Party Sprite - Everything Party!

We have been thinking about running a competition for some time and this one is definately worth the wait.  For your chance to win a standard balloon in a box for whatever occasion you would like, just answer the question below.  The first person with the correct answer drawn from the hat after the closing date is the winner.

Question : How much are our “personalised day you were…. prints” (before postage)?

Send your answers to us here at Party Sprite before the closing date of 1/7/09 for your chance to win!  (Hint - the answer can be found on our website!)

We are very excited this week to be able to announce that Coochie Cou, an offshoot of The Dales Party Company Ltd, has finally booked its first baby fair, on 28th November 2009 in Northallerton.  Some of you may know this is something we have been planning for a while now, but it has been pushed to the backburner more times than I have had hot dinners.  We are really excited (if not a little anxious!) and plans are well underway to bring the best of North Yorkshire’s baby related businesses to the event.  We will have a room for demonstrations with local classes and a baby massage expert planned.  We will also have a face painter for the older children, and lots of christmas gift ideas for mums to be, mums and kids.

For anyone wanting to know more or to book a table/demonstration please visit the website.

We have been thinking for a while it would be nice to reward our regular readers with a competition.  Who doesn’t love to win a prize?  We are just working on the details so watch this space.

In the meantime we are in full planning mode for Coventry Baby Fair on 7th June.  Following our recent attendance at Hull Baby Fair we have got some ideas which we are working on to make the next event even better.  If you are in the area please pop in to say hi.  We got a lot of customer feedback on our stock range from the Hull event, and we are currently working on including christening tableware and balloons as well as our non licensed party supplies.  New ranges coming in the near future are a cute horse theme and space themed party supplies, both sure to be very popular.

Don’t forget, competition details coming soon so keep reading!

We are pleased to be exhibiting at the Hull Baby Fair on Saturday, and so this week we are busy preparing stock, designing our stand, and working out what freebies to bring along for all the visitors.  If you are going to be in the area please pop in, and let us know that you read it on our blog.

All the work for the baby fair doesn’t leave us much time for anything else.  We have the new designs for old favourites Thomas, Dora and Bob the Builder on order, they will be added to the site when the stock arrives.  Handy Manny party supplies are still selling well, with Hannah Montana party supplies coming in a close second last week.

Don’t forget that every order through the site sees 10% go to Zoe’s Place - Middlesbrough, our chosen charity for 2009/10.  If you want to donate directly to this worthy charity please visit our justgiving widget on our blog.

It’s been a little while since I have blogged so am making the most of my child free time to keep all my customers up to date with what’s happening at Party Sprite.  The warm weather has started us looking to lazy summer days filled with barbeques and picnics, so we are bringing in more of our plain partyware and some special ranges for summer.

If you will be celebrating a childs birthday during the summer then take a look at our licensed party supplies, the top seller is still Handy Manny but other ranges including Barbie Fairytopia and Dora are starting to sell well too.  Don’t forget we have a new Dora range coming in May along with other faves such as Bob the Builder.

We are still looking for hints and tips for our party ideas page, please get in touch if you have anything that has saved your day or helped you save money.  All tips featured will earn you a little thank you from Party Sprite.

I hope you have a lovely summer and make the most of the nicer weather, we will be adding our summer party ranges over the next few weeks.

Cari xx

Wow, what a month we are having!  Our easter sale is going really well, with orders flooding in.  If you haven’t had time to look yet please do, we have massive savings on all the popular ranges but the sale is ending 19th April.

Our delivery due in tomorrow has more Handy Manny partyware for all your little fans.  This has been our best seller for April so far, with Dora the Explorer and In the Night Garden coming a close second and third.  Thomas is still proving popular with the boys and with the new range due out next month we expect it will continue to be a popular choice.

May also sees Dora, Diego, and Bob the Builder getting a face lift.  The new designs are sure to make these ranges fly out of our stock room.  We will also be adding to our ranges with the new Mr Men partyware and old favourites, Tinkerbell and Winnie the Pooh.

Don’t forget we are looking for party hints and tips for our blog, anyone with a suggestion please get in touch, if your tip gets featured then we will send you a little thank you.

Hi all, things are getting interesting at Party Sprite, we have new party supplies added to the site with more to come, and we have launched our first survey into what parents think about children’s parties  Click Here to take survey

Easter isn’t far away now, and with sales of our lovely Easter balloons going well and keeping me busy I also have my daughters birthday to organise.  It does help having a stock room full of lovely party supplies to buy from, but there are still all the presents, cake and fun to arrange.  If you are still looking for alternatives to Easter eggs we have more ideas for you coming next week.

Have you worked out what you are going to do with your children for the Easter holidays?  It can be so tricky to keep them as occupied as they are at school, and I often find myself tearing my hair out trying to come up with different ideas to fill each day.  To help parents and carers up and down the country I will be adding links to sites with ideas and resources for the next two weeks, so please come back soon.

After much soul searching I have finally chosen the charity we are going to support for this year. As some of you may know, each year we select a charity close to our hearts, set up a justgiving page, and then donate a percentage of sales through the website to the cause. We also welcome personal donations too, so don’t worry if you aren’t a customer.

This year I have chosen Zoe’s Place - Middlesbrough for our charity.

Zoe’s Place is a home from home for babies/infants who have life limiting illnesses, terminal, special and complex needs. Zoe’s Place offers palliative and respite care for infants from birth to five years old. We receive very little government funding and rely on members of the public, companies and organisations to raise the £800,000 it costs each year to run Zoe’s Place.
Charity Registration No 1092545

It is always tough to choose only one charity, there are so many who need our help. Our donations will be made from sales up till the end of March 2010 and we will be doing all we can to smash the target of £250 we have set. To help us with our target please visit our fundraising page.

Our children get spoilt, especially at Easter.  They haven’t yet finished eating their selection boxes from Christmas so the last thing I want them to have is a pile of chocolate eggs.  In the interests of helping parents up and down the country avoid the chocolate overdose this easter I have been seeking out alternative gift ideas that the children will love just as much.

First up is our very own helium Easter balloon in a box.  Popular with my own children these are sure to be a hit with yours too.  When inflated these balloons typically stay afloat for two weeks, many lasting longer.  Your balloon will be placed inside a balloon box lined with tissue paper, and we sprinkle confetti inside and add some small chocs, party poppers/blowouts to your gift.  The box is wrapped with coordinating ribbon and bows.

We also recommend this Easter Activity book from Usborne.  This pocket sized book is bursting with creative and imaginative activities specially designed for Easter.  Order safely online through our Usborne site Books4babes2teens (you can also peek at the other Easter titles).

This Orchard Toys Doodlebugs game from Littlesheep Learning is a fun and exciting way to learn about colours and matching. A simple but very exciting game to match colour, or quirky ‘doodlebug’ character cards to the last card played. Players can see each other’s cards, so older players will be able to play more tactically.  Use Partysprite09 at checkout for a 10% saving.
Age: 3+, Players: 2-4

What a fantastic alternative to a chocolate egg! This is a more traditional version of the popular egg shakers, from Spiralling, these eggs are crafted from wood. They fit nicely in the hand and give a gentle scratchy rattle sound.

If you like the shaker egg, why not combine that or some small chocolate eggs with one of the fantastic Charlie and Lola mugs from Juicy Tots.  With 6 designs in the Charlie and Lola range and others including Nut Brown Hare there is a mug for any child.

Another book we think is great is Matty Boy and the Secret Pigeon Racket.  A fun book about Matt, who has to cope with moving to a new house to live with foster parents and a new school where he draws the attention of the local bully.  With the help of a talking pigeon he deals with bullying, making friends, family and loss.  Each sale donates 50p to Bullying UK and books go on sale 3rd April.

One for the youngsters now!  This cute huggable sleepytot bunny is not only soft and cuddly, it also helps keep your babys comforter or teether to hand and is even machine washable!  I certainly would have found this useful when my girls were babies.
Comes in a reusable gift bag.
Free p & p for Easter.

For a gift with a difference take a look at the gorgeous handmade personalised gifts from Samigail Gifts.  They offer a uniquely flexible service so your gift is made to your own specifications.

I hope that has given you some ideas for all your Easter gifts, and that you have a happy holiday.

Just a quick nudge to remind you all that Mothers Day gifts are still available from Party Sprite. In case we don’t have what you were looking for, here are some other gift sites with items we think are fab!

If you want to treat your mum to a pampering experience but don’t have the cash for a spa treatment, then take a look at Frutti Frenzi. They have a lovely range of bath goodies, soaps and gift sets to spoil any mum.

One of our personal favourites, give a gift to last a lifetime. These personalised plaques from Precious Parcels are gorgeous, and with a message to make any mum smile will have pride of place.

These beautiful mugs are just some of the gifts available from Juicy Tots. We particularly like the Ten Biscuits Mug featuring Charlie (from Charlie and Lola).

Does your mum like to be well groomed?  Then take a look at these lovely products from Best Hair Brands.  Our faves are the pink GHD’s!

For a more traditional gift, why not send some lovely flowers?  These are from Flowers Direct, but we also love Arena Flowers.  They both have bouquets to suit any budget so you should find something both your mum and your bank balance will love!