Birthday Boy on a Budget

By Bethany Wilkes | August 3, 2017

A week ago my little boy turned 1! I can’t believe it. A year ago I was blessed beyond measure with my little baby boy, who we named Garrett and has brought an enormous amount of joy into my life. And of course, in normal mom fashion, the one year old birthday party became a thing. I set out to not make it a big deal… but I was just having way too much fun! But one thing I did stick to was my budget. I was able to throw a fairly large birthday party and not spend too much money. It took lots of lists, preparation, help, delegation, and lots of time. But I loved it!

My best advice in planning a party: Simplify. Say no to things. Do little touches of pop. You don’t need every decoration or every DIY you see. Choose a few things that you can have fun with. Don’t break the budget or break your sanity! Within reason you can have a cute, fun, creative birthday party!

A couple tips:

  1. Pick a theme or color
  2. Make a general budget
  3. Sale shop a little bit online
  4. See if family wants to contribute to the party
  5. Use a food favor or something people can use
  6. Wait to buy your baby presents until after the party and you see what they get

Decor:

  • Bought plates, utensils, and napkins at the dollar store in my color
  • Chose a few things on etsy that I could print out myself and make
  • Got some ideas on pinterest and etsy and made them myself
  • Used amazon prime for puff balls, bean bags, and bubble machine

Activity:

  • Choose a few activities for kids
  • Lawn games
  • Music
  • Food

Snacks:

  • Buy kid snacks and juice boxes at Costco
  • Otter pops or popsicles in the summer
  • Make things homemade
  • Try to use water in cups rather than half drunk bottles
  • Have a few treats, a few snacks, and call it a day
    • Popcorn, chips and dip, veggies and hummus, cookies, cupcakes

The cake smash!!

Drinks, pictures, on an outdoor tables. Dessert inside. Homemade carrot cookie monster cake

Kid toys and cookie monster cornhole for adults (cookie face made out of posterboard and contact paper, cookie bean bags made out of brown bean bags with sharpie chocolate chips)

How cute are these shirts my friend made for me!!!

My little cookie monster 

Posted in Cooking, Crafting, Family