Nobbies Graduation Fair 2011

Graduation.  The thought brings a sense of pride, a tear to your eye and a sense of relief to most parents!  You have watched your children work most of their lives to reach this goal and you have been at their side the whole time helping them with homework, watching their successes and helping them through challenges.  But now the time has come to celebrate the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.  Graduation is usually the biggest party you’ll throw for them, aside for their wedding!

Please join us Saturday, April 2 from noon to 3pm for Nobbies Annual Graduation Fair. We will have over 15 local vendors to help you plan the most memorable graduation celebration your friends and family have ever seen. We will offer special drawings and giveaways throughout the day and entertainment will be provided by The Party Zone.

Nobbies offers just about everything you need to host a party under one roof…from invitations, to custom napkin imprinting, to balloons, party décor, party supplies, custom banners and more!  Our full line of solid color tableware comes in a full array of colors to match your child’s school colors to keep the school spirit alive.

Need ideas or tips on how to throw the ULTIMATE graduation party? Then come into the Grad Fair on April 2 or call one of our 3 locations and talk to one of our party experts!

Nobbies – Your ULTIMATE Graduation Superstore!

Nobbies Bridal Show 2011

With the wedding season upon us, Nobbies is excited to help you plan your once in a lifetime experience. Planning your wedding can be very time consuming and overwhelming, let us help you through this planning process.

Please join us on Sunday, March 6^th from 11-3 for Nobbies Annual Wedding Show. We will have a $500 treasure chest giveaway and other wedding prize drawings throughout the day. Other vendors will be available to discuss their services for your special day.

We offer invitations, which are 25% off everyday, and accessories including flower girl baskets, ring bearer pillows, guest books, garters, imprinted napkins, and banners. We also have an exquisite selection of glassware, candles and centerpiece items to complete your reception tables. Our full line of tableware would compliment your bridal shower or reception.

We hope to see you on Sunday, March 6^th. If your are unable to attend our Wedding Show, please feel free to call us at 402-333-6300 in Omaha or 515-457-7100 in Clive with any questions you may have about your wedding or to set up a consultation appointment.

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A $500 PRIZE!

The first 100 brides to arrive will receive a key to Nobbies Bridal Treasure Chest. Your key could be the winner.

Local Vendors Attending in Omaha:

Party Zone
BeautiControl - Shelly Keene - Independent BeautiControl Consultant
Captain Video and the Johnny O' Show

Celebrate Catering

Durham Museum Hall

Enchanted Honeymoon

Lesley Knox Photography
Nebraska Party Bus

Pampered Chef

Say Cheez Photo Booth
Showtime Music

Silpada Jewelry

Simply Elegant Cakes
Scott Papek Photography 
Tip Top Tux

Wellness Pointe Chiropractic

Local Vendors Attending in Clive:

Adventureland Inn

A Special Event -  DJ and Photo booth
Bridal Connection
Cake me I’m Yours

Contemporary Catering

Gardens of the Heart & Scentsy Candles

Italian Villages Catering

Pampered Chef

Plaza Florist

PR Party Lines

Stam Chocolaterie
Stella and Dot Jewelry
Todd Hugen Photography

Travel and Transport

Urbandale Hy-Vee
Vision of Beauty

Nobbies online:

NobbiesParties.com

NobbiesWeddings.com

Facebook.com/Nobbies

Twitter.com/NobbiesParties (@NobbiesParties)

Intimate Valentine’s Surprise

Want to do something extra sweet for that someone special? How about a surprise romantic dinner for two?
You’ll have to be sneaky if you want it to be a surprise, so get everything going while they are at work or do something nice for them to get them out of the house for a few hours the day of your surprise. (ie: Buy them a massage, send her to get her nails or hair done, let them sleep in and make a surprise breakfast.)

1-2 Days before:

• Plan out the menu and purchase groceries.
• If there is any food you can prep ahead of time, you should. You want to allow the most amount of time together that day as possible.
• Shop at Nobbies for all of your Valentine’s decorations! Don’t forget to check out all the great Love themed balloon bouquets we sell.

The Day of:

• Start food right away, try to plan so that dinner is ready just as they are getting home.
• Set a table with 2 place settings. If you are using flowers or a centerpiece, think about sitting next to one other so your view of each other isn’t obstructed.
• Starting where they will be coming in, place luminaries, Hershey’s kisses, or flower petals leading to your romantic table set for two. Place a few around the table like confetti or spell something out to tie it all together. If you got them a gift, wrap it nicely and use that as your center piece or write a sweet letter and have that folded and waiting on the table for them.
• Have something special to play during dinner, like the song you danced together for your wedding, or the movie you saw on your first date.

Decoration ideas:

• Red table cloth with a different colored runner.
• Balloon bouquets! (All in town deliveries on Valentine’s Day are free if you order by February 12th, 2011)
• Pictures of the two of you for a nice personal touch.
• Use candles around the room, try to avoid scented candles on the dinner table though.
• Rose petals, real or fake add a romantic touch to your setting.

Food Ideas:

• Go with a picnic theme to keep things simple! You may even skip on the table and set a blanket on the floor in the living room instead.
• Sugar cookies cut into cute shapes with sweet sayings or nicknames written on them.

Stay tuned: Recipe for Chocolate Covered Strawberries coming soon!

New Year's Eve Party Planning Guide

Nobbies can guide you in planning your next New Year's Eve Party. Just follow our unique guide to have an exciting adventure. Fun for all ages. 


Invitations
Invitations are a great way to reflect the spirit and theme of your party. NobbiesParties.com offers many different approaches to invitations. Store bought or hand-made. Choose from a variety of pre-made invitations to coordinate with your theme. 


Hand-Made Invitation Suggestions:
Create your own invites on card stock and put a clip art picture of a clock, father time, or baby new year on them. Type all your important information and then fill the envelope with confetti, so they will start to get exited about the party. 


New Years Party Attire:

• Top Hats
• 2008 Glasses
• Mardi Gras Beads
• Tiaras
• Light up earrings
• Light up lampshade hat
• New years necklaces
• Glitter hairspray
• Glitter make-up/eyelashes
• Tinsel wigs

New Year's Eve Decorations
Cover the walls of the party area with scene setters. They will transform a whole room in seconds. Put black cloths on your tables and then spill silver confetti or hersey kisses candy around serving dishes. Tie the cloths to table legs with silver ribbon. Accent with metallic silver and gold plates, cups, napkins and silverware. Use plastic top hats as serving dishes and fill them with chips, pretzels and other snack foods. Fill large martini glasses with mixed nuts and m&ms. Take the obviously christmasy decorations off the Christmas tree, leaving only the lights and silver and gold tinsel. Take noisemakers and party hats and place them on the tree. The revelers will strip the tree as the party progresses. Use bottles of champagne as balloon bouquet weights. Place on a mirror tile and put champagne glasses around the bottle with battery operated tealights in them. This makes a great centerpiece and doubles as a party favor. The windows and walls could be draped with sheets of twinkle lights for a fabulous effect. As people enter, greet them with a photographer (might be you) who can take their picture under a custom designed banner from Nobbies. Make sure that your guests are all decked out with hats, beads, glasses, noisemakers and leis for the pictures. Fill balloons with air and place them all around the room on the floor to give it that party atmosphere. Hang a balloon drop from the ceiling, fill with balloons that are stuffed with coupons or fun sayings. As the balloons are dropped have each guest pop a balloon to find a prize. Place balloon bouquets in the corners of the room to help fill up the room and give it that party flare. Synchronize several clocks with the official time before the party starts, and make sure they are in plain view so that you have time to prepare for the big countdown. 


Food and Refreshments
Serve snack foods such as: popcorn, chips & dip, pretzels, cocktail wieners, veggies, pizza, fruit tray, cookies and cupcakes. Also have ice cream and tons of different toppings available At midnight, of course, do a major thing. How about a serving a dessert tray with sparklers?
Beverages: Champagne, purple and white sparkling cider, gingerale, orange juice. Put the drink umbrellas or the mylar spray picks in each drink to give it that little extra flare. 


Games/Crafts
Hang a pinata filled with candy and toys for all your guests to break open.
Play bingo using inexpensive gifts as prizes.
Create a time capsule: Have each guest write a letter to themselves. Put the letters in the time capsule. Bury it or hide it somewhere so that you can all open it at a designated time in the future. (great for kids)
Provide each guest with their own journal or diary that they can begin capturing their thoughts and memories of the New Year in. Suggest that everyone write a resolution in the beginning of their journal. 


Ideas for prizes/party favors

• Top hats
• Tieras
• Leis
• Beads
• Horns/noise makers
• 2008 glasses
• Hersey kisses
• Journals or diaries

Services that Nobbies offers:

• Custom made banners
• Custom made centerpieces
• Balloon Bouquets
• Balloon Delivery (Omaha, NE & Des Moines, IA metro areas only)
• Party and Event Planning
• Balloon Arches
• Napkin Imprinting
• Custom made bows

Call and talk to our Marketing Coordinator for details on these services - 1-866-851-6300 ext. 213 

Party Planning 101 - Stuffed Santa Suit Game

Stuffed Santa Suit Game

No matter what age, you’ll believe in the hilarity of the holiday with this fun filled game!

How to play:

Divide guest into two teams green and red. Then provide 1 sweat suit or oversized shirt and sweatpants and an equal number of balloons to each team. If possible, color coordinate the sweat suit and balloons so they are all green and all red.

Each team picks one person to get into the "Santa suit" (sweat suit) and when the time starts, they try to stuff as many balloons into the sweat suit as possible within the time limit.
The team that has the most balloons at the end of 3 minutes is the winner. The Stuffed Santa is quite a sight, so have your camera ready!

…If you’re feeling up to the spirit, use actual Santa suits!

Party Planning 101 - Thanksgiving Memory Game

While the turkey’s cooking, cook up some good old fashioned family fun by playing this test of memory, sure to get your tummy grumbling and your family laughing!

All players sit in a circle.The first player starts by saying, "At Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey." The next player must repeat this and add another dish, "At my Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey and cranberry." The third player must repeat it and add yet another dish, "At Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey, cranberry, and stuffing." The game continues with each player adding an item to the menu after first listing all the previous items in the exact order they were first said. If a player makes a mistake he drops out and the game continues until there is just one person left.

Simple, yet fun!

Party Planning 101 - Slime Time

Make any children’s party eewie, gooey and FUN!

Supply List:

• White Glue
• Baby Powder
• Borax Powder
• Water
• Green Food Coloring
• Plastic Spoons
• Mixing Bowls
• Funnel
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• 2 – 1 Liter Plastic Bottles
• Zip-Top Plastic Bags

Advance Preparations:

With the funnel, pour the following ingredients into each plastic bottle:
Potion #1

• ½ cup baby powder
• 2 ½ cups white glue
• 2 cups water
• Green food coloring (add until it’s light green)

Potion #2

• 2 tablespoons borax powder
• 2 cups warm water

On The Day of The Party:

• Set up an area where the children will make the slime. If possible, set up near a sink.
• Cover the ‘slime area’ with newspaper or paper towels for easy clean up. Because the children will get their hands dirty, (that is the fun part!) have baby wipes available to clean their hands if a sink is not available.

How to Make It!

1. Divide the children into small groups.
2. At the ‘slime area’, the children will be given a mixing bowl and spoon.
3. Pour ¼ cup of Potion #1 into each bowl.
4. With their spoons, they will add 2-3 teaspoons of Potion #2 to Potion #1. Stir after each spoonful. By the time the third spoonful has been added, the liquid should change into a dough like substance.
5. Instruct the children to pick up the mixture and knead it with their hands until the liquid is absorbed and is no longer sticky. They can now play with it just like play dough.
6. Place the Slime in a zip-top plastic bag and have them wash up. Instruct the children to place the Slime in their bags after use. It will last longer.

Helpful Hints:

• Mixing the two potions together is not an exact science. The secret is to add Potion #2 slowly to Potion #1, making sure to stir them together as you are pouring. If the mixture becomes hard, not slimy, you have added too much of Potion #2. Throw it away and start over.
• When coloring your Slime, use only a few drops of food coloring. Too much food coloring will discolor the children’s hands.
• Tell the children to refrigerate their Slime to help keep it fresh. Slime usually lasts between 7 to 10 days, depending upon use.

VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER: HAVE FUN!!!!