Hi,

I love birthday parties for children and I really had fun organizing a Mickey & Minnie party for my daughter’s third birthday. However, the planning, the execution and the cost was all overwhelming in terms of the money, time and energy which was input.

Moreover, till everything was planned, ordered and collected, there was this constant worry that I might have forgotten something to be done or to be bought.

I have now been introduced to 61C, an awesome website, which has so many products to offer for an exclusive party planning.

Introduction to 61C

61C started in June 2010 is a premium online store for personalized party products and fine stationery. Some of the best creative stores in the country also house these products. Check this list if one is right next to your home :). You can visit their blog for lovely party planning ideas too.

Now, are you ready to plan a party with 61C?

Party planning has five major areas.

They are:

• Invitations
• Decorations
• Games & Activities
• Food
• Return Gifts with thank you notes.

Invitations:

61C offers a complete range of personalized & creative invitations. Once you have selected a theme, check their product range. The quality of the print & the card is just superb. Take a look below for some ideas.

The best part is that if the theme you have selected is not a part of their product range, their creative team designs these for you exclusively and at no extra cost. How cool is that?

Decorations:

So, we have the table decoration & the wall decoration.

For the wall decoration, use your theme colors and fill the room with bright, shiny streamers and balloons. For the table decorations, we generally have a color coordinated cutlery, plates, tissues, table cover and a back drop in line with the theme. You may also add a birthday banner.

At present, 61C offers some lovely cupcake toppers, cupcake wrappers and straw tags as party decor. These can also be selected or designed for your chosen theme.

To let you in on a secret, I am told that there are going to be many additions to this section of their product range. I for one, am certainly looking forward to it.

Games & activities:

Games make the party fun and activities make the party engaging. For older kids or younger kids, always have easy games which are quick, delightful and which allow them to win lots of prizes. The most comfortable games for the children of all ages or even adults are:

• Passing the parcel.
• Pin the tail on donkey
• Throwing the ball in the bin
• Musical chairs

Now, you can modify these to suit your theme and that too very simply. For example, if your theme is princess, then you can modify “Pin the tail on donkey” to “who will crown the princess?” OR instead of musical chairs, for our mickey & Minnie theme, we had Musical mickeys. See here, for all the games all the kids really enjoyed in our party.

Keep simple activities which they can finish quickly and can carry their finished product home. They will feel happy & proud to show it to their family when they get back home. 61C has many DIY kits which could be used for party based activities. They have Greeting cards, Jigsaw puzzle cards, Bubble sticker cards, Magic Foil cards & Poke a picture cards.

Food:

Now, the food is a big factor too in the success of the party. So, you can either order some lovely theme based delicacies from your local baker or have simple, home-made menu. The cake can be a hand crafted by a baker, with a suitable design for your theme or a simple one from the local bakeries. Don’t forget the drink 🙂 . You could color match that too or is it going too far?

As long as the food is fresh, tasty and suits the taste buds of your guests, you are a SUPER mom :). With my personal experience, I find that younger children tend to eat only selected food items and that too in a smaller quantity. Also, dry food is more suitable, as the little ones are so active all the time.

I also prefer serving the meal in a box rather than a plate for following reasons:

• Children who have not eaten a major part of their food can carry the boxes home.
• Moms who are in a hurry can be conveniently handed a box to eat later.
• Neighbors who are unable to come for the party can be delivered the scrumptious food home.
• They can be readied before the party to serve directly after cake cutting.

Return Gifts and thank you notes:

Once again 61C to the rescue because they offer lovely DIY kits, personalized coloring books and lovely stationery. My choice of products for return gifts are as follows:

• Jaali book
• Classic cut notebooks
• Polka Dot pads
• Square shaped notepads
• Twisty pads
• Personalized coloring books
• Peek-a-book marks

They also offer theme based thank you notes which can be personalized. See some of them below and keep that smile.

All said and done, I now have an option to select some exclusive designs and personalized stationery at the click of a button, right from the comfort of my home and with payable options like credit card or cash on delivery.

The quality and designs are great. I have ordered some of these products myself. 

I am happy.

To make you happy too, 61C is offering a lovely giveaway.

For the giveaway:

What you need to do?

1) Click on this link and enter your email with your kid’s birthday.

The first 50 entries, will get a set of personalized notecards worth Rupees 120. Click here to view them.

The entries and selection will be solely done by 61C but, we will announce the winners on our FB page.

2) Please like our face book page to keep abreast of simple, every day, quick and useful ideas on home décor, party planning, parenting, kid’s activities and more. Do leave a comment below. We always love to hear from you.

3) You will enjoy the facebook posts from 61C so, don’t forget to like their page here.

The giveaway is open for all Indian residents till 15th May 2014.

So, isn’t it simple? It’s an opportunity to find out for yourself the quality, the service and the exclusivity in the products of 61C.

Do take part now and enjoy your party.  I am heading to that link now 🙂

Love,

Poornima

Note: This is a paid review.