Gift Giving and Receiving
If you have been invited to a Sweet 16 birthday party, here are some
great gift ideas ...
Sixteen year olds appreciate something heartfelt as well as practical. To help you with your
shopping, here's a list of online stores that offer fun and unique
birthday gifts for all budgets:
By clicking on any of the links above, you can browse the gifts
that are available and order directly from these companies.
We've also prepared a list of
teen tested and approved gift ideas.
- A collage of photographs or a group photo of friends framed with personalized writing on
the frame.
Carlson Craft offers a
"Signature Frame" (with or without engraved nameplate)
that can be signed by the teen's friends and family.
Parents ... consider buying this before the party so
your party guests can sign it before or during the
party! Or check out our
Snapfish.com page for other photograph ideas.
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- Personalized items: Put
monograms or the teen's name on bath towels, flannel blankets, coffee mugs, key
chains or frames.
Carlson Craft has a
number of items that can be engraved and personalized
including picture frames, key chains, memory books, and
photo albums.
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-
 A
unique gift of one share of stock in popular companies
such as Microsoft, Apple, Nike, Disney, Yahoo, and many
more! Check out these cool stock certificates
(with or without museum-quality frames) at
OneShare.com .
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- Friendship bracelets,
anklets, or rings for all the gang will be
cherished forever. Check out the jewelry offered by
Jewelbasket.com.
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- A tailor made shadow box,
or framed photographs are very sentimental.
Carlson Craft has a wide selection of unique
picture frames.
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- Sweatshirt
or t-shirt from the college or pro team in your area.
Lids.com is a great place to find college hats and tees
for your favorite sport's team or college!
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- Write a check for $16.
- A quilt made with scanned
photos. Our friend found a company that can scan photos onto material
and a different person to sew the quilt.
- A quilt made with your teen's sports jerseys or brand name tee
shirts.
- Books: We
suggest something that the teen can treasure over the years: such as
poetry books or motivational books, a quality dictionary, or a leather bound
journal. Go to our
Amazon.com
page where we feature a fun selection of handpicked
books.
- Snake light or flash light
Thank you etiquette
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After the party there is one last detail the
teen needs to take care of … Sending thank you notes.
To make this task easier, order
personalized thank you notes well in advance of your party.
Don't forget return address labels and envelope seals.
Thank you cards, envelope seals and return address labels can
all be ordered online from
Carlson Craft. Our
online store
also has a wide selection. |
Saying “thank you” is easy…
Never written thank you notes before? Don’t worry. Just follow our
simple guidelines. If you’re still stuck, check out our
sample letters
for some great ideas.
- Every birthday gift, whether
received by mail or in person, should be acknowledged with a thank
you note.
- Send thank you notes promptly. Start right away and finish no
later than one month after the party.
- Always hand write
thank you notes and hand address the envelopes. E-mail is not
appropriate.
- Mention the gift
specifically in the note and express appreciation.
- When you receive money as a present, don’t mention the amount. Do,
however, mention how you plan to spend the money.
- Avoid making thank you notes look like form letters by adding a
personal reference to each one. See our
sample letters.
Money as gifts
“Before the
cards started arriving, we talked to our son about how he was going to
spend the money he received as gifts. We agreed that he could have half
of the money, but the other half went into his savings account. I taped
the checks to a cupboard and he was allowed to deposit them when the
thank you note was mailed. I’m glad we discussed it ahead of time.”
Barb in Dallas, Texas
PhotoStamps!
Don't forget to
get stamps, too. The latest trend in celebrations is
PhotoStamps. You can
turn your "soon to be Sweet 16" photo into real US postage using
PhotoStamps.com.
Add another fun & unexpected
touch by using these one-of-a-kind stamps on your thank you cards
and invitations. |
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Photo Confetti & Wordfetti
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Some people like
to spice up their thank you cards and invitations by including a
little bit of confetti in them. Why not go the extra step
and add some
Photofetti or Wordfetti!
Photofetti
is photo confetti made with your
snapshots and
Wordfetti is made with congratulatory messages,
mixed with colorful accents.
In addition to
including it in your thank you cards and invitations cards, you can
also sprinkle it on your tables the day of your party. |
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