How to make Birthday Bags on a Budget

How to make Birthday Bags on a Budget – it can be done!

My son recently had his birthday and a part of me was disheartened by the fact that I couldn’t afford to throw him a birthday party, one where his friends could come. We had family things going on all week but nothing with his school friends.

After talking to him about it one afternoon a week before his birthday, I asked him if he would like to do anything for his birthday on the day besides attend school, He said that he would like to share his favourite things with his school friends. I thought it was a lovely idea so we chatted about what sort of items he would include. After a lengthy conversation I decided we could do some birthday bags, and I hunted around for the best bargains. I was on a strict budget to I checked where things were on offer and started making a list.

So how do you make up a birthday bag?

You need either a birthday bag or a party bag, there are many varieties available online. You can get them usually with a handle so they are perfect for little hands to hold.
I also chose to buy the plastic cones because I didn’t want Oreos to break up and/or go stale in the bags. This worked perfectly to break things up into sections, the Edibles and the Toys.

How do you stick to your Budget and get the best value?

✩ Sabrina’s Top Tips ✩

There are several ways to stick to budget and also find the best deals, here are my tips.
1. Decide your budget and make a list of what you need to buy.
2. How many are you buying for? Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy 50 bags than 20, bare this in mind.
3. Watch out for “lowest price in 30 days” and other useful slogans on offers.
4. Compare supermarkets online before you go out to do the shopping.
5. Use supermarket offers if you have a discount card with them.
6. Visit budget stores and compare the items you have seen online.
7. Always read the online reviews and filter by most recent as well.
8. Bulk Buy – Depending on whether you can reuse an item in the future for something else or even sell the remainder of the items on, bulk buying can be beneficial. (For us the Oreo’s were cheaper to bulk buy and so were the party bags). My son will happily eat any leftover biscuits let me tell you.
9. Work out the maximum you would like to spend, divide that by how many you are buying for, let’s say it’s 20 children. So divide your budget by 20, and you will understand how much it will cost to do a bag per child. Once you’ve made some essential purchases work out what is remaining of your budget and only spend what you have left. It might be that you have to buy a massive bag of sweets and divide them by hand into little sweet bags like I did with the Oreo biscuits.

Think smarter with your money and not buying things simply for convenience.

Why did we choose the items?


Picking for a mixture of genders is always tricky, but I don’t know a child who doesn’t love stickers and sweets / chocolate biscuits. Oreo is the choice because my son has food allergies but luckily he can eat original Oreo. The cars were because they were pull-back and super cool but also a car is gender neutral in my eyes, same goes for the bouncy balls. I asked all the parents (or my son told me) what peoples favourite colours were, and then labelled the bags and added the toys in accordingly. If I had someone who loved Red they got a red tie on their biscuit cone and they got a red car and a red ball. I would’ve loved to have included bubbles too but they would have sent me over budget. You could swap the bouncy balls for bubbles if your child would prefer those.

What did we include in the final bags?

20 Pull Back Cars cost £7
35 Bouncy Balls cost £7
Stickers cost £2.00 (50 sheets)
Oreo Biscuits cost £4
22 Haribo Sweets (Individual Packets) cost £3
100 Sweet Plastic Cones cost £3
40 Happy Birthday Bags cost £4

I divided the stickers between the children’s bags and kept the rest for my own reward charts at home, meaning each sheet only cost me 4 pence. Bargain!

Total Spent: £30.00
Total of Children: 16
Cost per Child: £1.79

I don’t think this was too bad, 16 happy children for less than £30 (as we had leftovers) and it was much cheaper than throwing a birthday party. My son got to share his favourite items with his friends too!

We have also got left over bouncy balls, birthday bags, cone bags, 6 sweet bags and 4 cars. The leftover pieces we can use whenever we like or give away at other occasions.

At the end of the day you can’t put a price on a child’s happiness and my son was over the moon to help me give out these little bags of joy to all of his friends at school, so that they could all celebrate his happy birthday together.

Thank you for reading this blog post today, I hope you have found it interesting and perhaps got a few useful tips in case you ever decide to do bags for your child’s birthday or a birthday party.

I hope I see you here again soon!

 Sabrina 

April 2023 Treatbox UK Reveal and Review

Well here we are, halfway through April and I apologise that my product review is later than usual. Having done my video unboxing when I initially received my Treatbox in the post I was then busy with the Easter holidays and spending some much needed family time. But having this extra time before writing my review also gave me a chance however, to look at this months products in more detail.

April was a lovely Bee themed and happiness inspiring box for me. Loved it!


Let’s take a look now and remind ourselves what was inside it, I am sharing my honest opinions as always and all the photography is my own.

What was inside the April box?

Bee Themed!


April Calendar Print
Treatbox Original Bee Pin
Treatbox Original Printed Notepad Busy Bee A6
Treatbox Original Socks Bees and Hearts in honey beige
Treatbox Original A6 Print “she turned her can’t into cans & her dreams into plans”
Lapcos Honey Nourishing and Hydrating Face Mask 27ml
Tasty Mates Salted Caramel Sweets GF Vegan 54g
Bee Gold Plated Earrings with Crystal Wings

My Honest Opinion

I loved the theme this month, when you think of April you imagine rain showers or April flowers, but a Bee is a cute idea and I think of nature in abundance when I consider Bees, plus, who doesn’t love a cute little Bee?! The Bee and Honey theme was well executed throughout and I love how the Treatbox original products coordinated with each other as well.

Overall the quality of the products was excellent, we know our notepads and other Treatbox original stationery is printed to the highest quality, as are the TB original socks. I have yet to try the sweets or the face mask but that’s because I’ve had a really busy few weeks on Easter break. I have put the Bee pin on my jacket and the notepad is out on my table ready for my next list. I did find the font a little hard to read on the Print this month but perhaps I’m being picky. Did you read it okay? I will be sharing more pictures on Instagram of the products in use very soon.

My favourite items for April 2023 have been the notepad, socks, pin and earrings. I don’t usually wear jewellery in gold due to my skin complexion, however these earrings are stunning and far too nice to give away, so I hope to pair them with an outfit matching their calibre soon. Watch out for updates on my social media on all of the items you have seen revealed today.

What is your favourite item in this April box?

Here are some more of my photographs.

Thanks so much for reading this unboxing reveal and review today!

Don’t forget to follow me across social media for more updates.

Search #SevernWishesBlog on Google or #SevernSabrina on Instagram,
Alternatively click here to follow me on Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Have a great April (what’s left of it) and I hope I see you here again soon!

✩ Sabrina ✩

#SevernWishesBlog #TreatboxUK #ProductPhotographer #ProductReviewer
#TreatboxOriginals #TreatboxSocks #April2023

July 2022 Treatbox UK Reveal and Review

Hello July!

I hope this blog post finds all of you well as you’re reading this!


So we are just over half way through the year now and it’s time
for the July Treatbox UK Reveal and Review.

Thank you for joining me for this unboxing!
It’s time to look at the products in this months box and for me to review them for you!


If you would prefer to watch my video then head to my Facebook or Instagram.

The July box features TB OR – Treatbox Original Products
only available by ordering from Treatbox UK.

What’s Inside the July Treatbox UK?

July Calendar Print

TB OR A6 Print “sunshine and happy days”
Smiley Face Socks
TB OR Greetings Cards – 2 Cards for Passing on the Sunshine
Merci Hand Cream in Hello Sunshine scent 30ml
Candy Kittens – Tropical Mango flavour 54g
The Happy Newspaper by Emily Coxhead issue 26

Tea Pop Gourmet Tea – Caramel flavour (in my box but may vary)

My Honest Opinion of the July box

What a box of sunshine! When I opened up the Treatbox and I saw the theme was sunshine and happy vibes it was just what I needed to boost my week. We had socks again and I was really happy about that because I love the quality of the socks! They are soft and cute as usual with smiley faces on this time! And what I also loved was the fact that we can pass on the happiness and sunshine from our July box by sending the Treatbox UK cards on to someone we care about!


The Merci hand cream smells lovely like summer flowers on a sunny day, a light cream that melts into your hands and comes in a handbag size to boot! Perfect for use all year round! It made my skin feel very soft after I used it a couple of times.

The Candy Kittens sweets are Vegan, Palm Oil Free and are now Carbon Neutral too! You get 54g to enjoy of this treat with natural fruit flavours in Tropical Mango. Yum!


We have the Happy Newspaper which I haven’t read all of yet, but hearing about happy stories and inspiring people is always a good thing. It’s important that we focus on some of the good things happening in the world even when times are hard, because if you look hard enough there is always some good news to find somewhere.

I haven’t had the Tea Pop yet because we are having a heatwave in the UK right now and I cannot stand drinking a hot drink when I’m already feeling very warm. However I did have an idea for this which was… make up the tea – I had Caramel flavour – and then pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze it! Pop these Caramel flavoured ice cubes into Pepsi Max or Water and make it a new flavour! Seeing as the heatwave is set to continue for yet another week I will make room in my freezer and do this! I will post about it on my Instagram and let you know how I get on!

Finally there are the Print, Wrapping Paper and the Cards – Treatbox Original Products – all made with the theme of sunshine! July is meant to be the happy and sunny month of the year (if we’re lucky) and so far we seem to be having just that! May the sunshine continue! I look forward to passing the cards on to people when it is appropriate to use them, and using the paper to wrap a present for someone.


Here are some more photographs now of the products I got within this box.

Thank you for joining me as I have unboxed and reviewed this July subscription box today. Treatbox UK is currently the only monthly box I am subscribed to and the reason for that is due to consistently great content and products that I hold in high regard. Providing items that are Vegan, Carbon Neutral, Sustainable and Healthy are very important to me. I get a treat but I’m also not harming the planet in the process.

I wish you a lovely month of July 2022!
Please stop by again soon for another Reveal and Review!


✩ Sabrina ✩

July 2021 Treatbox Reveal and Review

Oh isn’t this July Treatbox just Peachy!


Hey Everyone! I am hoping this blog Reveal and Review finds you all keeping well! I’m back on my blog after a short blogging break where I was spending time with family, just in time to bring you this unboxing! It was my son’s third birthday last week! I know, right? Three! Time is flying! It doesn’t feel like more than a week since I did the last Review! So here we go! Thanks for joining me today it means a lot!

So what was inside the July box? Well…

Peaches Fridge Magnet
Just Peachy Notes
“You’re Braver than you Think!” Keyring
Peach Hand Cream from BubbleT
TreatboxUK Original Meal Planner Pad

The Juicy Peach – Tasty Mates – Peaches and Cream Gummy Sweets
Treatbox Original Poster (to Colour in at Home) “Do NOT Forget to be Kind to Yourself”

What My Opinion Is Overall…

I loved the theme this month! Peaches was a very cool theme! With some Treatbox Original items amongst the fun vegan sweets and the useful hand cream, July was a fun box overall! A lovely little Keyring with its positive quote, a colouring page with an important reminder to all, and cute little notes with “just peachy” on them. I loved that we received a magnet tis month because it’s been quite a while since we had one. I am forever using my Treatbox pads as meal planners so to have one this month is really useful in my eyes! I love staying organised! I’m generally very happy with the July box and I’m looking forward to using the items and trying those delicious sweets!

Thank you for reading this unboxing post today, I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully I will see you pop by Severn Wishes Blog again soon. Enjoy the summer sunshine safely!

✩ Sabrina ✩

March 2021 Treatbox Reveal and Review


Welcome to the March 2021 Treatbox UK unboxing Reveal and my Review of the contents inside the box. This box month always coincides with my birthday, so it’s like an extra little present to myself! And funnily enough it felt even more like my birthday when I opened it thanks to two items inside…


… a blank Happy Birthday card and a key ring! (I have collected Keyrings since I was a child)!

Happy Birthday to me! And here is what else was inside this great box!


What Was In The March 2021 Box?

Treatbox A5 Print “You Got This”
Treatbox Cards x 3 “Happy Birthday”, “Keep Going” & “You Are Amazing”

Treatbox Rainbow Design Weekly Planner Pad
“Pretty Things” Keepsake Dish
Bubble t Cleansing Hand Sanitiser “Confetea Edition” 50ml
Jealous Sweets Love Bears Sugar Free Vegan Sweets 40g
“Good Vibes” Rainbow Key Ring


9 items in total.


My Opinion of the March Box Contents


What I really liked inside this box was… all of it! 😀 From the Rainbow theme to the positive vibes! I thought the Keepsake Dish is of excellent quality, and the key ring is lovely too. Sanitiser is something that we all need a lot of at the moment and it is great to have a pretty pink one that smells amazing, that is a bonus! What fun!

The A5 print and the cards are positive orientated and I love that we can pass the positive vibes on to other people from our joy in receiving the Treatbox UK March box! I cannot wait to try those Vegan Sweets and I saw they have a long use by date so no rush in nibbling them all up! Yay!

But my favourite item by far has to be the Weekly Planner! I love how much design Zoe and the team have managed to incorporate into it! Drinking Water, Days of the Week, Goals, Priorities and Don’t Forgets! It is now so much faster to plan my week than my old planner where I had to use a ruler to section parts of the day out for my To Do’s and Goals! Now I just pop them all on this one page! I LOVE IT!


Thanks so much for an awesome item! I would love to see another one with a different border in a few months time, because I will be using this weekly from now on 😉 A great box I am very happy!


Did you know that you can view all of my previous Treatbox unboxing posts in this unique category of mine called ‘Treatbox’ it is specifically for these box reviews and reveals – Severn Wishes Treatbox.

March 2021 was box number 60 for me!!!


Thank you for reading this Review and Reveal for the March Treatbox! If you liked it why not check out my other reviews too! Have a wonderful day!

✩ Sabrina ✩

July 2020 Treatbox Reveal

Hello and Welcome to the Reveal and Review of the July 2020 Treatbox with me, Sabrina.

Happy Treatbox Day! Remember to follow me on my social media for more Treatbox photos of the products in use!

Here are the contents of the July box, in this month’s box there are 5 items plus an A5 print.

Treatbox Original A5 Print “Grow Through What You Go Through”

Bumblebee Cool Bag made with 40% Plastic Recycled Bottles

Bag of Dry Gin Fizz Gummies Fabulous Sweets

Vitamasques Gold Eye Mask with Hyaluronic Acid

Daily Concepts Multi-Functional Soap Sponge Charcoal

Bumblebee Biscuit

Here are some of my images of the contents in the July box.

My Honest Opinion of this Box

I left my expectation of this box at my front door as it popped through my letterbox. I really hoped it would be good because I have been somewhat disappointed by some of the boxes this year. I wanted this box to redeem itself for the month and give me a reason for continuing my subscription…

The items are a nice mixture and I did like how it was themed towards Bee’s and Flowers and Summer. As well as self care as well. The cool bag is of good quality and I love the design of the yellow and bees.


The Gin Fizz Sweets are going to be gifted to my mother who loves Gin! The mask is going to be popped in my drawer with the others until I have some self care time (hardly ever with a toddler in tow!).

The print is nice, simple but a pretty design. The biscuit I have yet to eat because I need to go on to their website and check the allergens.

Finally the Charcoal Soap and Sponge is a really nice item. I have been after something similar myself and so this will be thoroughly tested and I will report back via my social media about what I thought…

My favourite items for their potential are by far the small cool bag and the charcoal sponge. Although I’m sure my mother will be delighted by her sweeties!


So has the box redeemed itself? It has! But I am still unsure about whether or not I will be continuing with the subscription. It’s £12 for me because I was one of the first subscribers many years ago, I certainly don’t believe it’s worth that some months. I think I have two choices, I either continue bringing you these reveals and I gather myself some Christmas presents using the bits and bobs I don’t want every month… or I cancel my Subscription and perhaps get something I will always enjoy? Which is a tough ask! Because almost everything through your door is a gamble these days, I don’t think I have had a box that I have used every single item of for around two years now… so… decisions, decisions!

Would you be sad to see Treatbox Reveals disappear from my blog? Please leave me a comment below if you do enjoy seeing them and tell me why.

Are you thinking of ordering a TreatBox for yourself or for a gift for someone?

Then you can find Treatbox subscriptions and also build your own box at their 
website

Check out my previous Treatbox unboxing posts in this unique category of mine called ‘Treatbox’ it is specifically for these box reviews and reveals – Severn Wishes Treatbox.

Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes today, I hope you enjoyed the Review of this July Treatbox and I hope to see you here again soon for another one of my Reviews.

I do hope you have a lovely week, I have a busy one! I’m now off to test a new product for Argos Testers!

✩ Sabrina ✩

November 2019 Treatbox Reveal

Hello readers! This is the November 2019 Treatbox Reveal
with me, Sabrina of Severn Wishes Blog.

Happy Treatbox Day!
My apologies for the delay in bringing you this November Treatbox reveal. I hope that you can forgive its lateness.

It has a pretty lilac tissue paper this month… Top Tip! Open the paper carefully and re-use it to wrap something for someone at Christmas this year! Recycle your Treatbox Tissue Paper!

Don’t forget you can follow my social media for more Treatbox photos and updates throughout the month including me using items!

Here are the contents of the November box.
This month there are 5 physical items in total, 10 Cards, along with 1 A5 Print and of course the usual Calendar Print.

November Calendar Print
A5 Print “Time To Relax”

Mindfulness Prompt Cards – 10 Cards
Sign Decoration “home”
Clipper Hot Chocolate Fairtrade Instant Drink 28g
Candy Kittens Bag of Sweets! Tropical Mango – Vegan 54g
Rose Gold Dust Sheet Mask – Moisturising Face Mask 20ml
Pink Sparkle Tealights – 12

My Opinion on the November 2019 Box

The items I like most in this month’s box are ‘home’ sign, the mindfulness prompt cards, the sweets and the mask.

I will be gifting away the hot chocolate because it’s not dairy free sadly, but I know of someone who will love it so it’s going in as a Christmas Stocking filler!
Ooo!

I am most looking forward to eating the sweets, hanging up my ‘home’ sign on the wall. And I will try using the mindfulness cards too for the coming weeks.

This is a positive card that I do intend to take inspiration from, this is a lovely idea to incorporate at the end of your day instead of a diary entry.
Candy Kitten Sweets are Vegan! And So Yum!
More of the mindfulness cards…
I actually achieved this card this month, two large bags of unwanted clothes and bric-a-brac have gone to a charity shop.
These candles smell nice…
Not much relaxing happening for me at the moment, so the mask is going in my drawer for a time when I have an hour or two free in order to pamper myself!

Are you thinking of ordering a TreatBox for yourself or for a gift for someone?
Then you can find Treatbox subscriptions and build your own box at their 
website

Check out my previous Treatbox unboxing posts in this unique category of mine called ‘Treatbox’ it is specifically for these box reviews and reveals – Severn Wishes Treatbox.

Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes, I hope you enjoyed this Review. See you again soon.

✩ Sabrina ✩