..and the last installment of the long overdue supplier ratings.
Part of the reasons why I’m postponing to finalize is that I’m thinking to which blog will I post it. The web hosting of my Mommy Blog is under server maintenance right now so I might as well do it here. Besides, it’s here where I started it.
Check out the previous parts here: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
My DIY projects:
Rating: 10++++
1. Jungle Safari Themed Invitation
Digital Kit: Sweet Safari Kit by Misty Cato (from Sweet Shoppe Designs)
Software used: Photoshop CS2
Invite Photo Printer: Artscow
I have to be biased and give it a perfect 10 because it was me who conceptualized and designed the invitation and the husband who drew the jungle-lific map. Aside from the remarkable savings that we got from this party detail. It’s been a while (as in months due to busy mommy schedule and online works) since I last touched my digi kits but glad that my creative juices came up with such a simple yet cute invite. May personal touch kumbaga. Thanks to Aggie for the kit referral. I was able to use this kit in all of my DIY projects for uniformity. It has the perfect soft blue and brown colors that I exactly wanted for the invites, guest sheets, thank you sticker, name tags, chocolate bar wrapper, table name labels and tarpaulin – the things that I DIY’ed. Cost wise, this is one of the details where we saved a lot since I availed the monthly promo of free 50 pcs 5R printing at Artscow so it was just the shipping cost of $7.99 (roughly about Php 384 or Php 7.68 each copy) that I paid for. Yes, a lot cheaper compared to that of Digiprint’s or Kodak’s. I think their 5R prints cost Php 13 each. The husband drew the map with jungle landmarks on a parchment paper and burned the sides a bit for an added effect. We sealed the envelopes (bought at National Bookstore) using the animal stickers which comes in pads (at Php 8/pad) that were bought at Divisoria.
**Regarding Artscow, be sure to sign up now to avail 1200 free prints credits, 3 pcs of 8″x8″ photo books & other great photo gifts credits. Yes free, so it’s just the shipping fee that you’re going to pay for. Artscow’s lab is based in Hong Kong but yes they do ship internationally. They accept credit card and paypal payments. Depending on your postal office, the parcels are sometimes delivered straight to your house but in my case, I always get mine from Makati Central Post Office upon receipt of a parcel notice from them. Parcel fee costs Php 35/package and since these are just photo prints and won’t be for commercial use, there no more customs taxes and duties will be further collected.
2. Thank You Card
– printed on a paper sticker with 2″x2″ dimension
3. Tarpaulin
Printer: Arkigrafix
Address: Quezon Ave (in front of National Bookstore-Crossings), QC
Tel No: 3765693
I initially wanted a styro backdrop but decided to digiscrap my own tarp when I came to know about the whopping rental price of a styro one. I made a layout with a dimension of 84 in x 144 in at 100 dpi to come up proportionately with a 7 ft x 12 ft printed tarpaulin. The printing costs Php 25/sq ft and the tarp was ready for pick up after 2 business days. For the welcome banner on the other hand, I had it printed at 1.5 ft x 3 ft. The tarp material and printing quality are nice and worth the price.
4. Table Name Labels
To add some more jungle safari effect on the party, I scoured the internet for 15 safari and african related words for the table name labels. I came up with: Mt Kilimanjaro, Lion’s Den, Leopard’s Lair, Savannah, Elephant Rock, Samburu Tribe, Boran Tribe (got it from Survivor Africa), Watering Hole, Zambezi River, Hippo Pool, Fox’s Burrow, Jungle Lagoon, Grassland, Wildlife Preserve and Native Guides. These were printed on a special paper (sorry forgot the gsm) and Jacque just stuck them on the balloon centerpieces.
5. Chocolate Bar Wrapper
Choclittalk could actually design the wrapper but again since I prefer that there should be consistency on the print works, I designed the cover and even the nutrition facts myself. Forwarded it to Rico and the rest (formatting on their template for printing and packaging) were done by them.
Giveaways, Loot Bags and Prizes
Bought from the following:
Oriental Trading (animal party bags, safari visors, animal masks, animal stamps, safari print fans, animal notepads with googly eyes, jungle print pencils)
Toy Kingdom (animal foam capsules)
SM Baby Company (bath toys, face towels, animal ring teethers)
Goodwill Bookstore (animal books and workbooks, crayons)
Mercury Drugstore (cotton buds, baby oil)
Divisoria Mall (animal stickers, safari sunglasses, animal keychains, tiger skate sharpener, various animal plushes, coasters, tin cans, etc)
I purchased almost all of the stuffs from Divisoria – the party supplies haven in the metro. But since I couldn’t find some more jungle-themed stuffs, I bought some more from Oriental Trading (OT). Since OT doesn’t ship internationally, I asked a US-based friend (thanks Chris) to shop for me and ship my ordered stuffs to me through LBC. I bet you would likewise agree with me that OT has the best, cutest and unique themed party supplies and stuffs. The fact that the pricing isn’t that costly is also a plus. Chris also added some tootsie roll candies for the loot bags to maximize the LBC shipping box allowable weight.
Other Decors:
Safari Print Balloons – Oriental Trading
Monkey and Frog Plushes – Divisoria Mall (at Php 35/plush)
Animal Mylar Balloons – c/o Jacque
Thanks to Glo for ordering the safari print balloons at Oriental Trading for me. I would have ordered these from a local multiply seller but upon the computation of cost with shipping and all, ordering 50 pcs of these from OT turned out to be cheaper still. These balloons were nicely made by Partyboosters into topiary balls and were one of those that were rowdily snagged by the guests even before the program came to the last part. The croaking frog and monkey plushes were bought from Divisoria Mall. I ordered a few animal mylar balloons from Ebay but unfortunately, they arrived late. Days before the party, I ordered a few from Jacque to make up for the undelivered ones. So if you or if you know someone who’ll be having a jungle safari themed party, I still have with me the unused animal mylar balloons (8 pcs total – 2 of each animal shown below) that were bought from Ebay and I’m selling them at a much lower price just so they will be disposed already.
(30 inch LION, 30 inch ZEBRA, 30 inch ELEPHANT, 26 INCH MONKEY – all double sided, self sealing re-usable mylar balloons – Php 275 each. A local multiply seller sells it at Php 365 each) –SOLD
Jungle Safari Costume
Asher’s hunter costume: Spin and Florsheim
Mommy’s Safari Dress: from Ebay
Daddy’s cargo pants: SM
Mommy and Daddy’s Hunter Hats: Divisoria
Asher was gifted with a khaki polo and shorts for the party and he dressed up ala-Kuya Kim Atienza or hunter style. He also has a khaki hat but he refused to wear it. For the shoes, we bought a pair of brown sneakers from Florsheim which I love to bits because it’s soft, comfy and easy to wear on him.
Again, thanks to everyone (guests, families, friends and suppliers) who made Asher’s first birthday a very special and memorable one. We hope that you enjoyed the party as much as we (Paul, Asher and I) did.
