11/12/2022 1 Comment Elf on a Shelf balloon arrivalsOur elves will soon make the long voyage back into our homes and what better way to welcome them back in a magical way than with our balloons! We are offering two options this year- a hot air balloon that your elf can sit right down in or a snow globe option that proves your elf's magical powers by floating inside!
Both balloon options can be personalized with the text shown here. Choose your children's names or your family's name. When selecting the snow globe option, we must receive your elf in advance to place inside. This option can also accommodate more than one elf! Please note that we are trying to figure out if we can place your elf inside the balloon at time of pick up for the snow globe option. We have scheduled the dates of for pickup as we know many elves return the day after Thanksgiving or December 1st. More dates may be added and we will add additional locations based on the need of our customer locations. *Pickup at our balloon studio in Lawrence near Fort Harrison is available by appointment anytime!* The following locations we currently have scheduled are: *Greenfield- Sugar Rush on Main (Main St. and SR 9) *Greenwood- Bella Rose Designs (135 and County Line Rd) *NE Indy- Living in the Moment Event Center (71st and Binford) *Fishers/Noblesville- TBD *Carmel- TBD More locations will be added if needed. Please reach out with any further questions you may have as we work through the logistical details. We may have to limit how many orders we accept based on the demand! We look forward to helping make your holiday season magical! You can order your elf balloon on our website here, http://www.onceuponapartyindy.com/gifts.html
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10/21/2021 0 Comments Balloons to make your party POP!**This article contains affiliate links It's no secret that a party just isn't a party without BALLOONS! Whether used as decoration or for play, they really set the mood. And with so many options for birthday themes, there really is a balloon for every one of them! Balloon decor has quickly become one of our most desired services, but many families choose to "DIY" because with balloons, it's hard to go wrong! And kids just want to play with them anyway! So here are a couple tips from the pros! GarlandsBalloon Garlands our number one requested item. Can you DIY these? Yes. Will it look like the displays we create for our clients? No, probably not. You can buy a balloon garland kit from most big box or party stores, or online from many retailers. They come with a plastic strip perforated with holes for you to tuck the balloons into, creating one long strip of balloons. That is not how we construct ours in order to achieve this full and dimensional effect as pictured here. Many pictures you see online of kits you can purchase are "embellished" if I'm putting it nicely. They may show more than what it is actually included in the kit and are styled by professionals to make for a great shot so you buy them! Marketing 101, right? However, that many times leads to disappointment. Just keep a realistic expectation when doing it yourself! Bouquets and Centerpieces
Helium Tricky thing, helium. Most don't realize that it is a dying resource and will cease to exist in as soon as 30 years from now! It is very much needed in the medical field with tasks such operating MRI scanners (way too involved for me to explain!). OUAP made the decision from the beginning to not use helium in our displays due to this fact. Many parents have had to experience the panic of running to the local party store just to hear "we are out of helium". Yep, it's a thing. Then, they resort to the overpriced tanks found on the shelves of most stores that contain a lower grade of helium so you get about 8 balloons that float for a couple hours. Just skip this purchase. Find an alternative way to display your balloons creatively! No judgement- I bought that pink tank MANY times! Pinterest and YouTube have made our creative dreams possible so put them to good use if you want to make your child's party magical! Will it be perfect? Maybe not by social media standards, but your child will think so! And if you just don't want to even think about it, that's why we are here! And there are several businesses just like ours across the globe in every town! Give it a shot, and if it's too much to do next time, call us!
Hosting a birthday party for your child can quickly become overwhelming and time consuming, not to mention expensive! In our 10 years of being in business, we have seen it all. From backyard parties with just cake, ice cream, and a couple games, to a 1st birthday that easily cost five grand (yes, I'm serious and probably underestimating), there is always 1 thing they have in common- the kids have FUN. Here are some of the most important points to consider based on what the last 10 years have shown us.
3/19/2021 0 Comments A visit to the Tie Dye Lab in AvonJust west of Indy down Rockville Road in Avon is a little creative gem called The Tie Dye Lab. You can pop in and create your own wearable work of art with friends and family, young or old! The TDL is a member of Indiana Originals like we are, so I saw a posting about a particular workshop they were hosting for this particular style that I thought might interest my 14 year old son. For those with teens, you know how rare an opportunity this is so I jumped on it when he said yes! We easily reserved our spot online, selected our size shirts, and even selected our colors from their color guide online so that our station was all set up for us when we arrived. We were able to add a couple more colors when we started as well so they are flexible with that! To get started, one of their many employees came to walk us through the process. Now, being a DIY-er at heart I do wish that we got to be a part of the process more. They provided thorough instruction sheets with photos, but our helper informed us she would be tying our shirts up for us. She followed the pattern for the style we were doing, the "blackhole" design, and wrapped our shirts with several rubber bands. She then instructed us to lay our wrapped shirts across the grates and generously apply the dye as she had instructed us. TDL provided plastic gloves and aprons so this process really wasn't too messy! Once that step was complete, they took them for us so the dye could set about 15 minutes, cleaned up our area, and offered us a game to play while we waited! (We chose UNO, and I lost bad). Once the dye had time to set, they called us over to rinse the excess dye out of our shirts in their big sinks. It took just a couple minutes and then she ran them through a ringer to squeeze out the excess moisture (my son says he wishes he could have done that part!). And that's it! The shirts are still wet and need to be washed at home with their special detergent they give you within a couple of hours, so they put them in a plastic bag and send you on your way! Once they are washed, the colors are more safely set for future washings. You do not need a reservation if you have less than 8 in your group. They are recommended for 8+.and YES, you can book a birthday party with them! For all the info, visit www.thetiedyelab.com! It is 2021, and even though Valentines Day technically falls on a weekend this year, many people will opt to stay in or celebrate in a less traditional way this year. I took a brief survey, if you will, on my social media page asking friends how they typically celebrate this day set aside for love, if they even do at all! The overall consensus was that most give a small gift to their immediate family- spouse, children, grandchildren. Chocolates, candies, stuffed toys, and such were the most popular mentioned. When asked about valentines sent to school, everyone agreed the inexpensive, ready made cards from the store are still their preferred way to go. Another easy option is the printable downloads you can find online and print at home. I discovered years ago that going out to eat on Valentines Day is just too "people-y" for me and I just don't find waiting over an hour (even WITH a reservation!!) to be romantic! So here are my suggestions for taking it easy this year (and staying healthy!). 1. Enjoy dinner in. Each year I make something special in a heart shaped pan, like meatloaf or brownies! Last year, I took our favorite food items from our favorite restaurants and recreated them! It was a labor of love but it was AMAZING! (it was the Gorgonberry Pecan salad from Bru Burger, baked spaghetti because it is my son's favorite in general, followed by the Macadamia Nut Brownie with vanilla ice cream from Bonefish Grill...mmmmmm!). I know many that are planning to do takeout or Doordash, but I imagine the wait will be extreme! 2. Exchange simple gifts- homemade cards and gifts from children are such treasures! Trust me, as the mother of a 23 year old son, TRUST. ME. One year I even told my not-very-romantic-husband that I would be happy if he just wrote "I Love You" on a piece of paper for me! He did. And I still have it! He even drew it in a heart for me. Swoon. This is also a great opportunity to support small businesses in your community. Ask on Facebook if you aren't familiar with any, you'd be surprised what is out there! Here is a list of a few of our faves here in Indy: Once Upon A Party (duh!)- we are offering several options including cookie gift sets and balloon bouquets Send a Friend Lasagna- This will take care of dinner and dessert as they are partnering with Circle City Sweets! Indiana Gifts- a variety of locally sourced gifts, and there is truly something for everyone! Etsy also has a search function that allows you to search for products made in your own state! 3. Try something new- who says Valentines Day requires dinner and chocolate? With it falling on a Sunday, consider brunch at a local eatery instead. Head to your favorite coffee shop in your neighborhood. Enjoy a daytime activity (outdoors if it is bearable!).
4. DIY- but get inspiration from others, don't reinvent the wheel! Our group over on Facebook, OUAP Family Fun Finders, is intended to provide you with DIY tips and tricks for entertaining! Here is a nice article as well with some fun ideas from another blogger, "Let Me Give You Some Advice". Simply put, use this day as an excuse to pause and show affection for the ones you care about most, while supporting some other local families around you so you can show them some LOVE this year as well! Have any other ideas to share with us? Drop a comment for our readers! XOXO, Shauna |
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