Children's Parties On A Budget!
With the pandemic I’m quite sure everyone has made a few adjustments in their day to day. However just because of the pandemic does that mean that we still can’t celebrate our festive occasions? NO! NOT AT ALL! Remember there’s a way around everything! Especially for those of us who have little ones! Why should our children not feel excited about turning another year old? I mean it’s not their fault the world is having a health crisis! For my family we kept everything the same! I’ve never been one to splurge on my children’s birthday parties! However it never looks that way! Me and my husband are old school! We believe that there’s nothing wrong with home based birthday parties. That means a birthday party at our home with our closest family, and friends. Only difference this year was no friends, only close family members, which isn’t a lot!
We have games for everyone to play, me and hubby do our own decorating, of course I make the birthday cake and treats, and so far as food we order pizza with juice! Now with us doing everything ourselves, and no hall rental fee we save a ton of money! There’s no need for a DJ when we can play our own music through speakers, no need for an event decorator when we decorate ourselves, and no need for balloon services, me and hubby make our only balloon columns! Sounds like a lot of work but it’s not as stressful as it sounds! I’m gonna share with you guys my tips on how to plan a child’s birthday party on a budget! You’ll thank me later!
'‘You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to achieve the look of a quality, decorative children’s party!”
These are my cupcake ice cream cones from my daughter’s 11th birthday party! The stand I purchased through Amazon (only $10), ice cream cones and sprinkles from a local market (less than $6) , mermaid fondant mold from Amazon ($10), and if you don’t know how to bake from scratch no worries buy boxed cake mix from your local market! I’m quite sure your kids are gonna love it no matter what! Often times local markets now carry basic cake decorating supplies in the baking aisle !
First things first! When planning your child’s birthday party start as early as possible! Decide on your theme and gather you party ideas together! I usually create a board of ideas using Pintrest. If you don’t have a Pintrest account, I suggest you get one! This app is very helpful when looking for ideas for just about anything! At least 1-2 months in advance you should begin your planning. This gives you time to order items such as table cloth’s, themed plates, napkins, cups, balloons, and any other type of decorations you wish to include! Also after deciding on a theme, pick out a date/time and send out your evites! These are electronic invites!
I use evites to send to my guests all the time! It saves you time, and money. I use another handy app called Canva! You can use Canva to create invitations, posters, flyers, even social media posts including advertising! It’s my go to, definitely a lifesaver! You’ll never mail another invitation again! Canva has different themes and templates you can use for your evite! There are plenty for free, but of course the more fancy ones cost a fee!
Save Time & Money!
Let’s Talk Decorating!
Of course me being a cake decorator myself, I highly suggest putting in your cake order at a minimum of 3 weeks in advance! Whether it be through your local bakery, supermarket, or personal cake person! There’s nothing like having a birthday party with an eye catching cake! You want to make sure your date is reserved ahead of time! After all the cake is the centerpiece! Make sure you have a good head count so that you can tell your baker how many people the cake or cupcakes need to serve!
Now the fun part aka the actual work! Every year for my children’s birthday parties I always make sure they have a backdrop and balloon column, and maybe some kind of cut outs or big gesture! Typically depending on the theme I purchase my cups, plates, and napkins from either Party City or Hobby Lobby! Both have a broad selection of themes! If not my back up is Amazon!
I purchase my latex and foil balloons through Amazon! I personally feel like Amazon has a bigger but yet less costly selection of balloon choices! Now I know what you’re thinking! You order your balloons online but who do you get to blow them up? Well the answer is quite simple……ME! Well me and my husband!
The amount of money you spend per balloon for helium, you make out better doing it yourself! I have my own personal helium tank, and balloon blower! I use the helium tank to blow up the foil balloons, while using the balloon blower to blow up the latex balloons! The latex balloons don’t need to float! They’re going either on a balloon arch or balloon column any way!
I purchased my balloon blower on Amazon, and my helium tank from Sam’s Club! Saves you a ton of money, and blowing your breath! LOL……Half the time I still have helium left over to use for other occasions throughout the year! Another thing I failed to mention I purchased my balloon column kit from Amazon as well! I learned how to make balloon columns and arches through YouTube University! You can find millions of DIY YouTube videos online! Which is another free source to educate yourself! I’m all about saving money!
I absolutely enjoy being an event planner when it comes to my children’s birthday parties!
Now when it comes to back drops, cut outs and other decorations I love to shop via Walmart, Dollar Tree, Amazon or Etsy ! As I’ve mentioned before I love looking up ideas through Pintrest! I’m a big craft queen! So I personally like creating my own birthday props! For my son’s 5th birthday last year I made him his own Trolly from his favorite show Daniel Tiger! He was so eager to hop inside and play! It was made of cardboard boxes, acrylic paint, glue, and paper plates! It cost me less than $20,and only under 1 hour to make! He loved it!
Speaking of time, that’s another crucial factor! Me and my husband like to give our kids that WOW factor! So that means we sacrifice our time to decorate and put things together the night before! Which means no peeking! We don’t start decorating until the kiddies are in the bed fully sleep! This may include rearranging furniture, blowing up balloons, hanging back drops, wall decorations, ceiling decorations, the whole nine! At the end of it all, when we see the excitement in their faces the next day it’s totally worth the effort!
I hope these tips gave great advice on how you too can save money when throwing a child’s birthday party!
