Birthday on a Budget - The Mommy Teacher

July 19th is my oldest son’s 6th birthday – OR as I like to call it – my 6th anniversary of becoming a MOM! Birthdays are a BIG DEAL to us mommies, too – mostly because of the HUGE milestone ::tear:: of our babies becoming a whole number older – and partly because of the huge expense on the bank account of throwing a birthday bash. And with 3 kids ::YIKES!:: it can be downright brutal to the piggy bank labeled, “parties.” This is why I spaced my kids out evenly throughout the year (joking… I mean, not even I could have planned that one out)… but we do save up for each party… February-April for Baby Girl’s spring birthday, May-July for Big Bear’s summer birthday, and August-October for Little Man’s fall birthday… so, yup… we spend all year SAVING for birthdays, yet we STILL party plan on a small budget.

Now, let’s see… 5 + 3 = 8 boy parties (plus that one year where my oldest got two parties… so make that 9 boy parties and this year I got to throw my very first GIRL party… but before I share with you the details of the latest party I just threw, I want to give you a great way to plan on a BUDGET! You ready?

Plan around what you already have!

Now sometimes it takes a little bit of creativity to see trash around your house and figure out a way to turn it into an awesome party detail, but open your mind and you’ll be surprised what you come up with!

Here are a few examples:

I introduce to you, the magical party power of trash!

Cardboard Boxes

kidspired3 — Cardboard Box turned Sailboat High Chair

James birthday3 — Cardboard Box Piggy Fort for an Angry Birds Party
(Notice all of the FREE diaper boxes on that fort!)

super why — Contact your local appliance store for extra large boxes
for a Super Why Super Readers Book Club!

Plastic (dollar store) Table Cloths

cars birthday — Black table cloth + masking tape = road for snack trays cars!
(Cars were found at a local diner that serves kids’ meals in cars)

An Unused Croquet Set

kidspired2 — Add some pink paint to a croquet set and you are ready to go for an Alice in Wonderland themed party! (the giant cards for wickets were purchased at a local party store)

Brochures

tractor — I used a John Deere brochure to cut out pictures and put them in dollar store frames to use as decor around the food and cake tables for a Tractor-themed party.

and my personal favorite,

Weeds!!!

Speaking of the Wall:E party, we reused the colorful watering can decor from the Angry Birds party and planted the trees inside (seen above). Recycle what you can from one party to the next!

I painted this backdrop for my husband’s company picnic and for some reason it found it’s way back home with us. A month later, I was able to reuse it for my son’s Angry Bird party by just painting a few Angry Birds on it and changing the words on the banner! It was easier than making a whole new backdrop!

Last week, we celebrated my baby girl’s FIRST birthday! (Fastest year of my LIFE, I’m telling you!) The day could not have been more perfect! And though I wanted to do every single little thing I saw on Pinterest for her first birthday, I had to stick to a strict budget.

I kind of lucked out, though. See, a few years ago when my sister and brother-in-law got married, we decorated the whole wedding with BURLAP, so what do you do with BOXES of burlap lying around your house? You throw a Southern & Sophisticated party for your daughter!

lena's birthday invite 2 — I always make my own invitations on the computer and upload them to Walgreens.com. 4×6 prints are .19 cents each regularly and sometimes they have sales for .10 cent prints or 20% off all photo orders! Easy and cheap!

And a special THANK YOU to all of my friends who collected white and pink Mardi Gras pearls for me… and to my mom who collected all of my grandmother’s old doilies and crocheted table cloths… along with my sister who donated mason jars and burlap from her wedding… I was able to use the money I had budgeted for decorations to buy flowers to really make the party beautiful and southern and sophisticated!

And it helps to have incredibly talented friends like Natasha from Natasha’s Cakes, Brooke from Hails Angels Custom Creations and Jess from Barefoot Photography!