Happy Friday: Fun & Frugal Birthday Party
Sent from reader, Wendi:
We just celebrated my daughter’s 6th birthday last week! It was her first “friends” party, so I wanted to go all out without breaking the bank. She chose a “Butterfly Bash” theme and we ran with it!
I bought a kit for making foam butterfly wands, baking cups, and butterfly picks for the cupcakes at Michael’s using the $5 off a purchase of $5 or more printable coupon that came out around Valentine’s Day. I got the flowery plates, nylon butterfly wings, streamers, and sparkly centerpiece at the Dollar Store. I bought the balloons with the $3 off a purchase of $3 or more coupon that Geoffrey from Toys R Us mailed my daughter for being part of their birthday club. I made tissue paper pom poms from recycled tissue paper that I’d saved from gifts the previous year. The cupcake mix was free from Safeway (part of a rebate promotion) and the frosting came free from Albertsons (coupon plus doubler on an after Easter clearance sale!) I made the place cards and straw toppers from construction paper we had around the house and spent a whopping $1.23 on bananas and asian noodles (from Winco’s bulk section) so we could assemble some caterpillar snacks using a little peanut butter.
The entire party came in under $20 (including favors, invitations, craft, dessert, snacks, games, and decor.) We’ve picked next year’s theme already, and I’m on the hunt for “Garden” items! With a little luck and a lot of forethought, I might be able to pull off next year’s party for the same price or less!
HAPPY FRIDAY! 
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Very cute party decorations!!! Job amazingly well done!! 🙂
Ditto! Awesome job!
Wow! That is awesome.. makes my budget insane for my girls birthday party!
LOL I was thinking the same thing! We go ALL out LOL! Might have to take some tips from this lady next year!
So neat! Thanks for sharing, Collin!
Aweeome job Wendi! Adorable!
Nice job, Wendi! 😀
Sooo cute! I love those cute plates! Wish my dollar store had those!
Wow Wendi!! You did AWESOME!!!
That is really great. It looks so pretty. I’m sure your daughter loved it (which is most important).
My girlfriend loves Butterflies…thanks for the ideas!
That’s adorable! You did an awesome job Wendi.
Very cute! Wendi – if you’re reading this – w/the garden theme for next year, maybe you could maybe get in on that veggie bath squirter deal that Collin posted last night for the goodie bags 😀
I am reading it, and YES, I’ll have to check out that post!
My Targets have been clearancing out their kids gardening tools…cute brightly colored metal shovels and hoes…put in a bucket with some tissue paper they’d make great favors. I think Micheals has some too that you could use 40% off coupons on (or wait til they switch to 4th of July/summer items and catch them on clearance). Cupcakes topped with crushed Oreos and gummy worms would fit the gardening them perfectly!
I was just at Target today and they have cute pink gardening tools in the dollar section at the front of the store when you enter. I think they were actually full-sized, but super cute!
I saw seeds at walmart for 0.25 cents maybe u can use it 4 decoration like everybody is a different vegetable…..
How cute is that!
Wow can u say supermom?!
wow that looks awesome! Good job! 😀
You are certainly creative! Congratulations on throwing an amazing party that didn’t break the bank. I bet your daughter’s party will be the talk of the town!
Sooo cute! I bet she was one happy birthday girl! 🙂
Love it!
Planning my sons bday party now! Great inspiration, for the frugalness…..not the butterflies. He would pass out….lol!
That’s awesome, we do something similar between 4 kids (3 mine 1 my brothers) we try to spend less then $50 each might have to see if I can do it for 20!
For a garden theme you could call any local farming/garden supplies stores! Last year when we moved from Florida to Tennessee my oldest wanted a John Deer themed party and it was so easy to find cheap and a few free JD items by calling around or unwanted signs and decorations. We even had a free tree from Lowes (or home depot don’t remember it was the Earth Day free tree giveaway) that we let the kids plant and they had a ball!
I wish my neice was girly, I want so badly to have the pretty decorations like you did!
wow!! that’s awesome!! great job, Wendi!!
Thats really good. I spent more on my son’s 7th birthday just a week ago. I spent $26.71 on 11 pizzas (5 from papa johns + 5 from little ceasars). Total was 90.71 spent $25 from viggle pts, $20 from rebate cks, $20 donation from my sis. Still it was a good party and I had a free waterslide also, my son had a blast and I was happy because I only spent a fraction of what it normally cost.
That sounds great….
Wendi,
Would you mind sharing exactly which Dollar store carries the plates? We have Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree in my area. TIA! I absolutely adore the decorations! You are very creative & frugal!
It was the Dollar Tree, Bev, and I was just there 2 days ago and couldn’t find them anymore. When I purchased the plates, they had carried a bunch of butterfly/flower themed party items, but those items seemed to have recently been replaced by luau-themed items… If you’re planning a party, I would still recommend checking out Dollar Tree! They have a lot to choose from and you can’t beat the price 🙂
I was just in my local Dollar Tree the other day and they are now carrying monster truck and race car themed plates, cups, napkins, ect. I couldn’t believe it! Awesome things for kids’ parties are popping up at the Dollar Tree!
Are you kidding me? For 20 bucks, that’s insane. I need some counseling from you! 😀
lol….Wendi! I thought that was your picture! I saw the rest on fb-good job! I love your creativity and most of all how you always pull off all you do for so little:-D
Wow what a phenomenal job you did I am sure your daughter will have wonderful memories of this party. For the garden party you can give out packets of seeds not only are they cents wax but the children will have so much fun planting them even after the party is over. Michaels always has great clearance items after spring, you can stock up on little shovels andwatering cans and gardening gloves. Theres all kinds if flower crafts you can do too what a great theme!
Thanks for the ideas, Christina! I love the seed pack idea! I’ve also heard that you can actually bake cakes and breads inside of terra cotta pots (like the 2″ or 3″ ones they sell at Michaels for .33 each sometimes.) I think I might give that a shot 🙂 Family Fun magazine has some terrific ideas for themed parties as well…(I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some garden-themed ideas in there 🙂 You can see a lot of the ideas on their website, I believe, if you don’t subscribe to the magazine!
We actually baked cakes in the terra cotta pots for a “high end” fundraiser, it worked great. We used crushed oreo cookies on top of the frosting to make it look like dirt, and added a floral stem for decoration.
And don’t forget the Gummi Worm in the “dirt” 🙂
Oh, and Dollar Tree also has “Bug Kits” (bug container with a magnifying glass, small net, & “tweezers”) for favors.
So Nicole, can you tell me a little more about baking in terra cotta pots? Did you plug the hole in the bottom of the pot with foil or something? Do the baking times change significantly? Do you grease them first or do they come out okay without?
Great job! What a beautiful party!
Wendi rocks the combination of creativity and frugality!
Oh my gosh….SO PRETTY! I do not have a crafty bone in my body unfortunately! Great job!!!
so cute! do you mind if I ask how many kiddos were at the party……and do you have a blog or something where you post tips? 🙂
We had 5 little girls in addition to my own 2 kiddos… I don’t currently have a blog (maybe someday I’ll have time for that) but here is a blog about party ideas that I absolutely LOVE! karaspartyideas.blogspot.com
One other thing: Good Job Wendi on thinking so far ahead!!! With a year of focus (and the current gardening season), you will have a bountiful harvest of garden decor, favors, etc! It pays to think ahead!
Terrific! Wendi, keep an eye out at the Target Dollar area. Certain parts are regularly clearanced, 50-70%, as new merchandise comes in. I’ve found favors for my kids’ parties there, like notepads and small games, during those clearanced times. The spring items will be clearanced once the summer items are ready.
Wow is Wendi talented! It must be genetic… Who’s her Dad??
Hummm… could it be Lester H.????
HA! Good guess… and Lester is his alias, not his real name, but you can tell a dad no matter what name they hide behind, huh?
One year I did a crayola theme, I made a cake that looked like a crayon, and gift bags with crayons and markers and notepads. It was cheap and most important fun for the girls.
That is amazing Wendy!!!! You sure know how to throw a great party ( even better frugally)!! 🙂