Birthday Parties on a Budget

Planning an Inexpensive At Home Party Can Be a Family Affair!

Whatever the state of the economy, kids still have birthdays and moms want to make each party a memorable event. Birthday parties don’t have to be a huge expense, if you know how to plan them.

Moving the party out of a restaurant or place of entertainment and into your home, is the biggest savings. Typically, a children’s party at one of the most popular sites,   cost $10.99 per child for 2 slices of pizza and 90 minutes worth of entertainment. Add in the adults, the cake and the favors and you probably have a mortgage payment.

Pick a Theme

An at home “dessert only” party is much more affordable. Planning an “at home” party can be a family event…especially with the internet. The whole family can sit down and pick a theme, paper goods, favors and many websites also offer great game and party planning advice. Some pre-planning on your part is a good idea, you might want to narrow the themes down to two or three and copy them onto your computer so the kids can few them “offline”. Then, once they’ve chosen a theme, link up to that page on the website you’ve chosen. Some advice,though,this works great with kids 3 and up, but for your little ones,do your own choosing.

Make Your Own Invitation

It’s so simple you’ll wonder why you ever paid $5.00 a piece for those invitations. Upload your favorite photo and print an invitation, or buy the regular invitations that match your theme. No one is grading you on the invitation!

Create an Activity

Most busy mom’s are very creative, so create an activity based on your theme and, once again, get the family involved. If it’s a Pirate Party, hide the “loot” around the house and after cake, give each child a loot bag or box and let them search for treasure. This activity combines entertainment with party favors and saves a lot of money. Use your computer to do some research about kids party ideas, there’s a lot of information available to you. Not great at directing kids or just need some help? Hire your babysitter and have her bring a friend!

Decorate

Inexpensive party centerpieces are easy to make. Grab an unbaked potato, wrap it in a piece of mylar or tissue paper and attach3 or 5 balloons. Voila’ you have a centerpiece. Here’s another tip: Centerpieces look best with an odd number of balloons. Make some higher and some lower or add one mylar to the group.

Choose a Favor

Let’s face it, most favors get thrown away before they hit the guests house. My suggestion is to either make the favor party of the party theme (as described above) or make it just one substantial gift, instead of 12 pieces of junk and some candy. What about a coloring book and crayons? A sippy cup? A book? All these and more can be purchased to coordinate with your party theme. Remember, also, if it’s a party for infants and toddlers, safety comes first.

Ending Your Party

Careful planning allows you to end your party at the designated time. Lots of kids have so many activities today that it’s important to start winding down the party about fifteen minutes before the designated time. If you are not opening presents, then make lighting and cutting the cake the last activity and plan for the parents to start arriving for pickup just as the guests are finished eating.

With a little planning and some comparison shopping, you can find everything within your budget for a wonderful birthday party!  Don’t forget to send your party photos to us...we’d love to see the creative ideas you come up with!

Hey, Mom! Be sure to enroll me in the Kidz Birthday Club! BirthdayPartyKidz will send me a fun gift and send you a coupon for $20 OFF my party supplies! They'll even put my name on the birthday calendar!