (free) 

Party Snacks 3: Then they popped popcorn used their popcorn containers and snacked on chocolate and left-overs while watching movies playing board games and talking about boys until they fell asleep -although I think most of them stayed awake all night. ($5 for popcorn and chocolate) 

Party Snacks 4: In the morning we made breakfast. We had pancakes bacon cereal and individual omelets. Each girl put an egg in a muffin tin and added cheese veggies bacon etc and we heated them in the oven. ($20) 

Favors 2: Once breakfast was over I presented each girl with a copy of the group photo I had printed out to put in their bottle cap magnetic photo frames and they all hung them in their lockers at school. I also rinsed their popcorn container and teacup and saucer and wrapped them in the newspaper we had saved from the decorations and added them to their party loot in their personalized reusable shopping bag. ($2 est cost of photo paper and ink) 

Thank You Cards and post party Favor: For thank you cards we sent out green cards printed on recycled paper thanking them for their gifts and included a copy of all the photos from the party. I have my own photography business so many of these photographs were professional quality so both the kids and their parents were happy to have them. ($5)  I think that this party might have gone over too well because now it is hard for my husband and I to have a moment to ourselves because our house is now the cool place to hang out!  

This whole party cost less than $150! Not bad for a teen party with so much food and loot! It pays to THINK GREEN!!  "

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