Description: Gift ideas for children's birthday parties.

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Are your kids invited to numerous birthday parties throughout the year? Buying a gift, paper to wrap it in, ribbon and a bow, plus a card every time can get expensive and tiresome, can't it!

Through the years I have discovered some easy ways to save money and time and always be prepared for those invitations.

My three children are older now, but when they were young, it seemed as if one of them was invited to a friend's birthday party almost every week! Usually the invitations didn't arrive until 1 or 2 days before the party. I got really fed up with running to the store in our small town and trying to find an appropriate gift on short notice.

I realized the first thing I needed to do was to get organized. So I set aside a box in the hall closet and started to fill it with gift items suitable for children around my children's ages.

Each time I went to the discount or dollar store, I looked at the clearance sales; especially after Christmas. I tried to keep at least one gift for each child on hand at all times.

I love to make things and I was always on the lookout for anything I could craft that kids would like. One item I came across that the kids really liked was gift jars. I would fill a pint or quart jar (reused mayo or pizza sauce jars) with small items. Some of the things I used were pens, erasers, notepads, small cars, toy soldiers, hair ribbons, stickers. Anything I found that would fit. I would often buy in bulk and divide the items into several jars.

Children love anything with their name on it, so I would paint their name on the side of the jar or cross-stitch it onto a cover for the lid. Then all I had to do was add a bow and there's a great gift!

Little girls always enjoy receiving more clothes for their Barbie dolls. If you sew, you can make gifts your daughter's friends will love from your scraps of fabric and lace. And the clothes you make are usually much better quality than the ones you pay premium prices for in the store.

One last secret to giving great birthday gifts is: remember that children love to open a package! Just taking tissue out of a gift bag is not the same!

But wrapping a package doesn't have to break the bank either. At garage sales, always look for anything that can be used to wrap gifts--wallpaper, drawer liner, just use your imagination!

Dollar stores are a great place to pick up inexpensive wrapping paper in a pinch. The flat, folded kind is cheaper than buying it on a roll, just cover the creases with ribbon. Kids aren't going to take time to notice, anyway!

Even an inexpensive gift will bring raves from the birthday boy or girl when it's wrapped imaginatively. Tie a lollipop on top or write their name in glitter. Use your imagination and get creative!

Your children will love it when the gift they bring is the hit of the party!

Cyndi Roberts is the editor of the "1 Frugal Friend 2 Another" bi-weekly newsletter, bring you creative, practical tips to help you "live the good life"... on a budget! Visit the "1 Frugal Friend 2 Another" website at http://www.cynroberts.com.

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