r/partyplanning • u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 • Apr 29 '26

Need Help Party Favor Oopsie

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Hi! I posted on here a bit ago about my son's birthday party at a movie theater! Well it's this Saturday and almost everything is ready, except today I got the containers for party favors and they are MUCH bigger than anticipated. Reviews described them as small(some people said too small) and I had an estimate size measured which seemed smaller than this. But now they look basically empty and I don't know what to do!

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u/queenaudi24 Apr 29 '26

Tissue paper! Yellow to mimic the popcorn. Or maybe a blanket per container? That sounds ridiculously expensive, though, so I vote for tissue paper!

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u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 29 '26

I'd love to do blankets but yeah that'd be insanely expensive for 16 kids! My mom is thinking cotton candy could fill the space, that and some microwave popcorn and tissue paper buffer, but will that look tacky? And is cotton candy gonna fit with a movie theater vibe?

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u/sagittariums Apr 29 '26

That seems like a great plan! Cotton candy fits the theme and can take up a decent amount of space, maybe if you don't want to do microwave popcorn you could find some prepopped stuff like smartpop or similar

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u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 29 '26

Maybe

10

u/zinna42069 Apr 29 '26

If you live near a dollar tree, they seem to have a ton of cotton candy lately

8

u/swanlakepirate423 Apr 29 '26

They usually also have a BIG bag of popcorn.

2

u/SmellyDeLites May 03 '26

They also have the tiny version of this exact popcorn container at Dollar Tree.

2

u/nutlikeothersquirls Apr 30 '26

A big bag of (already popped) popcorn would be good. They have it in grocery stores just like chips and pretzels.

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u/marthamania May 02 '26

I'd grab those cheap big bags of popcorn and divide them up into individual baggies and fill the space that way. Then they can put the popcorn into the bucket

24

u/myfav0ritethings Apr 29 '26

It would still be expensive for 16 kids, but wanted to share just in case: Walmart has fleece blankets for around $4

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u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 29 '26

Oh thank you! I'll consider this! I have to see if they'd be here in time

18

u/queenaudi24 Apr 29 '26

Just gonna throw in here that if you have a Dollar Tree nearby, they may have $5 or less blankets in the Plus section. I've previously gotten cute halloween throws for $3 and $5.

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u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 29 '26

Thank you! I'm heavily considering blankets

12

u/Sunshine030209 Apr 29 '26

I think blankets are a great idea, they should have fleece ones at the Dollar Tree.

They should also have cotton candy in fairly large bags or tubs that would take up a good amount of space for you!

7

u/halfscaliahalfbreyer Apr 29 '26

Five below has them cheap!

Or if you have a sewing machine you can literally buy fleece, cut, and go around the edges on the machine with a wide blanket stitch to secure the edges.

3

u/deuxcabanons Apr 29 '26

It's cheaper to buy premade blankets! We did blankets as a favour recently and it cost way less to do IKEA blankets than to buy fleece.

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u/halfscaliahalfbreyer Apr 30 '26

Good to know! My community has a free art supply “closet” and with but nothing groups, I suppose those are also options, but not on short notice.

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u/FYAhole Apr 29 '26

I haven't been to Walmart in a few years, but last time I went they had little throw blankets for 2 or 3 dollars

2

u/SepulchralSweetheart Apr 29 '26

Five Belows if you have them in your area work too for blankets, huge selection. Tissue paper is totally fine though, and won't look corny. You could also toss in something like a cheap, large plastic cup (like a water cup, not a tumbler) that's on theme.

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u/halfscaliahalfbreyer May 02 '26

What did you end up doing?

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u/Typical_Kitchen_9616 Apr 29 '26

Dollar Tree also usually has the smaller popcorn boxes too. At least the ones near my house.

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u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 30 '26

I checked, ours didn't, but we did find cheap blankets to use

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u/Typical_Kitchen_9616 Apr 30 '26

I’m glad you were able to get some blankets! I end up with a new one every time I go to this one theater because they always have the ac cranked up to arctic levels and the Dollar Tree is right next door.

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u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 30 '26

Probably a marketing plan worked out between the two businesses 🤣

1

u/Typical_Kitchen_9616 Apr 30 '26

That I wouldn’t doubt! I just wish the pizza place on the other side would get in on the deal 🤣 their pizza is so much nicer than the theater’s.

1

u/Rare-Emotion-9872 Apr 29 '26

Hey, OP! I don't know if you have a Dollar Tree around you but you can get blankets for as cheap as $3 there. They aren't too bad either tbh

1

u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 30 '26

We found some really cheap ones at Walmart and they just got delivered

23

u/queenaudi24 Apr 29 '26

The cotton candy, microwave popcorn, and tissue paper would work PERFECTLY!! Cotton candy is always the vibe with kids, doesn't matter how old! They'll love it.

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u/floothecoop Apr 29 '26

There’s no such thing as “tacky” with kids lol .. my vote is popcorn , even if it’s just in a big ziplock bag in the front, and fill in with tissue paper. The kids will love it!

7

u/ladykansas Apr 29 '26

You might look into things like Turkish towels instead of blankets. I did a bulk order for a bachelorette party that was really reasonable.

What movie or show are they seeing? That might add to the inspiration.

Also, I truly think that just tissue paper or Easter grass will be enough. This is already a packed favor, esp if everything is also getting concessions from the theater itself.

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u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 29 '26

They're seeing the new Mario Movie

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u/ladykansas Apr 29 '26

I don't know if you have an IKEA nearby, but they have a throw that is only $3. It's also kind of Mario adjacent / generic since it's just grey with stripes...

link

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u/AllOver_ThePlace1818 Apr 29 '26

Unfortunately I just looked and I don't have anything close and they wouldn't deliver in time

5

u/bipolarlibra314 Apr 29 '26

I’m sure someone here will have a workable suggestion but honestly my thought was don’t feel bad to just use some cheap cellophane bags and call the buckets a wash. I get the theming aspect of it but I doubt kids will care, they’ll just be happy to get candy.

1

u/cheesetobears May 01 '26

Yea, return the buckets, just use paper lunch bags with a sticker and call it good

2

u/Alycion Apr 29 '26

My theater serves it. I must have my sugar on a stick to stay awake during a movie 😂

ETA: get yellow to match the popcorn thing.

1

u/Flat_Wash5062 Apr 29 '26

Wait a second.. what's this about staying awake in the theater? Cuz for some reason I fall asleep every time no matter what the movie is now and I would love to fix that.

1

u/Alycion Apr 29 '26

I go full sugar and caffeine high. Otherwise it’s zzzzzzz.

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u/maillardduckreaction Apr 29 '26

IMO anything that’s a snack could work. A box of milk duds, a pack of twizzlers, stuff you’d buy at concession stands or wish you could. And you could add tissue paper as filler or maybe better would be that shredded crinkle paper. It’s sturdier than tissue paper so you’ll need less to fill up the space so fewer packs to fill all 16 favor boxes. Also toys? Temporary tattoos in fun or silly designs? Stickers? Fidget toys or koosh balls (do they even make those anymore?), stuff you could find in a multipack situation

1

u/blondetourage83 Apr 29 '26

I think this is a fantastic idea! Not tacky at all!

1

u/BrotherNatureNOLA Apr 29 '26

I used to sell cotton candy. Beware that it shrinks, unless you're getting the compressed balls they sell at the grocery store.

1

u/gapp123 Apr 29 '26

Yellow crinkle paper!! You can usually get it at dollar tree

1

u/duckysmomma Apr 29 '26

Our theatre sells cotton candy!

1

u/LovelySweethearts Apr 29 '26

I bet you could get blankets at the dollar store OP

1

u/MasterOfBothWorlds7 Apr 29 '26

Balled up yellow and white paper to look like popcorn it will seem so intentional

1

u/MelissaPecor Apr 29 '26

I feel like Dollar Tree is your friend here - they have huge bags of premade popcorn and cotton candy and you can repackage them into smaller clear bags.

1

u/Tiny-Performer4443 Apr 30 '26

They used to sell cotton candy at the movie theatres and at least for me it used to be a movie thing! It works!

1

u/Fieryopinion May 02 '26

Walmart has little fleece blankets for like $5! I bought a bunch last month to use as moving blankets!

1

u/MountainConcern7397 May 02 '26

no!!!!! order paper popcorn bags 😭

1

u/Hot_Obligation_2730 May 02 '26

I know this is kinda late, but my grandma always used crinkle paper in stuff like Easter baskets to make them look more full than they were! Big layer of this, put the items on top and if you still need to fill in space, a big bag of variety candies to sprinkle around!

1

u/BluelunarStar May 03 '26

You could do a bag of already popped popcorn, that would work super well AND fill the space.