Five Last Minute Items to Make Sure You Have Before the Party Starts

Summary: Don’t forget these must-haves for your party.

Planning a child’s birthday is a pretty hectic job for any parent, and there are bound to be some last minute things slipping your mind. If you’re hours away from guests and frantically wondering whether you’ve gotten everything you need, this list of forget-me-nots might help you.

Ice Cream Supplies

If you’re going to serve a bunch of children and their parents, and you don’t want to be doing dishes into next week, you’ll want to get some disposable gelato cups and spoons. You can order them in bulk online for pennies on the dollar, have them shipped directly to you and even give parents lids they can use to take the treats on the road with them.

Don’t forget the details either, like pan liners to hold the creamy treat or cups for the various toppings you will put on your creations.

Coffee for Parents

Parents will want some coffee to help counterbalance all that sugar, and because everyone loves an afternoon pick me up. Kids parties take it out of you, there’s no shame in a pick-me up cup o’ Joe. Coffee cups and lids come in bulk packages, either in-store or online, and they are disposable. Coffee is also relatively cheap so you can make a lot of it for everyone in attendance.

Candles

Candles for the cake are just a short car ride to the market or the drug store. Still, you don’t want to serve a kid a cake without them on top. Make sure you don’t forget the fire to light the candles!

Trash Bags and Extras

You’ve got the drinks, the snacks and everything else you need to serve people. The question is whether you have everything you need to dispose of the mess people will eventually make. If you want to cut down on dishes, plastic utensils are a good way to go.

Ice

Ice is another commonly forgotten item that seems to get lost among everything else you happen to get in the market. Probably because ice is almost never in the same place from market to market. If you know you’re having a party, make a mental note to stop by the ice machine.

In case you forget and you’re really in a bind cleaning up around the house, you can station someone at the refrigerator ice machine and have them fill gallon bags full of the cold stuff. Just give yourself several hours so your unit can replenish its stash of ice.