|
|
|
Blackjack, Card Counting, and Why the 5's are the Most Iimportant Cards in the Deck
Counting cards in blackjack is a way to increase your chances of winning. If you're good at it, you can actually take the odds and put them in your favor. This works because card counters raise their bets when a deck rich in cards that are...
Poker Hand Rankings
Poker hand rankings are one of the most important aspects of any poker game. When playing online poker, especially fast online poker games such as Texas Holdem Poker, you need to be able to quickly discern which cards are needed to create a better...
Short Hand Texas Holdem Poker
Short Hand Texas Poker refers poker games that have less than 4 or 5 players at the table. Being a good short hand player is vital if you're interested in either moving up to higher level games or playing in poker tournaments where the rewards...
Swap Magic For Slim PS2 Review
Recently my Japanese PS2 that I got way back at the Japan launch died on me. Seeing as I need to have a machine that plays Japanese PS2 games I went looking around at prices for a new one and unfortunately found the price tags to be in the $180...
The Other World Series: Poker
Growing up, the American dream for many boys was playing major league baseball and hitting the game winning home run in the final game of the World Series. This dream is usually shattered for most when in their teen years the reality hits, that...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
How to Throw a Baby Shower on a Budget
So, you want to host a great party, but you have limited funds. Can it be done? The answer is ABSOLUTELY!!!
There are numerous ways that you can cut costs when planning a shower. Perhaps the easiest way is to split the hostess duties among several friends. Homemade
food, favors, and invitations are another way to make things less expensive. The time of day you have the shower may also influence the cost. A mid-afternoon party with cake, punch, and light snacks is much less expensive than a dinner or a spa afternoon. Having the party at a restaurant may be less expensive if the guests all know each other and are willing to pay for their own meals. This may be somewhat awkward, though, so it definitely is a plan that will only fit certain situations.
Handmade invitations are a very easy way to cut corners. With a computer, a printer, and cardstock or specialty paper, you can make invitations that will look practically professional. Or you can choose to make a crafty invitation that perfectly complements your theme. Another option for invitations is to email invitations. Sites like sendomatic allow you to send invitations and maps, track responses, and even send weather reports for the big day for less than $15 dollars for 100 invitations. Sending email invitations saves on the purchase of invitations, as well as the postage.
Food for a shower can be very simple. If you have an early afternoon party that falls after lunch but before dinner, you can serve cake, punch, mints, nuts, and perhaps a fruit tray very inexpensively. The presentation is often more important than the actual food that is served. Use nice bowls and silver for a formal atmosphere. If you do not have crystal or silver, you can usually get plastic that looks like crystal and silver and will still look nice. Finger sandwiches also add an elegant touch and are inexpensive and easy to prepare. If you want a more casual feel to the shower, a vegetable platter and chips and dips are always welcome. Or get everyone in on the act and ask each person attending to bring a snack. You might want to have a sign up sheet, though, so that you
don't end up with 5 bags of chips.
Believe it or not, even if you don't consider yourself a baker, there are several alternatives to expensive bakery cakes. Cupcakes are very easy, and sugar or plastic decorations in baby themes are fairly easy to find. You can also use frosting to "glue" small plastic baby decorations to the tops of Little Debbie snack cakes. These are precious, and they look like you spent a lot of time. Another option is to skip the traditional decorated cake, altogether, and go for individual cheesecakes (easy to make in muffin tins) or a delicious chocolate cake (make sure that the mom-to-be isn't avoiding chocolate first). Cookies can make a great sweet treat also, and there are some really cute cookie cutters readily available. Finally, if you think you can make and frost a rectangular cake but are concerned about trying to do fancy decorations, you can find edible cake art images online. These are easy to apply to the top of the cake, and they are the same images used by bakeries.
Many of the games and activities for a baby shower are free. There are printouts available online if you want to play games like bingo. While party favors are a nice touch for a shower, they certainly are not necessary. A personal thank you, in person or written, is all that is necessary to thank the guests for attending.
Throwing a baby shower is a wonderfully generous thing to do. It does not, however, have to break the bank. Remember, the most important thing when hosting a shower is to create wonderful memories for your friend. Years from now she will remember the laughter and the thoughtfulness of her friends more than she will remember fancy favors or expensive cakes.
About the Author
Jill Manty is a stay at home and co-owner of www.delightfulchild.com, an online business dedicated to providing information about baby showers, breastfeeding, and natural parenting.
This article can be reproduced in whole or in part, providing this byline is included along with a link to: http://www.delightfulchild.com/baby_shower.htm
|
|
|
|
|
| AddictingGames — Free Flash and Java Games |
| A very large collection of free Flash and Java games in numerous categories. |
| www.addictinggames.com |
|
| Yahoo! Games |
| Internet gaming community offering free multi-player games, downloadable games and games clubs. Also news, reviews, demos, ratings, and cheats. |
| games.yahoo.com |
|
| Play Free & Fun Online Games – Card, Strategy, Word & More |
| Welcome to Games.com, the best place to play free online games. Play arcade, board, word, card, and casino games, plus community gaming forums. |
| www.games.com |
|
| Miniclip Games - Play Free Games |
| Play Free Online Games, sports games, massive multiplayer games, action games, puzzle games, flash games and more. |
| www.miniclip.com |
|
| Free Games Online at Shockwave |
| Play free online games, game downloads, and multiplayer games. |
| www.shockwave.com |
|
| MSN Games - Free Online Games |
| Play the best free games, deluxe downloads, puzzle games, word and trivia games, multiplayer card and board games, action and arcade games, poker and casino ... |
| games.msn.com |
|
| Welcome to PopCap Games - Fun, Free, Addictive Games |
| PopCap Games, creators of Bejeweled, Bookworm and other addictive free online games. |
| www.popcap.com |
|
| Open Directory - Games |
| Business: Consumer Goods and Services: Toys and Games (329); Kids and Teens: Games (3638); Recreation (116762); Science: Math: Recreations: Games and ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| Orisinal : Morning Sunshine |
| Collection of Flash games, designed by Ferry Halim. |
| www.ferryhalim.com |
|
| FunBrain.com - The Internet's #1 Education Site for K-8 Kids and ... |
| FunBrain is the #1 site for online educational games for kids of all ages. (math, grammar, science, spell, history) |
| www.funbrain.com |
|
| PrimaryGames.com - The Fun Place to Learn! |
| Free educational games for elementary school students. Also offers interactive story books, musical postcards, coloring pages, and stationery. |
| www.primarygames.com |
|
| Games.net - Gaming Community, news and reviews, Video Game FAQs ... |
| Games.net delivers an immediate interactive experience to users who crave instant access to multiple levels of gaming content, including; blogs, ... |
| www.games.net |
|
| Find Free Online Games and other fun games at Pogo.com |
| Find Free Online Games, puzzle games, word games, and other games online at Pogo.com. |
| www.pogo.com |
|
| Welcome To GAME Stores Group |
| GAME The next level. Buy games from the UK's largest game retailer. |
| www.game.co.uk |
|
| Play free, fun online games - Yahoo! Kids |
| Games for kids including chess, checkers, and dominoes. |
| yahooligans.yahoo.com |
|
| Yahoo! Video Games - Video Game Demos, Cheats, Reviews, Previews ... |
| Find all the latest video game news, demos, videos, reviews, previews and cheats. Get the lowdown on the newest consoles and game releases. |
| videogames.yahoo.com |
|
| Slashdot: Games |
| In non-geek, this means that the game is finally at a point where EA ... The excellent games coverage at the San Jose Mercury News site offers up a gamers ... |
| games.slashdot.org |
|
| Kids Games |
| Descriptions and rules for dozens of traditional children's games, including indoor and outdoor activities, playground games, and jump rope rhymes. |
| www.gameskidsplay.net |
|
| Times Online - Games |
| Slim and portable. A great gift. Buy The Times Su Doku Board Game by calling 0870 160 8080 or click here to buy online ... |
| www.timesonline.co.uk |
|
| EA - Action, Fantasy, Sports, and Strategy Videogames |
| Official site. Includes game information, screenshots, and a newsletter. |
| www.ea.com |
|
|