Throwing a Thrifty Party

As a twenty-something mom of two I seem to be throwing a party a few times a year. Its usually birthday parties for my boys or baby showers for my girl friends. I love getting into a theme, making my guests feel special, creating a relaxing atmosphere, and making things "pretty." In the past I have gone "all -out" with these occasions and spent way more money than I had planned on which can quickly take the joy out of the occasion. Along the way I have learned a few things about throwing a party on a budget and have found more joy in knowing I have created something special while keeping my bank account in tact.


1. I find one thing to focus on which will be the center of the table and the "focal' point. For the last shower and my sons birthday party it was the cake.


2. Make your own cake. .it is possible to make a really good looking cake from scratch. This is alot easier to do than one would think. For the spider man cake I found the recipe online and the tiered flower cake I created from a picture on the fondant box. Fondant is one of the best ways to make a cake look great. Get it at michaels or acmoore and use the 40 percent off weekly coupon in the paper. I borrowed the cake pans from my sister in law. If you want to invest in your own cake pans and cake supplies and you have one of these store close by ..build up your collection over time by using the coupon on one item each week. For the above cake I had to use two boxes of fondant at 6.99 each..and one colored box.With the coupons that was under 4 dollars a box..and the cake mix and icing I either get FREE at publix or make from scratch...You are talking a cake for around 12 daollars. Not a bad deal!!!

3. Instead of lots of "snacky' foods..make a meal. This is very decieving but when you add up the costs of tons of teeny appetizers versus three dishes...it is alot more budget friendly- and impressive to do a meal. For this baby shower i did marinated chicken skewers, wild rice, and spinach salad with mandaran oranges and cranberries.I also did a fruit bouquet which is so easy but people are still impressed with!!

4. Plan WAY ahead and pick up the items you need for your menu as you go week to week shopping. Purchase your meal items when you can get them FREE or REALLY Cheap For example i got the chicken from Harris teeter when it was Buy One Get Two free. The rice a roni I got free at publix- 8 boxes!, and the produce I got on a great discount at publix by using their store coupons combined with food lion coupons and manufacturers coupons. You can also use overage from other purchases to contribute to the produce items.

5. Keep decorations simple....I usually do without balloons at baby showers. Tie a ribbon over the table and hang some baby clothes and socks and hats with clothes pins. I got the clothes brand new in packages from a garage sale all together they were less than 50 cents. Or go to the craft store and get the babies name in those train pieces..paint them and spray them with a clear coat for a cute table decoration...For birthday parties keep your eyes peeled for off- seasonal clearance for favor bags, favors, and things to decorate. My son was having a spider man party this year so I waited till after halloween clearance was at 90 percent and then got spiderman stickers, webs, spider rings etc....valentines clearance will be next- think ahead...what could you get and do with it? Be creative!! My friend strung pictures of her little girl across the table and fireplace on string and colored paper cutouts- it was so cute and what little girl doesn't love looking at herself?

6. Favors- for kids favors a good place to look is the craft store- right now they have 50 percent off dollar items at Michaels. Or if you have more time buy some wooden cutouts...buy "kid friendly" paint or spray paint..paint them...and stick pieces of magnet tape on the back for their own take-home magnet. With these you can also buy them already painted and use a marker to personalize your childs name and date on them.

7. For kids party Entertainment..if your house isn't accommodating for little ones- try to borrow a friends house or family members house for the event. Ask around- alot of people own a little tikes jump castle that you could borrow and of course there are good old fashioned party games- just from experience make sure they are age appropriate. For our spiderman party we strung TONS of spiderweb across our screened porch and put different "treasure" items for the kids to pick out and put in their goody bags. We also had a friend come and do 'airbrush "painting on the kids faces. As another option, get your own face paints and designate a friend or family member to paint faces!

7. Whats a party without gifts? For the last baby shower we threw I painted the "maya" train in the picture. That cost 6 dollars. Also, the brand new clothes we used as decoration we gave to the expectant mom- and as i said before those were almost free. As a rule, we shop the after Christmas clearance sales and stock up on gifts to use throughout the year for birthday parties.Walmart wil often clereance down character bath play sets and toys to a few dollars. Get creative! I also know of a friend that made her daughter a digital scrapbook album of pictures.She loved it! We also shop for our boys at garage sales. They are not old enough to "want" specific toys so I often collect barely used or new toys throughout the year for their birthdays or Christmas. I also find brand new items still in packaging at garage sales that go in our 'gift stockplie."

Questions? Leave them in the comment section!