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The holidays can be a very busy time, so be sure to begin planning your Christmas party well in advance, preferably 4-6 weeks before.

You’ll want to give guests plenty of notice since there are so many parties during this time period. Send the invitations early. Communicate clearly if you are having a gift exchange. Set dollar limits if needed. Make this optional for guests and consider a theme, such as gag-gifts. Your invitations should state the starting and ending time of your party and should mention the food you will be serving, whether it is light holiday fare or a traditional sit-down dinner. And don’t forget to include directions!

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\\ tags: christmas party, holiday party, party decorations, party planning

Halloween parties make a great alternative to trick-or treating. Planning in advance will keep the party fun and less-stressful. As with most events, you should try and give yourself a minimum of 4 weeks to plan your party. This allows plenty of time for ordering on-line party supplies, cake orders invitations etc. However planning a Halloween party is much easier than most, because you already know your theme. Here’s some great tips for planning a fabulous Halloween party:

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\\ tags: halloween ideas, halloween party, party planning, party tips

Party Invitation Tips & Etiquette

Your invitation should match the style of your event. Is it formal, semi-formal or a casual backyard get together. Your invitation provides the details of the celebration as well as what to expect at the party.

Traditionally, it is advised to send out invitations eight weeks before your event. We can hear you screaming “Eight weeks!” We’ve found while this is a good idea with formal events and weddings, it is just not possible with most every-day events. Our customers tell us that they didn’t even think about having a party until 2-6 weeks before their event. Obviously, the sooner you can notify your guests, the better, but don’t let this stress you out or prevent you from getting killer invitations at the last minute.

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\\ tags: invitation Etiquette, party etiquette, party invitation, party planning, party tips

Here’s another one of the baby shower ideas that I worked on for Parents.com, which went live on their site earlier this week. This one is a hip “Little Birdie” soiree inspired by the idea of nesting and getting mom ready for her new little chick (or chicks!). Click here for full details.

P.S. The whimsical, bird-cage-like lanterns pictured above are from Anthropologie. Although they’d make for some seriously fabulous centerpieces, they’re probably a little pricey to use as centerpieces on multiple tables, but would still make for a wonderful focal point somewhere in the shower that would also double as a keepsake gift for mom.

For a more affordable take on this centerpiece idea, try painting wooden craft birdhouses (available at most craft stores) a solid color and papering the roof or sides with contemporary scrapbook paper. Another option is to look for less expensive ready-made options, like these cool Bird@Home houses from Amazon.com ($25 each).

Also pictured in top collage: Egg Bird House by J Schatz. Multiple colors availabe - $135 each at jschatz.com)

Here’s a little sneak peek at the new “HWTM Collection” of modern digital scrapbooking templates that’s coming very soon to HowFastTheyGrow.com. Our first official HWTM-branded product…yay!

There are 81 different template designs in the collection that fall into 3 different categories - Mod Squad (Boy), Metro Sorbet (Girl), and Mostess Days (holidays & everyday celebrations).  The examples pictured above and below are all from Mostess Days…hope you like them! More info come soon…

Today over at GlamDish: check out some fall-friendly treats & learn how to make homemade caramel apples!

How many kids should you invite? Is it okay to expect gifts every year or should you try out the “no gift” trend? Gift registries for kids parties? What’s the best way to deal with rude parents?

Lisa Kothari from Peppers and Pollywogs - a wonderful kids party planning website/blog - wrote a truly fabulous article for us on Kids Party Etiquette that answers all of these questions and more. Click here to check it out!

If you’ve followed HWTM for a while or checked out the party themes section, you may have noticed that I love to use scrapbooking supplies as tools for entertaining. Scrapbooking supplies are affordable, and there’s so much variety available from holiday and occasion themes to fabulous color palettes and modern prints that the possibilities for the look of your party are seemingly endless!

For more on this concept and an example tabletop, visit today’s post over at Simply Stated.

A few more examples from the party themes section where scrapbooking supplies are especially prevalent:
• Autumn Spice Thanksgiving
• Santa Baby holiday party
• Love Comes Softly bridal shower
• Bling Baby baby shower

This fabulously modern snack set from Swedish design company Sagaform contains 3 cool little serving bowls, each with thier own unique serving spoon/fork combinations… $40/set at aplusrstore.com. (Great gift idea!)

I’ve adored this Pucci Inspired Wedding from Brides.com for a while now, and the idea behind a fabric-inspired soirée actually flows along the same lines as yesterday’s post on scrapbook-inspired entertaining.

Fabric is perfect for creating table runners and embellishing party favors, vases, and guest books. You can also scan the fabric pattern into your computer for use on printed materials like invitations, menus, and favor tags…and use either the paper prints or the fabric itself to create cool favors similar to the little perfume bottles pictured above. At $85 per piece though, those perfume bottles seem a little pricey for a party! So how about creating some themed DIY paper weights or cute party favor keychains instead?

Another tip: cool, inexpensive scarves work great for dressing up vases & tabletops as well!

{photography by Dasha Wright}