Pool Party Birthday Favors

Last week my little baby turned 3.  Three!  I still can't believe how fast time flies.

To celebrate, we decided to invite some of her closest friends to the town pool for an afternoon of swimming, pizza and ice cream.  Nothing big....I'm a fan of small, quaint and personal.

Including my two, there were a total of 6 children - the perfect number for making some personalized, theme-based favors (of which I am a fan of as well).  Since I already used up my toy roll idea for my older daughter last year, I needed to think of something else.  My initial thought was to get some sand buckets and fill them with summer stuff (goggles, dive sticks, freeze pops, etc) and write their name on the bucket.  This idea was squashed when I realized that all the stores have replaced their summer stock with back to school paraphernalia.  Oh well....

As I wandered around the store wondering what I was going to be able to pull off, I walked past the linens and it hit me......PERSONALIZED TOWELS!  Yeah!  What child doesn't love to see their name on something and perfect for a pool party, right?

So I snatched up some colorful bath towels and continued on my way only to find these bright jump ropes on sale.  LIGHT BULB!

What better way to wrap up the towel?

The best part....the total for all six of the favors came to under $30 and let me use up some of my scrap stash.  It did take me some time to make all of these - but I think it was worth it, and I know the parents appreciated the usefulness of the gift.

Oh, and another money-saving tip for those of you who embroider.....when doing something like this, there is no need to spend the extra money on those expensive water soluble toppers.  I used some GLAD Press'n Seal left over from Christmas.  Just place it on the towel before stitching (if doing applique, remove it from the inside of the applique shape before putting on the fabric layer).

Stitch and remove - it peels off quite easily and keeps your stitching from sinking into the pile of the towel just as nicely as the expensive stuff......try it!

There you have it!  Another affordable, useful gift idea!