Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Saving on Gift Tags/Cards

Now that she's in Kindergarten, Kat is being invited to a birthday party every month or two.

I really don't mind buying a gift for a child's birthday, but I hate shelling out $1, $2 or even more for a card. Even the small 3"x3" gift cards are priced at $1.25 at Target.

While I was there, I looked for an alternative and found these!


The box contains 16 cards in a variety of colors for $5.99. They are blank inside and come in a multitude of colors that will work for both boys' and girls' gifts.

The way I see it, that's another buck or two that can be put toward the child's actual gift.


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And speaking of parties, what is it with parents failing to respond to RSVP requests? At the party Kat went to last Saturday, the child's mother thanked me for letting her know in advance that Kat would attend; she said none of the other parents had responded. I heard similar things from parents at each of the other parties Kat's been to this year. Really, how difficult is it to make a quick phone call to say yea or nay?

9 comments:

Unknown said...

That's a great idea! My kids have always made cards to give to friends and family. I can't even remember the last time we bought a card. :)

Unknown said...

I hate buying cards. I saw a Mother's Day card I was tempted to get for my mum until I turned it over. £7.99. I love her to bits but I think she would chase me if I paid that for a card.

I had two at Toots party who didn't RSVP. Worse than that I had one ho dropped her kids off, waited until nobody was looking and then left!

Bluepaintred said...

OMG I Know!

My son blake is having a party at teh fin factory, he is only inviting three friends, yet not a single one has called to say yes or no. AND I wrote my phone number on the invite TWICE

If his friends cannot come, fine, I can prepare him for that with white lies, but If I have to watch him wait and wait and wait and no one shows up, Im going to be very upset!

when my kids get an invite, I call back the very same evening to reply

Lisa B. said...

I feel the same way about the money for cards AND the gift wrap! I would much rather put all that into the gift. I buy my gift bags for $1 at Dollar Tree. They usually have the little bag tag/card on them and that's what I use.

The RSVP's (or lack of) also is a pet peeve of mine. This is the 4th year in the town we live in, every year BW has a party, and there has only been 2 times over the 4 years that they have RSVP'd. Last year we did a mystery party and each child would need spy gear and a kit. It would have been nice to know exactly how many I needed to buy. As it turned out there were 2 more there than was even invited because moms dropped off sons AND their siblings! Am I wrong, or do you find this as rude as I do?

Annie Jones said...

Cathy: That's a wonderful idea, too!

Leanne: It seems the parents could have at least asked if it was alright to leave for a while. Kat's been to event parties where it was expected that I'd leave and others where it was expected that I'd stay. Now I make sure to ask before I make my own plans.

Blue: Yes, I always call the same day or at least by the next day. It only takes a minute to look at the calendar and make a decision.

Lisa: Yes, I do think that's rude. It seems they were using you as a babysitting service rather than letting your child attend your son's party. Did they not even ask beforehand?

The Cookbook Junkie said...

I was shocked by the lack of RSVP'ing for my son's b-day party back in January. I invited 20 kids and 2 parents called right away and then nothing. I ended up asking most of the parents since I saw them either at drop-off or pick-up or at other parties. One parent is a teacher at the center and when I asked her she kind of shrugged her shoulders and said 'probably'. WTH?? That was more annoying than anything else because either your kid comes or not. She made it sound like they might try to fit it in if nothing else came up.

I think we ended up with 12 kids.

What made it worse is that I had to delay the party one day since they were calling for a big snowstorm. I wasn't even sure who was coming.

In the end, there were no surprise additions to the party. If they didn't RSVP, they didn't come. They must assume 'regrets only' when they see RSVP.

I'm not sure what people are thinking. These kids are all in the same class and have attended parties or had parties. Surely parents realize the planning that goes into a party (goody bags, cake, food, etc) and should have the decency to let the host know ASAP whether or not they are coming.

Tug said...

Those cards are awesome! Love the colors. I really think people are just getting more selfish and self-absorbed, and with that comes rudeness...which is what it really is if you don't RSVP.

This world scares me any more.

Annie Jones said...

CJ: At the most recent party, a teacher's twins did attend, but didn't RSVP. At an earlier party hosted by a teacher, only one or two replies were received. I guess I had a notion that of all people, teachers would practice basic etiquette. Silly, I know, because they are just people like the rest of us.

And I agree that it seems some people are just waiting to see if "something better to do" comes along.

Tug: I'm glad to see that there are others out there who agree that this is rude. I thought maybe I was just becoming a cranky old woman who prefaces everything I say with "Back in my day..."

Annie said...

I agree about the RSVP thing. My oldest daughter just got married. When we sent the invitations we made sure the rsvp card was easy to figure out. It was just check yes or no and write how many will be attending. There were so many that didn't send it back one way or the other, and showed up anyway.