Tips and Great Places to Buy Gift Favours under $5

Thus far I have written about great ideas of where to buy your gift for your party that is under $5. Well this post is a little from the rest, its been 11 weeks since my first post and I've figure that I should tell you where are the best places to look for gift favours under $5.

Every single time that I have to write a post I tend to stroll down to the local stores looking for great ideas that would cost under $5. This is usually including the ribbon, the wrapping paper, and/or cards. There are about 5 places that I always go to, this is Dollarama, Ikea, Flea Market, clearance stores, and Wal-Mart. Even at times I would just stroll the mall to see if there are any stores that are having a great sale. Its good to go to places that carry bath, kitchen, and lifestyles sections with in the stores. My personal best place is HomeSense/Winners—they always have a great selection in items but the only problem is that there might not be a big enough quantity. That is why to go to places such as Ikea, Dollarama and Wal-Mart if you have a larger quantity to buy.

A couple tips to keep in mind when looking for a gift favour:

Keep your eyes peeled for great deals! You can get a lot for $5 but you need to be wise and aware of the product that is out there. Don’t lose your vision, those deals are waiting for you!

Never settle for something that you’re not happy with giving out because if you’re not happy with it than trust me your guests won’t be either.

Ask the managers when the product came in because usually after 6 weeks of being on the self the item tends to be stale, and they would want to get rid of it to make room for the new items. Better deals to bargain.

Stick to the budget!!! If you want to spend only $5 on the gift favour including the ribbon and the card then stick to to the budget!

Always think before you act. Would you want this gift given to you? If the answer is no then put it down back on the shelf. Also think about you first impression on the item, if it feels and look cheap then it probably is.

You have to have a clear vision of what you want your theme for the party to be, then the gift favours will come soon after. For a Birthday party you have the central theme such as a masquerade party then you can know what to look for when your shopping such as a carnival mask as we showed in the past post at http://giftfavoursunder5.blogspot.ca/2012/01/masquarade-ball-gift-favour.html

Turning One!! Bottle Frames

Dollar stores have been the top place that I usually go to find great ideas for these gift favours. I don't like repeating a lot of products that are closely related but who can go wrong with picture frames. I was walking through a privately owned Dollar store on highway 27 and Innovation in Woodbridge when I strolled into the picture frame section of the store. Some looked cheapy like you expect from a Dollar store but then I saw the cutest frames for babies.

I then remembered that my cousin was having her daughters 1st birthday in the next 3 weeks and she was consumed with so much preparation that I thought this was the least I could do for her. I called her right away and sent her pictures of these frames. She loved them so much that she told me to pick them up. The cost was only $2 per frame and the ribbon was about $1 to decorate each frame. One roll of the ribbon was good enough to take care of the 25 frames that she got me to pick up. When I got her place she told go to Wal-Mart and print out the pictures that were only 24 cents for each picture. In total each gift favour came out to about $2.35!! Amazing!

The best part was that it was so easy to decorate the frames add a little ribbon of pink and purple and they were done. The frame was so nice on its own that we did not want to cover it up with clear wrapping paper. Plus when you have frames the best idea way for the frames to stand up are on its own.

Tell me what you think about this idea! Do you like it? Also check out us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/Under5_giftFav and our facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/GiftFavoursUnder5

Keep a look out for our next blog post coming sooner then before :)

Soap for All

Bath and Bodyworks always has great promotions on hand soaps, lotions, hand sanitizers, candles and any thing else you can think of that would make you washroom or kitchen smelling like a fresh bouquet of roses. Anytime I go over to anyone's house I always see the Bath and Bodyworks hand soap in their bathroom. It never seems to amaze me on how these soaps have become so popular with the last 10 years. Prior these liquid hand soaps everyone always just used a bar of soap, which was cheaper in compared to the liquid soaps we buy now. Now, you must wonder how these hand soaps have anything to do with Gift Favours under $5, well keep reading and you'll see how.

I was strolling through the mall last week looking for the most basic forms of gifts that people who have little to no time to prepare to give their party guests. I saw Bath and Bodyworks from the corner of my eye and I needed to walk in and because the front looks so inviting. The greeter at the entrance was letting me know that they were having a sale for the liquid hand soaps for 3 for $10! Usually these products costs anywhere from $5 a piece to $6. Then I thought what a perfect gift favours to give out at parties.

They had so many different scenes to choose from. My favourite has anything to do with berries, watermelon or sweet vanilla.

These gifts would be perfect to add to any party as a gift favour. The best part of it all is that it's under $5.. Check out the website at: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com

And check out the different scenes they have online.


Pictures coming soon!!!!

Yummy Sensations in a Jar

Did you know that Betty Crocker makes scented candles? Well they do! I went to a Dollar store that is not a Dollarama franchise, in the area of Vaughan and was strolling through the aisles looking for a little gift favour for a pot luck dinner my friends and I were putting on this weekend. I thought it would be nice to give a little gift to each friend to remember the good times of laughter and food. At first we were thinking of baking some cupcakes, and placing it in a single box to give as the gift favour, but after seeing this beautiful candle I knew it would out beat the cupcake idea. In Canadian dollars the candles goes for $4, but when doing some research I found that it only costs $3 in the States.

The candle comes in variety of scents: strawberry shortcake, pumpkin pie, cranberry cupcake, cinnamon sitcks, orange and ginger, cookies and cream, creamy vanilla, apple pie, blueberry pie,cinnamon bun, white chocolate just to name a few of the scents that they provide.

To decorate the the candle to make it look more as a gift. I decided to spice it up with lilac and pink ribbon. The candle is only $4, so the gift favour is under $5.

You can have fun with the idea of choosing a flavour from the scented candles and have each person make the scent of choice. Or have a dessert party with the dessert prepared and have the candle lit up in front of the dessert.

Have fun with the candle! you can use it for absolutely any gift favour for any party.

Make sure to check out our facebook page at www.facebook/giftfavoursunder5.com and make sure to follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/Under5_giftFav

Check out next week with Picture frames shaped in baby bottle. Great for Baptism, or Baby Shower

Personalize Your Favours with M&M's

I was searching the internet for great ideas for gift favour under $5 when I Stumble upon on the M&M's website. I was just scrolling through the site to look what they had till one piece caught my eye. It was personalizing your own M&M's to whatever picture, clip art or personal message you wanted for any occasion and you were able to pick up three colours. The website was www.mymms.com. I spent 2 hours on it personalizing any occasion i could think of. On the left is a picture of the home page.

At the top of the page, it gives you different types of ideas for your party, or if you prefer you own idea you can create it through clip art, up load your own picture or write a personalized message. I went through the steps to create my own little MnM for "Gift favours under $5". I clicked on the orange box as shown in the picture on the right.

The site was so easy to navigate. You could not get lost in any of the steps. The first thing you want to do is choose your colours. The maximum amount of colours you can choose is 3, so choose wisely. For my M n M's choose light pink, dark pink and yellow. The site indicates that there are certain colours that you cannot choose to print on because they are too dark. There are 19 colours to choose from and only 5 that are added as accent pieces. If and when you are choosing a theme remember to make sure they flow properly. If you decide to choose to pick 2 colours that is fine you still get the same amount of M n M's.

The next step is to add images, clip-art and messages. I say have fun with it and utilize the tools that are given. Here on the M n M's I decided to put a my face, a graduation cap, my title of the blog "Gift Fav Under 5"(They only allow 18 characteristics) and my twitter account--@under5_giftfav. When you upload your 4 different designs it shows up on the left side on how it will look like on the M n M's itself. The picture on the left here is the example given. You might want to spend the most time here, this is the most critical part of the process.

Then you would want to pick the packaging to store the M n M's in for your guests. Remember the focus here is to create a gift favour that is under $5.

I was looking for the best price but at the same time I was looking for something that was sleek and stylish. I then found the metal tins that were $4.19 each, and you need to purchase a minimum of 20. So this idea is best for bigger parties where there are at least 20 families coming attending.
The total amount was $83.80 for 20 gift favours equalling under $5!!!!

The prep work for this is 5 minutes of clicking from page to page. The shipping and handling is much at $55 but the more you order the cheaper the gift will be. This is best for weddings and or large fundraisers.

Please leave a comment below. Check us out on our Facebook at giftfavoursunder5 and add us on twitter at @under5_giftfav

Come back next week to see what we have brewing with ideas with our gift favours under $5

Check out this video promoting personalizing your own M n M's at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lASPmmv9cY0

Travellers Blues Party

I must say, i have the travelers blues! So I cant go away just yet because of school, but the other best way to get over the blues would be---- throw a party and create fun gift givers that remind you of your wonderful cities you've visited in the past.

This past August i had the great pleasure of taking not one but two wonderful vacations-- the first was a Europe trip with a friend. We visited 3 countries and 5 cities in two week (London, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome) then when I got back I left to Cuba for a week.

I threw a party with friends and the theme way dress up like your favorite city. Its was a blast, people came in traditional costumes while others just wore their clothing with a prop. I on the other hand was so indecisive because I've been to Cuba, Bahamas, Miami, Italy, Croatia (10 times), England, France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Dominican Republic and the States in the last 6 years. So I just wore a shirt that said "I've been to all these places, I couldn't decide" with a map indicating all countries and cities.

I went to Dollarama and was looking for an idea to give away to my guests. I knew i didnt want to spend too much money on the favours. I say this picture holder that said "Good Times" and I knew that was the best way to describe all the trips "Good Times".

I went to Wal-Mart and printed off a couple of my pictures to put in the holders. The picture holder was $1.13 each and each picture was 24 cents. Each picture holder took about 5 pictures so that was $1.20. In total each favour cost only $2.33 including tax.

PLEASE POST ANY COMMENTS ABOUT YOUR TRAVELING EXPERIENCES!

Remember to like the Facebook Page www.facebook.com/giftfavoursunder5

Angel Themed Party

About a week back I was look around the city to find new ideas for the people that asked me to come up with ideas for their parties (Future blog posts). As I was in the Dollarama near Vaughan Mills, I was giving up hope till I took notice of these two figurines.

Some people would walk by the figurine section without taking a glimpse of the product. I was memorized with these two angels black angels, and I needed to pick them up. There was two styles and I had to pick up both. When I got the register, it rang up a $1 each. This would be a great giver under $5 idea.

So have you ever been invited to a themed party? Well I have and one was a angel party. We all had to dress up in white angel outfit and the hostess would wear a black angel costume. She lobed to stand out from the crowd.

I do remember her giving out favours but they were these candle stick holder that were purple. Didnt understand how it went with the theme. So for these angels I thought it would have been a great gift for her themed party.

They are purchased separate but they are only $1.13 including tax and clear wrap and ribbon. Each favour should cost no more than $3. If you want to cut the cost down further than just take the ribbon and wrap it around both angels and don't wrap it with the clear wrapping paper.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE HAD AN ANGEL THEMED PARTY!! COMMENT BELOW!

New post out on Monday! Traveller's blues? Check out on Monday how to over come it with a party and a gift favour to remember the GOOD OL' TIMES