"It's Your Birthday. We gon' party like it's yo birthday!" ~50 Cent Still love that hip hop classic! Anyway, it is my birthday today. Now, besides that, as I have said before I would much rather give than receive. I absolutely LOVE celebrating birthdays of friends and family. It is so great to be able to make the day special for them. I am sure we all have some very memorable birthdays and some we would like to forget... Here are some thoughtful birthday ideas for those you love that won't break the bank but will make the recipient feel special knowing the meaning and love you put behind it. 1. LIST of Why we LOVE Them This is my actual list I gave to my father last year on his 70th Birthday. I got the idea from one of my sweet sons, who, a few years ago, gave me a jar filled with 40 pieces of paper on why he loved me. It is one of my most cherished gifts. I sent this to my dad and he said it touched his heart. If you are having a party for your loved one, perhaps you could read it out loud. Many people love going down memory lane and this is a special way to capture the way you look at your loved one. 2. BALLOONS, BALLOONS, BALLOONS Why your child is sleeping, carefully fill their room with helium balloons, so this is what they wake up to! or I Love this one... On a wall close to where they will see it when they awake, put cash or coins into several balloons and blow them up. Tape to a wall or pin to a large, long piece of cork board. Imagine the delight of popping all of those!! 3. BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST Many people plan a special dinner or go out to a Birthday lunch. I think it is neat to have a special breakfast ready. What kid or adult, for that matter wouldn't LOVE any of these creative and cute breakfasts? Start their day off in a fun way and it sets the tone for the whole Birthday Day!! 4. SMALL TOKENS I love the idea of just something small for kids, spouses, teachers, friends, neighbors or co-workers. I especially like gathering a few things to make a "Container" Gift. The little tin buckets you see at Target in the $1 bins or at Dollar and craft stores are perfect for this and Don't cha just love the tag saying "Hope Your Birthday is Buckets of Fun!" I also like to re-purpose mason jars or washed jelly jars. Remove the label with goo gone, clean well and Wha-La, you have a container for your little gifts. For the Party in a Jar for a boy, put candy, a Hostess Cupcake, balloons, blow horns, coins, markers, small toys and cars. For girls, how about nail polish, stickers, socks, jewelry...the possibilities are endless. How about the last one. Hair ties in a jar entitled "I'm HAIR for you anytime" This could work for more occasions than Birthdays! Pics from a "few" years ago. A surprise Birthday party my mom threw for me. Loved the red shoe on top of that cake. The cake was cute but my mom will tell you too, it sucked! Worst tasting cake ever!! Sorry, cake lady. Now I am hungry, time to dig into some "Good" cake, my mom's key-lime Birthday pie, and down an egg roll and friend rice! May your next Birthday be as special as YOU are!! xoxo "The way I see it, you should live everyday like it's your birthday." ~Paris Hilton