party ideas! - birthday box tutorial.

For several years, I have created and shipped birthday boxes to friends and family who live far away. What is a birthday box, you ask? It is a box of any size layered with all the things you need to celebrate a birthday. Since I can't create a fun birthday party for them in person, I send it, instead. It's my thing. ☺ My brother, Karl's birthday was a few days ago and even though he turned 22, I couldn't resist sending him a birthday box filled with some fun mementos of his childhood. ☺ Here is a step-by-step of how to put one together.

step 1. pick a theme - With any party, you have to have a theme, ok maybe not everyone does, but I do. ☺ It makes finding little things more fun and who doesn't love a good theme? I have done several different ones, this one is Pokemon.

step 2. figure out what size box you want to use - I tend to use smallish boxes. It is less expensive to send and a little easier to fill. It really depends what you want to do.

step 3. assemble your party items - streamers, curling ribbon, balloons (I sometimes will blow-up water balloons, they act as good padding and you can't have a party without a few balloons), Pokemon cards, handmade confetti, stickers, tattoos, a few fun things I found that matched my theme, cupcakes (food and candy is fun to include as long as it is safe to travel) and a main gift. I like to use gift cards for the main gift, most of the time. They are really easy to wrap and travel well. ☺I made a pillow box for this one.

step 4. start layering! - this is where the fun starts, a little of this and a little of that. Between each layer of stuff, I place a piece of tissue paper. You can have as many layers as you want. The first layer, I start with the main gift. I add several fun things in the middle layers and the next to last layer, I put the birthday card and notes. The last layer I put a little note and a few things to get them excited. I had a total of 7 layers in this box.

step 5. seal it up and send. - This is pretty self explanatory. I layer one last sheet of tissue and tape it closed. I like to add to the outside of the box, "this side up!". I don't know if it really helps, but I like having peace-of-mind that I did my best to prevent it from getting all jumbled up inside.

There you have it, a birthday box tutorial! I hope that you have fun creating little parties for family and friends, as much as I do. ☺