Plan the Best Sweet 16 Party for your Daughter

A Sweet 16 party is one of the biggest and most memorable parties for girls across the world. Celebrating a girl's 16th birthday is a time to make new memories with friends and family while also embracing her transition into adulthood. When you are planning a Sweet 16 party for a special girl in your life, keep these tips in mind.

Budget

Set a budget before you begin planning a Sweet 16 gathering, especially if you plan to hire DJ services and other forms of entertainment along with catering. Determine the number of guests you plan to invite to the event and how much food, drinks, and entertainment cost per guest (based on your current plans). If you are unsure of how to go about planning a Sweet 16 alone, consider hiring professional party planners to lend a hand.

Venue

Finding the perfect venue for a Sweet 16 celebration is one of the most important decisions you will make during the planning process. Visit and compare local venues along with their rental prices, accommodation capabilities, and the type of seating and entertainment available. Take the birthday girl's own personal preferences into consideration when selecting a venue on your own for a surprise Sweet 16 party.

Choose a Theme

Choose a theme that resonates with the birthday girl when planning a Sweet 16. What are her favorite colors? What type of music does she prefer and listen to most? Is your birthday guest of honor a fan of "glitz and glamour" or does she enjoy a low-key party atmosphere? Ask close friends and family members for input when deciding on which theme to go with when shopping for decorations.

Hire Professional Party Planners

Hiring professional Sweet 16 party planners NJ is a way to bring any vision for a party you have in mind to fruition. Professional party planners are experienced and work well with budgets, hiring staff, and delivering high-quality entertainment to any venue.

Planning ahead for a Sweet 16 and working together with professional party planners is a way to make the most out of a special bash for any birthday girl in your life.

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Fun Fishing with the Family

We had a great time with the whole family when we celebrate my Mom’s birthday few months ago in Bulawan’s floating restaurant near Tanay, Rizal. My brother asked us if we want to spend it there as they always go there when they want to unwind and relax. Since we really wanted a different birthday ambiance and for Mom to enjoy her birthday we agreed and set out for the family bonding early morning. The day was actually cloudy and before we arrive it was already raining but we still continued with our plans and started fishing. 

Big brother is so used with his fishing hobby that he brought along his own fishing equipment and accessories except for his fishing rod rack which he kept in his home. He taught us all the basic techniques in fishing and in time we were all waiting for the first fish to eat our bait. It was a relaxing rainy day and Mom was the happiest seeing us all there laughing and enjoying her special day. The menu was superb with some of our catches cooked for our lunch birthday food. We had great-tasting healthy sea foods such as sugpo, tanigue, alimango, pusit, tilapia cooked for us and everyone was satisfied. It also feels good to eat what you have just caught from your fishing just like what my brother always says when he asks us to join in his hobby.

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Pampering our Kids with Love and Care

Parents usually pamper their kids on every little thing that they want when they’re younger and just discipline them slowly as they grow old. This pampering includes doting on them on every moment that happens in their life. Moms commonly take pictures on their kids on milestones of their lives like studying, dancing, singing, acting and a lot more. Most of them accompanies them at school and just wait for them there to ensure that their kid will be fine until it’s time to go home Even though these are a bit tasking at times they do not see it as hard because as they say all of it is labor of love. 

So how do you pamper your children? I have ready answers for that because I’m also a Mom and I know how to be extra caring and supportive to them. Others make it a point to buy every whim of their kids whether it will be bad for them. Some tries to discipline their kids and teach them how to be independent early in life. Well we all have different style and principles in rearing up our children but whatever it is I know that we all wanted them to grow up beautifully with discipline, good regards to people and strong faith in God. 

Anyway when it comes to birthdays and occasions we mommies are the busiest because we want the best for them. I remember myself making personalized invitations when they were still toddlers. Oh well time changes and now plans for kids’ birthdays are more festive with food and prizes. To keep the occasion more memorable parents exert much effort in preparing invitations, giveaways, thank you cards and such thing as personalized  3rd birthday party place cards and a lot more. These things can be ordered online for ready-made or customized designs that will fit specific requirements of celebrants.

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Sweetie Ruth is now 16

At 16

Younger!

My Ruthie has turned 16 today, the age they calls 'sweet sixteen' and from her pics above I could say she's just not sweet but very nice as well.  Actually when I looked back some of her pictures from younger days she hasn't changed much (just look how she maintains her cheeky smile).  I always joke her that her face stays the same throughout the years....she's still the same cute, pretty and full of cheeks girl who always hugs and kiss me. 

She told me that she'll never stop hugging me until she's old.  We had an advance celebration yesterday and I'll talk about it some other time as we're so happy about our lunch-dinner date together with the whole family.    We enjoyed our bonding time together and I pray

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4 Cake Ideas For Your Child's Next Birthday

The most important part of any child's birthday is the cake. Depending on the theme, there are many creative ideas, from ice cream cakes to themed cakes, which will make the event special and memorable. Here is a look at four cake ideas that will make any child happy.

 

Castle Cake

A castle cake is perfect for a young girl's princess party. It is an extremely easy cake to make with only a few ingredients. The cake begins as a traditional double layer square. A person can use an 8 X 8 inch pan. The exterior of the cake is frosted with any icing flavor. The top of the cake is decorated with a few upside down ice cream cones. These cones can be dipped in melted chocolate or frosted with icing and rolled in sprinkles. Various candy pieces can be used to make the cake appear like a building with windows and a door. A drawbridge can be made with a graham cracker.

 

Basketball Cake For The Sport's Enthusiast

Most little boys love sports. This birthday cake will be perfect for any child who loves to play ball. The best part is that this cake can be decorated for any sport that uses a round ball. A person can take a round, oven safe bowl and bake a normal cake inside. Two of these cakes can be joined to form a giant ball. The end result can be decorated like a soccer ball, tennis ball, basketball, or baseball. It may take some imagination, but the cake will make a great centrepiece.

 

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

When a child's birthday falls in the summer, a great theme would be an ice cream party. Instead of opting for one large birthday cake, some children prefer the idea of individual servings. A fun idea is to make ice cream cone cupcakes. Most children will love eating cake from a cone and not a pate. These items are simple to make and can be personalized for every child.

A person prepares a boxed mix and lines a muffin tin with ice cream cones. Each cone is filled two-thirds full. The tin is carefully carried to the oven and baked as directed. When finished, the cupcakes are removed until fully cooled. The tops are frosted. Each child can decorate his or her own cupcake with sprinkles or other candy pieces.

 

Building Block Cake

This is a great idea for any child who loves to play with Lego blocks. A person bakes a normal rectangular cake and cools it until it can be removed from the pan. The cake is cut into small squares and rectangles. Each piece is iced with a different color and topped with M&M's of the same color. This makes each piece look like a Lego block. When finished, the cake is reassembled like a puzzle back into a rectangle and served. Each child can enjoy an individual block.

Getting creative for a child's birthday can be fun. For a memorable party, it is always wise to make a unique cake. The above ideas are just a few ways to make the day special. In the end, the child will appreciate the fact that the cake was made with love.

Mandy is a stay-at-home mum with 2 children in primary school, in her past time she loves to garden, travel, bake and write blogs for other stay at home mums or just anyone who is interested in arts and crafts ideas.

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Perk Up Your Party with Face Painting

Nowadays party events are planned and prepared carefully with a lot of exciting activities, giveaways and theme. The theme should be settled first so every preparation will be in harmony with the chosen theme. I’ve been seeing a lot of my friends’ celebration of their kids with exciting themes and amazed at how they put so much effort in party planning. They look into specific details from stage design, banners, invitations, costume, foodies, cake, candy and ice cream booth, games, loot bags and giveaways, photo booth and a lot more. It really makes me think how tasking it is to held a birthday party for the kids. 

No matter how hard and tasking the preparation it is the parents’ happiness to give the best to their children and to leave memorable moments of their kids’ special day. Now it’s even more exciting as some parties I know have face painting in their line of activities for the kids and adults as well. It brings extra excitement to birthday parties and other events as well especially when you hire professional party company like the  bouncewowny.com who will make the party even more alive not just with bounce houses and inflatables but with their professional party talents as well. 

Parties and events should also have creative activities for unique addition to somewhat traditional celebration and with the help of party talents like kids parties Long Island who has the know how, experience and professionalism to handle this artistic activity. They also have the complete portfolio of full face and cheek art face painting designs your children can choose from. When you want it to harmonize with your party theme it can also be customized to your specific theme. They will make sure that kid and visitors in the party will enjoy with their services and every one who wants their face painted will be satisfied with their service.

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Wishes for Redge

Just an excerpt from my FB message last Aug. 19 to my one and only baby sister in this world. She’s also my first best friend. 

"Here's sending the best wishes to the best and only sister I have, the second Mom of my kids and to the person whose always at my side wherever... whenever... whatever...next to Mom and Ed. As we always say to each other since we're kids that we'll stick to each other whatever it takes...we're sticking quite nice :) Happy bday sis! God bless and take care always! Love you!"

When she was able to read the message she was super touched and told me that it’s like a blog post and she was really glad to do all those mentioned above for me. We’re her life and she’ll be my side forever. Now I’m thinking what will I give her for her birthday, got any idea?

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Tips For Throwing An Amazing Party

 

Party decorating can be an easy, but expensive task. To some people party decorating is a difficult task because they don’t know what to purchase and where to receive the best deals. There are a few steps that should be taken before thinking about decorations and throwing an amazing party. Determining the celebration is important so that the host will know how far they should take the decorations. Many people tend to over decorate an event and it comes out looking messy or cluttered. 

Determining the theme or the color is important because the biggest mistake that anyone can make is buying the wrong decorations for an event. The theme will set the mood for the event. Knowing what the theme will be will make the host more confident about picking out the right decorations. At a party a person wants to try their best and impress the guests by showing off their decorating skills. One of the most commonly used decorations is a centerpiece. The center piece can create the center of attention. The center piece will make the table look beautiful and help correspond with the theme of the event. The host can design a center piece if they would like or buy one. Buying a center piece will make the job easier and making one will save money, but that is up to the host. Lining up furniture against the wall to make space is a bad idea. Creating a design in which the furniture will be set up gives the party a good look and makes it seem planned. 

Making a sign that welcomes the guests or guide them through the party can easily be made. The signs will give the guests something to look at and keep them busy while the host is floating around to mingle. Setting down place mats will make it easier for the clean up afterwards. Paper place mats are available in store and are easy to dispose of. If the event will be celebrated yearly plastic place mats can be cleaned off and kept for next year to save money. The most favorite type of decorations is balloons. Balloons are not only for children events they can be used to celebrate any event. If the event is specialized there are companies that are able to customize balloons with special writings on them. The guests will see the host has put in a lot of effort into making the party a success. Making a balloon chandelier is a good idea to give the event a more classy look and creative style. These tips should help any host have the most successful party no matter what the event is. The guests will talk about it for a life time.

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First Birthday Plans

My friend is planning for her son’s first birthday few months from now and she’s very busy looking for suppliers to attend to her needs. First she’ll get invitations and she’s thinking to get it from Checkerboard since she wants a quality and nice invitations for her son. For other requirements like reception, food, clothes, giveaways and others maybe she’ll just ask for referral so she can arrange everything easily. First birthdays are really tasking but it’s fun and enjoyable as well. Anyway for Moms like me It’s worth it also.

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Got a Cook for Josh Bday!

I thought I will not be able to do my tasks today because the little boy will be having his birthday party tomorrow but I learned from DH that my BIL agreed to cook for us. So I have to prepare only for the hotdogs on stick and other things like plates, glasses, fork, juices and many food keepers for tomorrow’s occasion. We’re starting to allot the prizes for each game so it will be ready tomorrow and Gen was doing the loot bags now. For the first time I will not spend many hours of chopping and cooking, thanks to BIL. A lot of pressure was lifted from my shoulders when I learned that I will not cook tomorrow so I’m now finishing all tasks that will be due until tomorrow. I really have a very schedule!

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Ruth is a Teen Now!

My Ruthie as I fondly call her turned 13 today and we’re celebrating it in our midweek bible study later this evening to give a thanksgiving prayer for keeping our dear daughter healthy since the day she was born. We didn’t invite anyone because we’re all going to our church later in the afternoon. It’s her periodical exams today and she came home early. We waited for the whole family to arrive then started a small prayer and celebration in the house. We gave out food to our neighbours and went to bible study.

DH and I are giving our thankful praise to God for protecting and guiding our dear daughter in her daily living in school and in every place she goes to. Even if she’s a lot taller now she’s still our baby Ruth, the first blessing of God to us. Hope she’ll grow up to be a fine lady with trust and faith to God. We want the best for her and we know that God will continue on guiding and protecting her.

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She’s 14 Now!

Last Saturday was Rachel May’s birthday, my niece and my brother’s daughter but she celebrated it on the day before it because she invited her classmates. Having guests is rather tiring sometimes and big brother told me that they will just cook because it’s the dearest request of Rachel. She wants to celebrate her birthday with her high school friends and didn’t want to go out somewhere so she thought of having it in their house.

Time flies so fast and Rachel who I used to call as my little Chinese doll baby is now 14 years old and she’s becoming so pretty lately and oh so tall just like her Mom. I’m still thinking of gifts for her birthday because her preference for things differ now than when she’s younger. I’ll consult Ruth because she’s only a year younger than her cousin.

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:Photohunt 172 : Entertainment (Mascot)

Here in the Philippines if you want kids to enjoy birthday parties just celebrate it in Jollibee and you'll surely make them happy. Here's a shot from my niece' 7th birthday which my brother hosted it at Jollibee in Ever branch. Josh was only 3 years old then and he's not so keen on getting close to Jollibee mascot that's why he's not included here, it's just Mitch, the birthday celebrant and Ruth.

Got another entry in my other blog Beyond Horizons:
http://www.horizonsweb.info/2009/08/photohunt-172-entertainment-clowns.html

For more entertainment themed photos just visit tnchick.com

PhotoHunt

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Just Around Us

It's my father's birthday today and even if he's not with us anymore we still want to remember him on his birthday. It's been 11 years since God has taken him to rest his body and even if it took me a long while to recover from his death I thank God that now I can hold my tears from falling when the topic is him. Know why it took me so long? I'm his favorite as what they always say because I look like him and my traits are almost same as him also.

My Mom always tells others that I took many of his talents lol! Well I've got his photographic mind, his flair for writing - he's the speech writer of our town mayor in his time, his administrative skills in office and many other things that my family knew. Some that I got from him are the small simple ways, mannerisms, the way he walks and his temper sometimes! Being a Sagittarian also just like him, and as I've said his looks particularly the eyes and lips.

Well, this will take me so many sentences and paragraphs to describe him and how I missed simple things about him but the most important thing is we really missed him in the house. Now we’re happy that God sent us a small thing to be happy because my youngest, my son Joshua resembles him so much. It reminds us of him and we thank God that now we feel he's just around the corner watching us all..

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My Mom In-Law’s Birthday

It’s my Mom In-law’s birthday yesterday and she helped us host the bible study yesterday. She brought 7 whole chicken lechon, 5 dozens of steamed puto and 4 kilos spaghetti. I cooked more than a dozen of gelatin stuffed with pineapple and raisins. It was a kind of thanksgiving for all the blessings that came her way and especially for another year of happy and healthy life.

Since I went home from office to get the desserts from our house I almost ran out of time getting to the church. I was so busy with lots of activities that I forgot my digicam so I just used my mobile phone camera for some shots of her birthday. I’m glad that I didn’t forget our Pastor’s auto insurance that my sis Redge reminded me early morning yesterday. It’s very important and Pastor needs it immediately.

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Happy Birthday Bes Jen!

Today is a very special day for my bestfriend Jen. Though I may not always say this everyday to her I know that she knows how much I appreciate our precious moments together, the friendship that became stronger throughout the years. God bless you always!

Whatever it takes I'll always be your friend BES! Here's something for you:

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JennyL's Birthday Bash

JennyL my blogging mentor and bestfriend for life has been so patient in teaching me everything about blogging, she thought a year ago that it will help me a lot not only financially but to my personal life as well, she knows i love writing since our high school days. Little did we know that blogging can be my way of leaving my work in the future. I'll be joining the Work-At-Home Moms soon! Thanks to you Bes!

She'll be celebrating her birthday on November 16 and she's sharing this with everyone by giving away prizes for her birthday contest which will run from November 3-30, 2008.

She has many sponsors for this birthday contest and I'm one of them!

Here are the prizes:

1st PRIZE
$20 from Jenny Talks
$10 from Nita's Random Thoughts
$5 from When Mom Talks
$5 from Buzzy Me
1,000 EC Credits from A Slice of Life
500 EC Credits from A Life in Bloom
500 EC Credits from Simply Me
500 EC Credits from Nita's Corner
500 EC Credits from Great Finds and Deals
500 EC Credits from Batuananons
125x125 ad spot from Thomas Web Links
125x125 ad spot from Simply Jen
2ND PRIZE
$10 from My Fruitful Voyage
$5 from Moments of my Life
$5 from Blessings in Life and Nierva Dot Com
$5 and 500 EC Credits from Kitchen Deelite
500 EC Credits from Way of Life in OZ
500 EC Credits from Because Life is a Blessing
500 EC Credits from Fab & Chic Finds
500 EC Credits from Filipino Online Community
500 EC Credits from Computer Technology Gadgets
125x125 banner ad display from My Precious Niche
125x125 banner ad display from Food on the Table
3RD PRIZE
$5 from Fab Finds, etc.
$5 from Just Blogging It and PRC Board Exam Results
500 EC Credits from Around HongKong
500 EC Credits from Whats Up!
500 EC Credits from Digiscraptology
700 EC Credits from My Crossroads
500 EC Credits from Healthy Living and Lifestyle
125x125 ad spot from Thomas Travel Tales
4th PRIZE
$5 and 500 EC credits from A Mother's Horizon
1,000 EC Credits from Nierva Dot Com
500 EC Credits from This and That
500 EC Credits from Scraps & Shots
500 EC Credits from Rumination
125x125 ad spot from Erlinda's Wandering Thoughts
125x125 ad spot from Tech Stuff Plus

Join us and click HERE for details:

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Big Bro's Birthday!

Today is my one and only brother's birthday, the eldest sibling of De Leon family. I’m the middle child and eldest daughter of the family who resembles kuya the most and Redge is the youngest. As my brother and his wife are so busy with their store in grand mall they didn't make a fuss on this day and told us they'll just celebrate it outside. Eating outside on a nice restaurant is sometimes better than a grand birthday celebration with too many visitors. Anyway he has already given a blowout to his construction staff and that's good enough.

Kuya is a licensed Civil Engineer working in an office and managing his own business as well. He's a born-again christian like us and also a certified workaholic like me lol! My two siblings are like me, we give our best to our work and strive so hard for whatever we think is right including our faith. He's the best brother I could ever be proud of having a humble spirit and kind attitude in life. He treats everyone with fair judgement and shares God's word with a servant's heart. We (Mom, Redge and Me) thanked God for giving us the wonderful blessing of having him as a good son and a caring brother. Bro happy birthday! God Bless You always!

Picture taken from glitter-graphics by poetic1

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Josh Turned 5 Now!

It's Josh birthday today, he woke up very early in the morning greeting each and everyone in the family with a big wide smile. He's really such a darling with his sweet charming ways. I gave him a big card the size of a whole bond paper with his face on it. As usual I did it myself, I'm very fond of doing cards on my own creativity because for me it has an added touch of caring. He love the card and I gained kisses from him for doing it for him.



I don't have time to cook early in the morning so I just ordered 30 sets of Jollibee snacks, prepared juicy hotdogs on stick and completed his giveaways - loot bag which contains candies, chocolates, choco wafer, jellies, small toys and some other goodies that kids will like. And that's true because I saw their excitement when Josh handed his giveaways.

It's Josh first birthday in school and he's so excited about it. After greetings and thank yous of Josh' classmates he told me that he's very happy and wanted to go home to completely open his other gifts.

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Josh Invitation

Done with Josh birthday invitation and his teacher distributed it to his classmates yesterday. It's his first time to celebrate his birthday in St. Audry and he's very excited as in the past few weeks and days he's been counting the days and asking me how many more nights of sleep before his birthday lol!

It'll be a simple birthday only as I will just order food from the happy bee - Jollibbee :-). His teacher told not to make a big fuss over the food as the kids will not be eating big portions. She told me that kids will be expecting a bag of candies and goodies so make sure to prepare that. I did the layout of his invitation in publisher and printed it on a blue scented board with panda engraved on it. Just a simple one.

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