I was ALSO glad I had began planning a full 6 weeks in advance, because saving money often means investing a little more time into the details. Do not allow a time crunch to sink your party! Designate a notebook as your party planning book, and brainstorm ideas for food and decor. There will always be last minute addons, but you can keep from breaking the bank if you put your ideas on paper before you begin.
Make sure that at least half of your items can be prepared in advance. Before I learned this trick, I was the frazzled woman, running around the house tense and snippy. Although I enjoy making birthdays special for the people I love, these parties had me up at 5 A.M. prepping food and decorating the party space. By the time the party started, I was a MESS! Wrap boxes in colors that coordinate with your theme. Get a large piece of thin, light wood and decorate it as the backdrop. Fill candy jars with colorful treats, and get those goodie bags stuffed early. You will be amazed how good you feel with these projects crossed off before the big day arrives! These are also great ideas for your spouse to help with, if you happen to be a Type A (like myself). Delegating a few tasks to others can give you extra time to focus on the details you want to personally oversee.
Our party was mid-February, so I began nailing down the theme right after New Years. I collected boxes in every shape and size, and became the toilet paper general, swiping used rolls to be the perfect Lego toppers. Party City had the best selection of solid colored wrapping paper, and I scooped up enough rolls to turn our entire house into a giant Lego! (Ok, not really, but it FELT like it by the time we were done!)
Each of the 4 tables at the party had a giant Lego in the middle, the food table had a Lego stack, the children's table had Legos hanging above it...and my total investment was about $6.00! How's that for frugal?!?
We chugged enough water bottles to create this fun ring toss game:
I used some extrabucks at CVS to get some tissue boxes for next to nothing. These were wrapped and dotted to look like legos, and would have been set up with balls for bowling if we had needed any other entertainment for the little ones.
The menu was themed, but not too hard, or expensive to create. I cooked a whole ham and sliced it into rectangles along with cheese and bread for a "build your own sandwich" table. Strawberry, pineapple, and blueberries were stacked for fruit picks, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers were stacked for veggie picks. We made these rice krispie Legos:
and served the grid pretzels along with juice boxes wrapped in lego paper. The part of the party I was most proud of was dessert. Several evenings were spent at the dinner table painting little Lego men into this awesome mold. Wouldn't this make some adorable little soaps, or even crayons for the goodie bags after the food making is complete? I love finding multiple uses for my purchases!
We used them to top cupcakes made with my homemade buttercream frosting for a special treat. The boys loved them, and I loved not having to slice a cake!
I was able to keep the cost of the party right around $100, including the rental of the park pavilion. We had 30 guests, and could have fed at least 10 more with what we had left. It really pays to plan ahead and find ways to create magic, instead of just buying it off the shelf! Our themed party was very special, and I know the boys will remember it for years to come!
I LOVE to help with party planning. If you have an idea you would like to encorporate into your child's special day and are stuck on how to get things rolling, send me a message on my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/PurpleCarrotsInc/247967425287908
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