3Rd Child, 1St Birthday

If you truly do not want any toys, I believe it's acceptable to say something like, "We already have so many toys that have been handed down and with limited space these days, we'd prefer no gifts for the birthday girl...but we would love for you to celebrate this special day with us." No, I wouldn't be offended at all. I would be most offended if you included a wish list, though.

Choose a charity ... I like... http://www.heifer.org/# ... they help get people cows and get living on their own then when their cow has a calf it gets donated to another family in need. or something like Autism Speaks

Please give gifts in the form of a donation to ______ charity for (insert name here)'s 1st birthday.
You could give them two charities to choose from pick causes that you can get behind. And don't forget the red cross for Japan there are pleanty in need!

I have always liked the cute lil' phrase "The only presents requested is your presence"...or something like that. You can re-word it a million different ways and its always cute, IMO!

~We have a grip of kids and toys and totally understand where you are coming from about not needing MORE toys :)

Your presence is our present, no gifts required. Please come and spend the day with us for ____'s 1st birthday celebration.

Or if you are needing clothes, diapers, books, etc you could just print out a little busness card sized paper to put in with the invitation that says "our house is overrun with toys, but if you choose to bring a gift ____ is wearing 18 month clothing and size 3 diapers" I hate having to decide what to buy for birthday parties, especially when the baby is so little, but I always want to bring something. I have a few friends that have put these little cards in and they are very helpful.

Make it a book party (all kids deserve new books!) or collect food for your food bank in lieu of gifts.

When we hosted a "meet the baby" party after our second daughter (also third child) was born, I put something about how incredibly generous people had been in the past and that it wasn't necessary to bring gifts, we just wanted to celebrate the birth of our daughter with the people we love. Some people still brought gifts, for which we were grateful, but it was not the focus at all.

The only mention of gifts on the invite would be the "no gifts" kind of thing. Otherwise, you may want to clue a few family members in on the "over flowing toy box" and the fact that you are looking to update her library or wardrobe... carseat... playset... then let you mother and MIL, sisters, etc "spread the word".

You could say something about no gifts, but if you would like to, please make a donation to (your favorite charity) in her name.

Or once my niece did something pretty cool. She did this on her own, which made it quite meaningful, but it could be a family project instead. She asked the guests to bring school supplies instead of gifts, then arranged for them to be shipped to El Salvador (where my parents were missionaries). You could ask for people to bring small bottles of shampoo, washcloths, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. to donate to a local womens' or homeless shelter/halfway house, etc. Call up a place you believe in and see what they need.

Hi A.... I love the book party. .but we had our sons's bday and we chose a charity (March of Dimes) and wrote a little paragraph about how grateful we were to have such a healthy son and how there were son many families out there who struggle... "so please donate in my son's honor to help us help others." It worked out great.. over half the party donated, some did bring cards and stickers..the response I received after the party was most parents agreed.. most kids are not in NEED of any toys..but the lesson that was taught that day meant everything... my son is now 5 and still tells people about how his birthday helped sick babies..

When my kids were turning 1, when people asked what my kids were into, or what they needed, I would always respond with diapers, formula, clothes and books. Of course Grandparents will ALWAYS buy toys...

I go online to Target.com and create a wish list for my kids birthdays and Christmas. I have several relatives that prefer to shop online and this works great for everyone.

M.

For my daugheter's 1st birthday we found a charity in the area and arranged a fund for people to donate to in her name. That way they could still "give" and the money went to kids who really needed it. People seemed to like the idea - no shopping involved either !

Say something like -

"Please no gifts, but if you insist we would appreciate clothes or books!"

I'm sure you can come up with a better way to phrase it.

Some people really like to buy gifts, and books and clothes are always great at our house.

Well, I wouldn't say "no gifts" period - people like to buy gifts for children :o) But when they ask what to get your daughter, ask for clothes and books or whatever she needs.

What about a book party. You could do a story themed party, maybe even have a friend do a storytime during the party for the kiddos.
For older kids you could ask them to dress as their favorite book character.
I would put this at the bottom of the invitations:

Presents are not required or expected, if you did want to bring one, share your favorite childhood book with us.

If you get doubles you could donate them to your library or local womans shelter. :)

OR you could just forgo presents all together - putting something like. Our house is filled with love and toys, please join us for a fun party with close friends and family. If you feel like you need to purchase a present - all toys will be donated to Toys for Tots or XYZ...

Hope that helps.

Don't! Very tacky to suggest to people on how to spend their money. People will bring gifts whether you like it or not. Unless someone asks you direclty what little "Sally" might want or need leave the invitation as is. I found when I had the 1st birthday party for my third child second son, the gifts were very modest and that was a good thing because people realize that its your third...Not only that wise people attach the gift receipt to the gift...If you find that you received duplicates...donate 'em or exchange them for something your daughter needs.

I wouldn't be offended. You could try any of these:
No gifts, please
We have plenty of toys - your presence is all that we ask for.
Please contribute to my (book collection, college fund, wardrobe, whatever you choose) if you can.
The birthday girl loves (fill in the blank).

Some guests will undoubtedly bring toys anyway; don't be offended. It's what most people think of when they hear "birthday."

Ooo I love the book party and the charity idea!! I would go with one of those!

I'm impressed you have the energy to throw a party. We pretty much celebrated with family members, and it's easy to tell Grandparents you want clothes. I guess if I were in your situation, I'd tell the people I was really close to and accept toys from the others graciously.

We only invite family and close close friends to our little ones birthdays (they are 3.5 and 2.5, baby 3 is on the way)....and we send a separate e-mail to the ladies of the family telling them that the kids are in need of clothes or books, etc. It saves the time of each of them writing to us asking what size, what the kids need, etc. Always though, some people will bring the toys no matter what you do. Just hope for gift receipts or take them back to Walmart, Target or Kohls, Toys R Us if you find that the toy is sold there and switch it in for something else your kid could use. No biggie :)

I think the best way is to put on the invite "Your presence is present enough!" that way, no one gets confused or feels bad if they bring something or not. You can also hope that people will ask, but maybe only 1/2 will and the other half will bring more toys. You can also do a charity thing if you have one that you love. But, some people may only spend 5 or 10 dollars for a kids b-day and might feel like a loser for only donating that much to a charity. You could just give the website so that its annonymous.

Really the only polite way to handle is to say "No Gifts Please", or offer to donate money to a charity of your choice, "In luei of gifts, please make a donation to the xyz foundation". To ask for a certain kind of gift assumes they will be giving you a gift and to specify what kind of gift you want is even more impolite. Just an opinion!

if you don't want to offend take the new still in packaging gifts to your local children's hospital, or shelter. They'd LOVE new toys.