Party Invitations, Party Planning & Event Ideas

Winter One-derland First Birthday Party

My son celebrated his first birthday on December 27.  I know as a first time mom I’m supposed to want to go all out and have a big bash for his first birthday, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I decided to save the big blow out for his second birthday.  Instead we just had a little very budget friendly “Winter One-derland” get-together with our closest family members.

Instead of sending out invites through the snail-mail I decided to go the quick and cheap route with Evite.com.  I created a “Winter One-derland” logo on Microsoft Publisher using clip-art that I used in the invitation as the main image.  Within an hour all the invites had been sent out and were sitting in inboxes waiting for RSVPs.

 
  
Budget Friendly Tip: You don’t have to be a genius at (the expensive) Photoshop to create cute digital invitations.  With just a little time and patience you can easily create one-of-a-kind invites or invite logos using Microsoft Publisher and the Paint tool found on most computers.  Since it’s becoming more popular to send invitations through email don’t be afraid to use the wonderful inexpensive services of Sendomatic.com or Evite.com.  Some of the most original invitations I’ve seen have been made using these websites.

I hadn’t really planned on decorating much since I wanted to keep the budget really small.  I popped on over to my local Dollar Store to buy some cute snowflake paper plates my sister-in-law had found and while I was there (did I mention this was on December 26?!) I discovered ALL Christmas decorations were on sale for $0.50!  I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I scooped up all the snowflake decorations I could fit in my cart.  I also bought snowflake covered tablecloths and plastic cups with blue and green snowflakes similar to these found at Windy City Novelties.  We didn’t have much snow on the ground, so I stuck snowflake stickers onto our door and windows. 

Budget Friendly Tip: While it doesn’t get much more budget friendly than the Dollar Store, you could make the decorations yourself.  It wouldn’t take much more than a stack of paper in white and blue, plus a pair of scissors to create dozens of snowflakes.  Hang the snowflakes from your ceiling with “invisible” fishing line. You could also shred paper to make your very own snow piles!  I’m also a huge fan of foam crafts.  For a low cost and in a short amount of time I made a “Sammy’s Winter One-derland” birthday sign.  I also made the birthday boy his very own party hat with foam board and stickers.

 
During the winter months I tend to be in the mood for foods that are hearty and remind me of being warm and cozy.  For the main course I opted for Sheppard’s Pie, one of my all time favorite meals.  This was an easy meal to make for a larger crowd.  Plus, it would be easy for the guest of honor, who was just starting to eat “adult” foods,  to chow down on.  I made cupcakes for the birthday cake.  I bought really cute ceramic cupcake pans at AC Moore, on sale for $5 from $20!

 
Budget Friendly Tip: Feeding a crowd is rarely budget friendly.  However, by sticking with a simple menu you can help keep your costs down.  It’s very easy to double or triple a favorite recipe of yours that you already love to make for normal family meals.  If you need a little help converting your “Serves 4” recipe to “Serves 25” check out this Recipe Converter.

Since I wanted to keep things low key, I didn’t plan activities or games for the guests.  We kept the event fairly short, so guests wouldn’t have time to get bored between eating and chit-chatting.  The kids in attendance were kept busy with the Wii.  Winter Sports 2, the Wii game, would be an excellent addition to any Winter One (or Won)-derland party.

Budget Friendly Tip: Had I chosen to have an activity for the guests, I would have saved money by combining the activity and the favor with a Make Your Own Photo Snow Globe.  Oriental Trading sells snow globes kits.  Instead of using the sports template included with the kit, I would have taken a picture of each guest with our birthday boy and printed them out during the party.  Then each guest could insert their photo in their snow globe!  Instant memories and a fun winter decoration for years to come!

 
For more pictures and details visit A Yummy Mummy on a Pink Park Bench.

I wanted to start off by thanking CME for allowing me the pleasure to be a guest blogger. Thanks so much! :)

For those of you with a birthday coming up soon and no clue what theme to use for a party, never fear. Just about ANYTHING can be turned into a theme- your favorite artist, music, flower, place... ANYTHING! Grab a piece of paper and write down 10 of your favorites. Are you a Starbucks junkie? Have a grown up tea party with your girlfriends. Or maybe you pictures all over your house from when you went on vacation to the Bahamas. Put a spin on the run of the mill Luau.

Let's say your favorite artist is Romero Britto. With his bold patterns & bright colors, his art work would make a great theme for your party. Linenbook.com has a Britto table linen in their Specialty section you can use for the main table where the cake is or for a few highboy tables if you're having a cocktail type party. You don't want to put patterned linens on EACH table- it'll look like a preschool. Also use black linens to make the art pop.

If you've decided to use the patterned linens on the guest tables, use clearn plastic plates and utensils.

For decorations, google some of his art work and print it on card stock, or order some posters from Art.com. Put a couple on the walls and near the main tables. Your centerpieces can be colorful and crazy. He is known for his daisy art, so a few gerberas arranged artfully will make his art work come to life.

Go crazy with the cake! Take some of his prints to your local baker and ask if they can incorporate his smaller prints- the heart, the daisy, the fishes, onto the sides of the cake. If you'd like, have a topsy-turvy cake to add boldness.

I hope you guys liked my post! Have a great day :)

Frugal Find: Bridal Shower(or any occasion) Centerpieces

 
Hi Everyone!

It's Tina again.  Today I am going to share with you an amazing find, and how to transform it into a beautiful floral centerpiece for a wedding, shower or party!

This my friends, is the 9 1/2 inch floral vase found at Dollar Tree for.....yes $1.00!!!  I came across these vases while out looking for thrifty inspiration for a bridal shower that I was hosting for 60 people!!  I found one at my local store, then I scoured every Dollar Tree in my town, AND the next town over...I only found 4.  Luckily for me, I had the idea to check on line and see if they could be ordered.  You can get a case of 6 vases here.  They will ship them to your local Dollar Tree for a mere $4.95 handling fee, you just have to go pick them up.  I recommend this over having them delivered to your house because the shipping is $13.95 plusthe $4.95 handling fee. So, just keep that in mind when ordering them on line. 

Now, back to the transformation...I designed the wedding invitations,(click here to view them) in a black, white and pink color scheme.  So, my fellow hostess and I decided to continue those colors on into the shower theme, adding a little grey into the mix.  First, we took the vases and filled them with white tissue paper.  $2.99 for a package of 90 sheets at our local craft store.  3 sheets crumbled into each vase filled them to the top.  Next, we took several different styles and shades of pink flowers and filled each vase with a mix.  Wrapping the stems in the tissue paper for a clean look.  For 16 vases, I bought 21 bunches of pink flowers.  These were also found at Dollar Tree.  They have a surprisingly large assortment of fake flowers!  Each bunch came with about 6-7 flowers.  We cut them apart to mix the colors and types for each vase. 

Next, we took 12 X 12 inch scrapbook paper and cut them into 3 inch strips.  We used 4 different black, white and grey patterns. 

These were going to be glued around the center of each vase.  They were just a tad too small to wrap all the way around, so I had an idea to have the H monogram that was used for her invitations printed out in 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch squares.  A little adjustment to the colors and they worked perfectly.  I had a little trouble getting the scrapbook mounting squares to stick to the paper tightly, so I ended up putting a tiny dab of hot glue on each side to keep them in place.  It worked great, and they turned out beautiful. 

Here is a breakdown of the items we used and their costs including tax and handeling fees:

$0.65 - 4 12X12 sheets of scrapbook paper

$3.24 - tissue paper

$18.35 - vases we had shipped to store

$4.33 - vases I bought in the store

$22.73 - flowers

$4.32 - H monograms printed on glossy card stock paper(done at my local print shop)

For a grand total of $53.62, when divided by 16, comes to a fantastic $3.35 EACH!!  We had 2 flower arrangements per table, and everyone loved them, especially the Bride-To-Be!

Well, this concludes my guest blog for today.  But be sure to check back next Tuesday.  I will have more pictures and tips from this bridal shower! 

Party On,

Tina