This post is all about how I threw my son a Pinterest-inspired outer space birthday party for around $80, with about 25 guests. I was supposed to only spend $50, and honestly until this blog post I thought I was much closer to my goal, but going through my receipts I realized I went a bit over budget, lol. What's a girl to do when the piñata is missing candy and last minute balloons are still sitting at the store? I guess I could have ditched the food and just gone with cake and ice cream, thus making it a $50 party. So for those of you out there that don't have a million bucks to spend on each kid's birthday party, hopefully this will inspire you to DIY and "cheat" your way to a cute and Pinteresting (holy moly the amount of auto-correct going on with that word is killing me!) party.
Side note- It was pretty challenging doing "boy" decor. I'm so used to girly girly girly, and I think I'm better in the girl decor department, but thanks to the internet, there's a lot of cute boy party inspiration out there. It turned out to be easier and more fun than I thought. Not gonna lie, though, I still LOVE me a good girl party. :) Pictured below: my daughter's 2nd "garden party."
If you know me, you know I'm a super cheap person. I think paying $10 for a pair of kid's jeans is cray-cray. Give me five bucks and I'll show you a pair of toddler Gap skinny jeans and a cute pair of Stride Rite sandals. Seriously. My kids' closets may be full, but I would bet you a million bucks that I paid 1/10th of what most people pay. Only just recently did I get into the crazy world of girl boutique clothes and for that, wallet, I'm sorry. I've taken a pledge to not buy anything boutique for my girls for 1 year. And when I do, you better believe I'll be hitting up those lovely Facebook resale pages. :)
#thriftingaddict
#handmedownsareawesome
So, back to the party.
Piñata (free)
I made THE cutest moon piñata with an Amazon cardboard box and tissue paper I had stored in my craft closet. It only took 5,000,000 hours, and let me tell you...vacuuming up a carpet-full of tissue paper is not a fun task, but with the help of "The Paradise," my new fav show on Netflix, and more than a few cups of coffee, I finished it. Find the tutorial here. |
| source |
My version... so sad I didn't take a better picture, but here it is in action!
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| scrambling for candy! |
Wall decor ($10)
I used black scrapbook paper (that I already had) for the stars, drew the star outlines with chalk, and cut out the banner from card stock (that I already had). The banner letters were about $10 from Lowe's... that was the most I spent on any of this decor, and it was pure laziness... cutting out letters was not high on my priority list. Plus, I'll use the banner for many more birthdays to come.
Table decor ($8)
Part of Asher's present was a whole bunch of glow in the dark stars and planets. I'm not including those in the cost of the party. I used his present to decorate the table, but they will make their way to his ceiling...someday. :) We bought the stars at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon. Never leave home without one if you're planning a lobby trip!
I made a star garland with a star punch from Hobby Lobby (also bought with a 40% off coupon) and sewed the stars together with gold thread that I already had. You can find a ton of star garlands on Etsy for around $12 plus shipping, but I would have had to buy at least 3 for the length I wanted, so making it was cheaper. I guess I didn't get a picture of mine...bummer. I draped it around the table.
The plates, straws, napkins, and table cloth were all from Walmart and were about $8 total.
The large "world" platters I already had. I've used them for so many different parties. They're from Home Goods and I love them!
I already had all the serving dishes and I borrowed the tiered trays from my mother-in-law.
Food ($30)
I did my best to spend every dollar wisely, so I bought the fruit whole and cut it myself. I spent about $30 on the donuts, fruit, and the ingredients for the sausage balls, um excuse me... meteorites...and cake. :)
Cake (free)
I like to think I saved $50 by making this cake myself. I contacted 3 different bakeries/stay-at-home-mom bakers, and the cheapest anyone would make a simple cake to feed 12-15ish people was $50. That's a tiny cake, people! I had the time, so I decided to DIY. Plus I love baking, and my sweet friend let me borrow her special cake pans and fondant. I used black food coloring to make gray frosting, and I made a fondant "earth" for the top of the cake. I make the cake toppers with lollipop sticks, card stock, and glitter that I already had. Easy and cheap!
Favors and games ($20)
I spent $20 on the space sticker activity, the gift bags, glow sticks, and spray bottles for the spray-the-aliens game. Everything was from the dollar store and Walmart. I used the glow sticks and leftover glow-in-the-dark stars for the favor bags. Asher got Zoobs for an early birthday present, and we used those for a "create your own rocket ship" station. The kids LOVED the Zoobs. If you don't have any, go amazon yourself some asap!We made a "rocket ship" using huge cardboard boxes, tin foil, and a tent we already had. We strung white Christmas lights behind it to look like "stars." It made for the cutest photo booth!
6 months ago, I bought the cutest outer space puzzle in hopes that we could use it for Asher's birthday party someday. We stuck magnet strips to the back of each puzzle piece and used an oil drip pan for the puzzle backdrop. This was a big hit! Oh, and it was free! We've left it up and my kids play with it every day. If you need a rainy day activity, magnetize some floor puzzles and use a drip pan for a good 30 minutes of fun!
I was a little worried about how I would entertain a ton of 5-year-olds in my house, but they LOVED making space sticker pictures, the zoobs, the puzzle, and the alien game. They ran around outside for 30 minutes, mostly spraying the aliens (a few kids thought their fellow friends were aliens too). I was pleasantly surprised about how well everything went. There were no boring moments with nothing to do. We went straight from food to games to piñata to cake to presents.
Invitations, food and favor labels, birthday signs (free)
Lucky for me, I have very talented friends and one amazing hubby. My friend Christy made Asher's invitations, and my hubby designed the cute rocketship labels. I used our personal printer to print all these. Every penny saved counts! You can spend an insane amount of money on pre-printed party decor, and that's nuts when you can DIY and are on a budget. Don't get me wrong... there are some years when I would definitely pay someone else to design my party, but that's a luxury that just wasn't available to me this year. |
Last minute extras: $16
I kind of forgot that you have to fill piñatas with candy, so I had to make a last minute run to the store for candy. In the spirit of his "outer space party," I chose Starburst and Milky Ways. Cost- $8Balloons. Can't have a birthday without them! I tied balloons to each station/table and put a few outside in the yard. They were $8 from Kroger and lasted DAYS.
All in all, it was a BLAST! Lots of DIY. Endless hours cutting, glueing, taping, baking, printing, etc... but it was worth it. I really have no idea how much most people spend on their kids' birthday parties, but a few places I looked into would have cost me around $200 upfront, just to rent the space, not including any food or decor. So, hopefully this was encouraging to those that would prefer to not throw money into a birthday pit and save it for fun presents and outings! Use what you have, get out your scissors, and borrow! Happy Birthday to my sweet 5 year old boy!
