A December "Reindeer" Birthday Party   My daughter turned 5 on December 15th, 2003.  We planned her birthday with many items.  The theme would be "The Red Nosed Reindeer". I bought the reindeer hats at the Dollar Store. We ordered crafts from Oriental Trading. We made a "Pin the nose on Santa" by using a big Santa face and placing it on a cardboard. I bought at the dollar store the little foams and taped scotch tape on the back, made a small tag with each kid's name. Each kid was blindfolded and they pinned the nose to Santa. I also made some Jingle Bells necklaces…. I bought the Jingle Bells Garlands from the Dollar tree and some golden ribbon. I tied those bells and placed a drop of super glue.  20 jingle bell necklaces cost a total of US$ 5.00! You can get those garland jingle bells at the Dollar Tree store along with the ribbon. I also ordered from Oriental Trading the jingle bell bracelets... The kids loved them. My husband who plays the keyboard and sings, and who has his equipment (microphone, speaker, etc) along with my 10 year old daughter participated as the party entertainment. They played Christmas songs during the party. When the kids arrived, we painted their nose red as a Reindeer, gave them their Reindeer head bands (for the boys, small Santa hats), put them their jingle bell bracelets and necklaces. While the other kids were arriving they started singing some of the Xmas songs.  Then we moved to the living room, where it was set up for a Xmas Craft to do (from Oriental trading... A door knob holder). The kids really enjoyed doing the craft. After that, we played Pin the Nose on Santa and gave the winner a Candy cane.   We also played "Musical Gifts", an idea I got from one of the ideas in this site. The kids really enjoyed opening each box and getting a chocolate… They wanted to play it several times. After that, we starting singing some Xmas songs and the kids joined in (they really loved using the microphone). You could see a couple of the kids trying to put the microphone closer to their mouth…  Each one felt like a Star!!! Of course we were video taping them and taking pictures…. The best song was "Jingle Bells" to which each kid shaked their Jingle Bell bracelets while singing the song!!   We then sang Happy Birthday had cake, opened presents... and continued with the Xmas songs... the kids came back to my husband and asked if he could play and they could sing in the Microphone. The goody Bags consisted of several items I ordered from Oriental trading, and a Xmas Coloring book (from Dollar Tree). If you plan this in advance, it would not be too costly. I start usually to plan and order the goodies from October. This way it does not get expensive at the end. I would estimate that the total amount spent was in the range of 150.00…  It sure beats a Chucky Cheese or other that would cost the same but having it at home it gives it a warm and personalized treatment to the guests and something different than the regular birthday places. Everybody left happy and the kids were very happy because they left with their hands full. We also took a picture of each "reindeer" and used it as a Thank you card mailed to each kid. We received many compliments from the parents amazed by the organization and how the kids were "quiet" during the Craft times!!!!   This year I am already planning to do the same as my daughter turns 6. I am thinking of doing a Frosty Birthday party with snowflakes etc., or maybe a "Summer Luau party" in December!!!    I am starting to look at the Oriental trading magazine and making my selections and start checking out the Dollar stores….  It is a lot of work but it is worth it as you know the kids will have a lot of fun!!!