I can bet that at lease every other weekend there is a birthday party for one of my girls to attend. Don't get me wrong, I would rather them be invited then left out,but it gets costly! Not only that, but waiting until the last minute to buy the gift can lead to a frantic Mama.
In our house, I shop the sales all year long. I pick up gifts at the most random times of year, and random items. I have a milk crate that I put items in if they aren't pieced together as one gift. And yes, this may be extreme, but I put gifts into a gift bag for the birthday parties as soon as I can.
I have two very large bags of gift bags, one is a birthday theme and the other is a Christmas theme. I keep every gift bag we receive. I even have my parents doing it now. The past 4 Christmas' the girls have gotten the same large penguin gift bag from their grandfather, who takes it with him when he leave that morning. Their grandmother also takes hers too. Gosh it being Earth Day and all, we are saving the planet and money!
Before the kids go to a party they get to look in the gift bags and determine what gift they think would be the best pick for their friend. Then, when it is picked, the final step is to add the tissue paper from the small container by the gift bags, and Voila Let's Get This Party Started!
