Buying a Flowering Plant As a Birthday Gift; Easy Flower Ideas

A brilliant, cheerful bouquet of flowers will make anyone’s birthday special.  But we love a floral gift even more if it’s in a planter, and will last  longer than the blossoms of cut flowers.

Even unskilled gardeners are delighted to receive a flowering plant as a birthday gift.  As long as they have instructions and a little motivation, a plant can be a personal and unique gift that can last for years to come.

One idea for a birthday flowering plant is an amaryllis bulb garden,  usually given as it’s ready to begin sprouting.  The receiver will have stunning blossoms to look forward to in the coming weeks.  But keep in mind a bulb garden will require some effort to properly water, fertilize and store bulbs.

A bonsai tree also makes a wonderful gift.  It doesn’t take up too much space and looks beautiful with nearly any decor.  Caring for a bonsai tree is fairly straightforward.  A bonsai tree needs light, misting and regular fertilizing.

An azalea plant generally requires only some light misting and pruning.   It represents abundance and will keep blooming season after season.

A miniature rose bush also makes a nice birthday gift.  It needs plenty of  light to bloom indoors, but once they are planted outside in a sunny spot, they can be quite resilient, and show their happy flowers again and again.

An exotic orchid can be the ultimate gift, but most require considerable attention to water, humidity and drainage, and are known to be tempermental.   These typically aren’t recommended unless the birthday recipient has an affinity or knack for taking care of plants.

If these options still seem like too much responsibility, a wreath made from beautifully preserved fruits and
flowers can smell wonderful and serve as a lasting decoration; minimal care required.

Prices can range between twenty and seventy dollars for a flowering birthday plant, depending on the
presentation and vessel used. To reduce your carbon footprint, go with what’s in season and sourced locally, if possible.

Kids Eco-Friendly Birthday Party Ideas – Awesome List!

Kiwi Magazine, dedicated to organic family topics, published this wonderful list of eco-friendly birthday party ideas.

Here are just a few:

“Bookworms: Have each kid bring a new or gently used book for a book exchange. Then have everyone sit a circle and contribute to making up a story. Write their tale down on recycled paper, and let the kids decorate it with green paints, soy crayons and markers.

Support the Community: Call your local fire or police station and ask for a tour. Perhaps in lieu of gifts, the families could donate money to the station.

Birthday Olympics: Set up a series of fun activities including relay races, jump rope and kickball. For treats, hand out organic cookie “medals” or energy bars for kids such as Clif Zbar.

Backyard Eco-camping: Start the party at dusk. Set up tents in the backyard, tell spooky stories, gaze at the stars and identify constellations. For treats, have kids make their own organic s’mores and trail mix. Older kids can have a sleepover in the tents.

Finger Paintin’ Fun: Use eco friendly paints and recycled paper to let the kids create their own masterpieces. The kids can take these home as favors or you could hang them up in your child’s room.”

Kids Birthday Party Ideas & Games – Eco-Friendly.

Simple Birthday Party Wrapping Paper

We loved this simple idea of buying bulk rolls of butcher paper and kraft paper for wrapping birthday and other holiday presents.  Using plain white or brown paper can look so elegant, yet is so economical. You can easily add special ribbons, labels, tissue paper or tag to personalize the birthday gift.

“I’ve been researching packaging for shipping the Divine bakers Twine. While doing so I perused ULINE and ended up buying  ginormous rolls of paper. One is 24″ white butcher paper ($45) and the other 24″ light brown kraft paper ($24). I plan on using them for wrapping gifts and with 1,100′ of one and 900′ of the other I think they will last me the rest of my life! I’m a little disappointed that the butcher paper is not thick enough to be opaque. You can still see what you’ve wrapped through the paper. But, it will look pretty if I wrap the gift first in colored tissue paper. I love using plain paper for gift wrap. It’s so versatile. You can draw/color on it (great for kids to decorate for their friend’s birthday gifts), decorate with stickers/labels, tie with fancy ribbon or not-so-fancy ribbon/twine or wrap a band of contrast paper around it. Endless possibilities!”

Whisker Graphics – Lifetime Supply of Wrapping Paper.

Eco-Friendly Birthday Party Invitations

Even though we’ve recommended services like Evite as a way to invite and manage birthday party guests, sometimes you want to send a physical invitation.

We came across this post about Red Stamp birthday party invitations made of recycled card stock using 100% renewable green energy.   They also happen to have some of the loveliest designed birthday invitations and stationery we’ve ever seen, thanks to a cadre of fabulous graphic designers.  It’s also a postcard, so save on postage, and the envelope!

Sustainable Birthday Party Invitations | Daily Greenz, the Blog from Greenzer.com.

More Green, Eco-Friendly Birthday Party Ideas

There are so many simple ways to green your birthday party.  This article offers some great, practical eco-friendly advice and insights.   It suggests that smaller birthday gatherings are better, (agreed!) and it may even be easier to host two smaller gatherings (say, one for friends, and one for family) than to host one gigantic birthday party.

Here’s an excerpt with a few more ideas:

“Bid adieu to balloons
Balloons are treated with ammonia, tetramethyl thiuram disulfide, zinc oxide and added plasticizers – and frankly, they aren’t very green. If they aren’t there, they won’t miss ‘em.

Goody bags
Goody bags are exciting for any kid, but pumping them full of candy and useless items is just a waste. Before the event, get crafty with your child with homemade gifts. Try hemp or beaded bracelets, each with a personalized touch to fit their friend’s personality. Alternately, bake a few batches of different cookies with your child, then get paper Chinese take-out containers from your local craft store, and fill them with the treats. Add the recipes for the parents.

Want to add a little more? Have a take-home craft project with instructions provided.”

Greening your child’s birthday party | Ecoki.