Birthday Party on a Budget - Part 2!

Last week I posted about how I am trying to plan a frugal Mickey-Mouse themed 2nd birthday party for my daughter.  I've already talked about how I managed to create cute, personalized invitations for around $3!  Today, I'm going to talk about decorations.

Now, I admit, I am trying to spend as little money as possible on this party.  Not because I don't love my daughter, but because money is tight and she really will not know the difference between an expensive party and one put together on a budget!  That said, most everything I have purchased for the party so far has come from the Dollar Store! 

First of all, I bought red and yellow plastic tableclothes to put on the tables - inexpensive, so you don't mind throwing them in the trash when you're done!!!  :)  I also bought matching red and yellow paper plates and black plates for the kids which I turned into Mickey Mouse heads using black poster board that I also got at the Dollar Store for $0.50 each.  (Will someone PLEASE tell me how to turn the pictures the right way?!?!?  Ugh!)

While at the Dollar Store, I also found large Mickey & Minnie Mouse posters that I bought to hang around the room for $1 each.  My daughter will love having these after the party is over!

One thing that I like to do starting after Valentines Day is look for clearance items that can be used at birthday parties!  Since I have one child's birthday in March and another in May, I can usually find great items after Valentine's Day and Easter that can be used as decorations and/or party favors!  One thing I found at Kroger after Valentine's Day was red, round confetti that I am going to sprinkle on the tables for $0.33 a bag!  (I also found 12 count bags of cinderella stampers for less than $1 a piece to save for my older daughters birthday treat bags!) 

Also on the tables, I am going to be placing pictures of my daughter that I took of her holding her favorite Mickey Mouse doll when I was trying to make the party invitation.  I had to take LOTS of pictures to get just the right one, and I thought it might be cute to use all of the other pictures that didn't make the final cut (most of them are hysterical) to decorate with.  I'm going to have them printed and then glue them onto red and yellow construction paper and place them on photo stands that I got at the Dollar Store last year.  Here's an example of what the stand looks like using her invitation...(I'll update with actual pictures when I get them!)

I am also going to be purchasing plain red and yellow balloons from a local party supply store that I can hang up around the room.

While these decorations aren't much, they are enough to show the theme of the party and will make my daughter happy!  :)  Best of all, they didn't cost much money!  Total for everything mentioned here minus the balloons = about $15!

Look for my next post on what inexpensive party activities and treat bags I have planned!

Birthday Party on a Budget - Part 1!

Coming up on St. Patrick's Day, my youngest daughter will be turning 2!!!  At this age, she doesn't know the difference between an expensive birthday party and one put together on a budget, so I figured I'd better save a little money while I still could!  Over the next few weeks, I will be putting up several posts on how I am trying to pull together a FRUGAL second birthday party!

My daughter is a serious Mickey Mouse fanatic right now, so we decided that would be our theme.  The first thing I needed to do was create some invitations.  In the past, we have done everything for invitations from professional photographers to fill-in-the-blank style cards that came from the Dollar Tree Store!  This year, I wanted to do something cute that stayed with the theme of the party while not going overboard on price.

I decided to take a picture of my daughter holding her favorite Mickey Mouse doll with my digital camera.  I printed it out on regular paper and cut around the shape of her body.  Next, I cut out a solid black Mickey Mouse head out of construction paper.  Then, I typed out the details of the party and printed them on plain white paper and I tore off the paper around the wording to give it a "jagged" edge.  Lastly, I punched yellow triangles out of construction paper using a scrapbooking punch that I had around the house.  I took all of these things and arranged them on top of a piece of solid red construction paper.  Then, I used my digital camera to take a picture of the "collage" I had made.  I uploaded the photo onto the computer, sent it in to Walgreens and put a black border around it before ordering them.  Here's the invite before the border...

After a coupon code that made the 4x6 photos 12 cents each, (and because I used materials I already had at the house) I ended up paying $3.24 for 25 photo invitations!  (Actually, I used Register Rewards to pay for them!!)  :)  It was really easy - well, except for the part where I had to get a sick two year old to stand still, hold a Mickey Mouse doll the right way, and smile at me all at the same time - and made for a really cute, personalized invitation!  Now all that's left to do is put them in the mail!

Come back soon for more posts on decorations, games, and party favors!!