Awhile back I mentioned my total lack of planning for Grayson's birthday party. I'm happy to say everything turned out great. I spent most of last week putting together all the last minute touches. Alright, alright....ALL the touches. I did everything last minute 😠. Luckily I had most everything purchased and only had to assemble all the DIYs. Yeah alright, that's a lie too. I had to run to the party store and Michael's more than I'd like to admit last week to get things I forgot to buy! I did however keep everything relatively simple and inexpensive. It's amazing what balloons, streamers and a few hours with scrapbook paper and a hole punch can accomplish! Add a few other "extras" and it all just comes together.
Read on below to see how I put together a budget friendly party!
Flag banners were all made out of heavy scrapbook paper. I simply measured out the length I wanted then cut, hole punched and then threaded with ribbon. I had these throughout the house. You can buy scrapbook paper usually between .25- .75. I believe my total cost for all the scrapbook paper I used was under $3.00!
Goodie Bags: I used Black bags that I got from the local party store $1 each. I cut and glued on red construction paper and then added yellow circle stickers. I had girl bags and boy bags. The boy bags had a red Mickey sticker on the outside and a Mickey Mouse Coloring book. The girl bags had a pink Minnie sticker and a Minnie Mouse coloring book. Coloring Books were a $1 each and purchased at Five Below. Each bag of also contained a small box of crayons, a few pieces candy and had room for each child's art/activity projects that they could make.
Now for some reason I didn't take a picture of the crafts I bought for the kids to do. I will show you what I got though. I bought
THESE amazing frames. They come 10 to a pack and there are just so many ways kids can decorate them! And they are only $1.99 a pack!! We used
THESE foam stickers, currently on sale, to decorate our frames. Instead of your traditional party hats, I got super cute
Minnie and Mickey foam visors! And last, we got little felt posters,
HERE, for $1.79!
Another simple item I made was the "Thanks For Popping By!!" popcorn bags. I made the labels on the computer, you could always order them on Etsy if you don't wish to make your own, and then printed, cut and attached to thick scrapbook paper. I made tons of popcorn with our air popper and placed in sandwich bags. Then simply stapled my labels to each bag. Cute, inexpensive and best of all easy!
For Grayson's chair I measured out ribbons that I bought from Michael's. Cut and then hot glued to a long rope. Once dry I used packing tape to attach to his highchair tray. After the party I removed each ribbon and kept the clean ones. I eventually plan on making hair ribbons for Lily with them....you know in all my spare time 😜
Yes...we had beers. We also had water bottles, soda, and juice boxes.
For this display (below) I reused a mason jar from a different party. Painted half red and then added yellow circle stickers once it dried. Inside the jar is black fish tank rocks and yellow tissue paper. Both, also from a different party along with the red and white pompoms. *I have a huge Rubbermaid container full of different color balloons, streamers, mason jars and other reusable party supplies.* The Mickey felt shaped head, is taped to a wooden dowel rod. The number one I made out of scrapbook paper. The Mickey felt head was a $1.79. Total spent on two mason jar decorations, $3.58. Both jars are now back in the party container till I can reuse them. If you have the room, I can not tell you enough just how helpful it is to put aside a large container solely for decorations.
Below is a wooden frame that I got at Michael's for $1. I painted it red and black and hot glued some old buttons to it. I placed our menu inside and will later place a picture of Grayson eating his birthday cake. Something so simple and inexpensive is one of the little details I was talking about. It takes minutes to do but really makes a difference decorating wise.
A few Mickey themed condiments. Scrapbook paper and glue. That's it. This scrapbook paper was around .75 and has now been used multiply times. *Once again you can find more custom labels on Etsy and other places but I was going for low cost and well you really can't beat .75
The Cake: Made it myself. Cupcakes: Hubby decorated.
I hope you were able to get some decorating ideas from this post and able to see how easy it is to make the "extra" details yourself.
I finally managed to get out to the garden to pick some veggies. Oh my goodness!! I ended up with so much kale my normal go to recipes just weren't enough. My husband and Lily are not a big fans of kale and will only eat it cooked certain ways. Hubby likes Zuppa Toscana soup and Lily adores lightly salted kale chips. So after making a batch of each I had to think of what to do with the rest! After searching the pantry I decided to go with Kale Pesto! Such an easy recipe. And so amazingly good on pasta! Lily even ate two whole servings! and if you know Lily or just have experience with toddlers, you know how picky these mini dictators can be! Asia even stopped by last night and had a big bowl of Toscana soup and then a heaping plate of my kale pesto pasta!
