Office Party? Make the next one your best Ever!

The holiday season is here (if you don't believe me, check Target!). Time to start planning a company holiday party.   The Great Recession cut back on many office parties, and while they may not be as lavish here on the Suncoast as they were before the bubble, there are many wonderful and economic ways to celebrate a year well done and setting the pace for 2015!  Gone are the days of the "Anything Goes"mentality - smart executives are trying to get the most bang for the buck!





We've been busy booking some great companies that like to include the whole family in the fun - having events on the company property (yes - we have tables and chairs!) and renting incredible inflatables that not only appeal to all ages, but actually help develop team building!  Check out some of these great options to add to your next fun corporate event!


Consider a huge obstacle course (56' feet of fun!) - our awesome Sports Shootout - a Bouncehouse for the little ones - or our incredible Octodome (Jousting - Twister - Basketball - Volleyball).  It will be best best office holiday party you have ever planned!  Call Michelle at (941) 343-0370 and we'll help you Bring The Party! Check us out at Party Jumpers

Celebrating Earth Day - Everyday!

On the heels of the report this week that the damage to the Earth is "irreversible" - I'm reminded again as to our family carbon footprint.  So, we'll be sitting down this weekend and reviewing what we can do to help our Earth.

Not great talk for a party blog.  But it also got me to thinking what Party Jumpers could do to reduce our footprint as well.  I've tossed around the idea of renting party equipment (not our usual bouncehouse - waterslide rentals) but smaller stuff, like cloth tablecloths rather than people using plastic, dishes, cupcake/cake stands and maybe even decorations.  It's a big (and expensive) leap - so if you are reading this - could you help me? Would you prefer to rent this stuff, or is it just not a big deal?  Thanks! Feel free to email me at fun@partyjumpersinc.com too!

Planning A School Carnival? Step Right Up!

Planning a large scale fundraiser for a school can be complicated.  I've planned more Jog-A-Thon's and school carnivals and fundraisers for my kid's schools than I can count over the last 15 years.  It's tough - but doable with plenty of planning - and hopefully - a little help from other parents!  Here's

dunk tank

some little tips that I've picked up along the way!

* Ask for HELP! And more importantly, TAKE THE HELP!  I get that sometimes you are running so hard that it's hard to stop long enough to really ask for help - but you should!  There are other parents that want to help - they just don't know what to do.  If you plan in advance and break down some manageable steps for people, when someone says "I can help!", you can answer "Awesome - do THIS thing!".

*Make COMMITTEES!  People really are intimidated by the whole process, and mostly just want to avoid looking like a fool!  If you have an outline made up explaining the job and the steps - people are more likely to say "Yeah - I can do that!"  Put it in a BINDER - so that future PTO's or planners don't have to recreate the wheel!

Rock Walls and Bungee Jumps

*Have a THEME! It may sound silly - but having a specific theme really does help focus you in term of planning.

*Concessions are a BIG MONEY MAKER! Need volunteers? Call your local teen organizations - they often times have access to kids that need community service hours (check how to make sure that you are qualified to GIVE those hours too!)



*Put your MOST popular pieces towards the back of the event - it will pull people through!  Have MAPS where things are - it's crowded!  Have more than one ticket booth and consider selling them in advance for a discount! (Armbands will save you a lot of hassle!)

Obstacle Course 

*Involve the staff - but NOT TOO MUCH!  They already have so much on their plate, think about how you can benefit the classrooms (or your charity) without adding to their load!  Delivering flyers to classrooms? Sure! Calling on the Class Parent to stuff envelopes for their class or assign volunteers for their booth? Why not!

*Have a AFTER THE EVENT meeting!  What was awesome - what was terrible - what can we do better next year.  This often overlooked step can save alot of heartache for the next years committee!

Want some expert help planning your next event? Call Michelle at Party Jumpers for help from Jousting Arenas -  Obstacle Courses - Rock Walls - Bungee Jumps - Bouncehouse - Giant Slides - Interactive Sports Games - to Cotton Candy - Sno Cones - Hot Dog Warmers - and Popcorn - one call does it all! Party Jumpers - (941) 343-0370 in the Sarasota and Bradenton Area!

We have 2 giant obstacle courses!

To Bake or Not to Bake...The Cake is the Question!

I'm thrilled that I have great friends that are WONDERFUL bakers....because at my house, where there is smoke - there's dinner!  When my kids were little, I made their birthday cakes - and at no small expense.  I would travel to the far corners of the Earth to find the "right" candy rocks for a construction birthday cake, or the perfect princess for that precious little girl.  And every year, I would beg my mother-in-law to NEVER LET ME DO THIS AGAIN. I don't have the patience to painstakingly attend to the details that are required to make a cake great and it ends up causing more stress (and more expensive when you consider all the time and energy it takes to find all the materials, buy all the materials, and apply the ice packs to your head after banging it on the kitchen table repeatedly).

So now I purchase cakes...and it's a beautiful thing!  What kind of cake you make/buy should depend on many factors, not the least your budget!  Custom cakes can run into hundreds of dollars...money that might be better spent on something that won't be consumed in five minutes!  Here in Sarasota, we've done Publix cakes, Sam's Cakes, A Slice of Heaven Cakes and some private bakers (who were AMAZING!) to get just what we needed - and honestly - they were all perfectly fine!

Ask yourself...

• What's my budget? 
• How many people am I feeding? Check out my Pinterest page for a servings chart!
• How will I store the cake (ask me about the time that i brought an ice cream cake to my daughters pony riding party....still a family favorite story)
• Do I have a theme? Favorite flavors? 
• Do I have the time and energy to pull off a masterpiece of my own?
• Do i even want a cake? How about cupcakes? Cake Pops? Cake in a Cup?

Purchasing the perfect cake for your special event doesn't make you a bad Mom - being a frantic lunatic who's been up all night battling with fondant and arrives at party battle worn might!  I'm including a few pictures of some cute cakes for your viewing enjoyment....and throwing two thumbs up to all you Mom's out there - the bakers and non-bakers alike! Party On - and don't forget the inflatable fun from Party Jumpers.  Friend us on Facebook for monthly specials on bouncehouses, waterslides, obstacle courses, giant slides, dunk tanks and more fun for every event!

Great Birthday Party - Great Mom!

I just posted about Do-It-Yourself cakes last week, a few days before tripping over some super cute pictures of a birthday party hosted by my friend Chanda.  She did just a great job, she really deserves a shout out!  Truth be told, she loves to do this stuff (outside of her regular profession as an eye doctor!) and it shows in her cute ideas.  But also, most of these could be done even by super un-crafty Mom ME!  She had a minecraft party for her 9 year old boy ( but my daughter would love this theme too!).  Check out her cute ideas here and the rest of them up on my Pinterest board.  Not into Minecraft?  There are lots of other great ideas on our Pinterest.  Need some fun party rentals? Call me at Party Jumpers (941) 343-0370 if you are in the Sarasota or Manatee Counties - We Bring The Party!




Minecraft Party Ideas

Rent an inflatable here

Friend us HERE for $20 off your next rental!

Most Awesome New Party Rental!

I love love love this thing!  Play your way!  It's a bouncer! A Basketball or Volleyball arena!  A HUGE Twister Mat! A Jousting Arena! A Boxing Arena! It's the most fun inflatable that you will rent all year!  Perfect for your backyard party, a church event or business party - kids of all ages will never stop on 324 square feet of fun!  Check out this video and then call Party Jumpers at (941) 343-0370 or check us out on the web at www.partyjumpersinc.com

Play Your Way Inflatable

We're your Party Rental connection in the Sarasota and Bradenton Area! Tables Chairs Party Games Concessions Bouncehouse Slide Waterslide Dunk Tank Obstacle Course!

Party for a cause!

When it comes to parties for my own kids - I'm one of two things - the worst Mom EVER and just do the minimum (and do THAT late!) - or I go completely overboard and make other moms growl for setting the bar too high.  For that, I do apologize.  Two of my kids had fall birthdays - and I'm just getting around to throwing something together now, in March.  Not because they don't deserve more - but because I just get distracted by ALL THE OTHER parties that I deal with daily!

In my defense, my youngest will turn seven in May, and I'm already planning that one.  Mostly because she's decided to do something so TOTALLY cool that I have no choice to get on THAT party train.  Jackie is passionate about cheetahs and has been her whole long life.  While researching cheetah conservation recently for a school project, she bumped into the Cheetah Conservation Funds website and noticed that other kids had donated birthday money towards the cause.  That was all she needed.  In spite of Jackie's tiny stature, she has never done ANYTHING little and this was obviously going to be no different.  Our initial conversation went something like this...

Jackie  " I want to have a party and everyone has to bring money for cheetahs instead of presents"

Mom "Cool!  Do you want to invite your whole class?"

Jackie "I want to invite the whole world.  I am going to raise more money than any other kid on that site"

Mom (nervously) "Well Jacks, about how many people are we talking about here?"

Jackie "I want to raise $7,000,000 - so allot Mom"

As a general rule, I don't try to limit my kids expections, but I felt like maybe we needed to set a more attainable goal for a six year old.  But even her scaled down goal was more than I could get my head around - which meant that it was going to require thinking outside the box.  And that's my speciality! 

If your kid comes to you with a similar idea - consider setting up a community page on Facebook with links to their charity.  (see below for our links!)  We checked out our charity with the Charity Navigator first to make sure that they use their funds in a responsible fashion.  We then set up a First Giving page - so that people can make donations directly to the charity and we can keep track of it. She's also asking every person she meets to help out! (thinking about a business card maybe?) And we are working on a fundraising /birthday event where we can invite a bunch of people.  We're still within a 24 hour window of starting this project, so there are allot more ideas to come.  If you have any, please feel free to share!  

If you are here because YOUR family has a birthday coming up - Happy Birthday!  Happy Planning!
If you would like to check out what Jackie is doing, click on these links!

Wild Jackie's Cheetah Chase
Jackie's Fundraising Page
The Cheetah Conservation Fund

And for help with planning your next party, check out 

Party Jumpers

Creating the party that works for you....

I've been spending allot of time party planning this week - both for my own family as well as a couple of our wonderful customers. It's fun work! The fall brings not only cooler weather at our house, but the birthdays of my four oldest children. Whew! Between the holidays and birthday parties, I am wiped by January!

There is so much to consider when planning your party, but I was reminded this week about the single most important decision you need to make. What works for you? We spend so much time on what the guest of honor wants, what the guests will need, what will look/taste/sound/feel wonderful - what we can handle often gets lost in the shuffle! Nothing can ruin a party faster than a totally stressed out host/hostess!

Because of that, I am "stealing" an idea from one of my customers this week that she is using for her children's parties - because it is pure genius! This lovely lady (ROSE!!!) has three children of different ages, but their birthdays are very close. Although her friends thinks she is nuts, she is going to have all the parties on the same day, by just staggering the times! The ages of her kids range from elementary school to high school, and mixing the guests just won't work. But setting up/paying for/breaking down for three separate parties would make any mom weak! So she decided that she would rent the items she needs once, stagger the parties throughout the day, and just dedicate one day to the complete party day! BRILLIANT! She's going to be saving time, money and sanity! I've already told my kids #3 and 4 that's what we are doing this year and they are pumped! They can have all the fixings for a great party ( dunk tank, obstacle course, bouncehouse, concessions, etc !

Don't forget, if you live in Sarasota or Manatee counties, call Party Jumpers at 941.343.0370 to help you save your sanity too!

Thanks Rose!

Backyard BLASTS!

Had to share some pictures of my new waterslide, dunk tank, and obstacle course! So much fun! Perfect for events as well as backyard parties - my kids when nuts when they saw them! (And the dunk tank is going to be a big part of the most fun science project EVER this year!!!)

Contact partyjumpersinc.com or call 941.343.0370 for more information!