I thought I'd share the tidbits of information that I learned in my quest to make Lulu's sixth birthday party special while also cutting some financial corners.
When first I set out, I did the obvious - I Googled "birthdays on a budget".
BAM! Ideas everywhere!! Some were inexpensive but took an outrageous amount of work. Others were super creative and ridiculously simple - right up my alley!
One single mom on a budget posted thru a Yahoo! site that she decided the best party she could throw for her child was one where she was able to give her something she rarely had to give....all her attention and time. I thought that was super touching.
Her child, born in the warmer months, was able to have an indoor/outdoor party. They did everything from play with sidewalk chalk to run thru the hose to make pet rocks (with supplies bought from a local dollar store). Also, all the party favors were "prizes" the kids won and which the mom had wrapped up special, also from the dollar store.
She said that, years later, her daughter's friends still talked about the best birthday party they'd ever had.
Initially I thought the pet rocks were a super idea! But when I thought more about it, I decided to have the kids make homemade birdfeeders (something my kids and I had done at the park district some years ago). Supplies needed: half a bagel per guest, peanut butter, twine and birdseed. All the kids did was spread the peanut butter on the bagel half, tie the twine thru the loop of the bagel to make a hanger and either dip the buttered bagel in birdseed or sprinkle it on by hand. (Word of advice on this - I checked with every parent at drop-off to make sure their child didn't have a peanut allergy.)
After the birdfeeders were finished, they were bagged in paper bags marked with each child's name on it. We hung our's outside, and it was gone by the next morning.
We also did a "prize walk". (Similar to "musical chairs" but without the risk of bodily harm as five and six-year-olds slammed into each other to get to a chair.) Also, instead of one winner, everyone was a winner.
We marked out a circle on the floor and used painter's tape to put down 15 numbers. We started the music, and then the kids walked around in a circle until the music stopped. Once the music stopped, the kids all landed on a number. A number was drawn from a box, and whoever was standing on that number received their prize.
There was minor grumbling each time a number was called, as the rest of the kids were still in the game. They cheered up when they learned that there was a "Last Kid Standing" prize that went to the last player left.
Another cost-saver was to make homemade goodie bags. I had Lulu and little brother Henry decorate plain brown paper lunch sacks with markers. I then paper punched two holes on either side of the bag, with the edge slightly turned down, and strung colored ribbon thru as a "handle". I used green ribbon for girls and black ribbon for boys (so the boys wouldn't be getting pink poodle backpack clip-ons and the girls wouldn't be getting triceratops bounce balloons, ha ha).
Instead of paper decorations from the party store, we strung Christmas lights to give the room a party atmosphere (though we did have some birthday dangling decor from years past that we added, but we did not buy anything new for the decorations). We used a really cute vinyl cupcake tablecloth that my mom had found on sale and had given to me for the cake table.
We also did a "mock celebrity photo shoot". This was my favorite part, though hubby had to run this in the other room. It gave the kids something to do while the "prize walk" was still going on, and it allowed the kids to really use their imagination.
How we did it: we suspended a white bed sheet on a wall as a backdrop and used an off-white blanket on the floor. We propped our camera on a tripod and played with lighting by using a garage work light. To diffuse the light, we used parchment paper (which is safe for use in the oven, so it was safe to use over the hot light). We had our kids gather costumes, props and accessories from around the house and put them in a laundry basket next to the backdrop. Each kid could then let their imaginations run wild. Some used a giant duck umbrella, others used microphones to pretend to be their favorite singers, some went all out and changed into fairy or princess costumes.
Our last budget-friendly choice was to make a homemade Oreo ice cream cake, an idea shared with me by my good friend Kelly.
I, who do not cook, thought it tasted really good! How we did it: six ice cream sandwiches lined the bottom of the pan; added a heavy layer of Cool Whip, crushed Hershey bars and chocolate sauce; added another layer of six ice cream sandwiches and topped it off with an extra-heavy layer of Cool Whip and crumbled Oreos.
So, would we host 13 four, five, six and seven-year-olds at our house again?
If you'd have asked us that day, we'd have said "Probably not!!", only because our backs were sore from the preparations, etc.
However, the kids were kept busy, there was no fighting or tears, and everyone went home safe and happy. I would say yes - I would do it again. Of course, I got to be creative AND I got to involve my kids. Those were two big pro's for me. And Lucy really enjoyed herself, which was, of course, the whole purpose of the day.
Below is a link to some pics of some of our ideas. I hope you find these helpful.
http://mamaonajourney.typepad.com/restoring-our-victorian-h/2012/02/birthdays-on-a-budget-1.html
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