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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

                                  CERTIFICATION
                           OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
                           PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-14(a)
                     Or Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities
                            Exchange Act, as amended

I, Gerald C. Rittenberg, certify that:

      1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Amscan
            Holdings, Inc;

      2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
            statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
            necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
            under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect
            to the period covered by this report;

      3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
            information included in this report, fairly present in all material
            respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
            flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
            this report;

      4.    The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible
            for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
            (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a - 15(e) and 15d - 15(e)) for
            the registrant and have:

                  a)    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
                        caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                        designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
                        information relating to the registrant, including its
                        consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
                        within those entities, particularly during the period in
                        which this report is being prepared;

                  b)    Omitted as permitted;

                  c)    Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
                        disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this
                        report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
                        disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
                        period covered by this report based on such evaluation;
                        and

                  d)    Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                        internal control over financial reporting that occurred
                        during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that
                        has materially affected or is reasonably likely to
                        materially affect, the registrant's internal control
                        over financial reporting; and

      5.    The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
            based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
            financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
            committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons performing
            the equivalent functions):

            a)    All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                  design or operation of internal control over financial
                  reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                  registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                  financial information; and

            b)    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in the
                  registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date: August 13, 2004

                                                   /s/ Gerald C. Rittenberg
                                                -----------------------------
                                                    Gerald C. Rittenberg
                                                   Chief Executive Officer
                                                (Principal executive officer)