We all have been the (you don’t want to call it) ‘broke parent’ that wants a satisfyingly, Pinterest standard birthday party. It’s part of being in the millennial generation. Hot dogs and ice cream cake no longer suffice. We raise our children to promptly wait for the magical unicorn to wake them up on their birthday while holding tickets to Disney World for a surprise trip. Facebook, the Insta, TikTok…. PINTEREST- make life way more complicated and fake picture glamorous. It’s the millennial struggle and although, I am OBSESSED with a good party, sometimes mamma has to BUDGET. Budget- literally the worst word (other than death) in the dictionary. YUCK.
My good friend, Helen and I know all to well of this struggle. In fact, we wanted to throw a cute party for her son, Zane. But, both of our spouses at that time were still in school and we had $150 all in to work with. This birthday party was practically sponsored by Dollar Tree and was the actual cutest. Why? Because mammas are good at making Dollar Tree magic happen. Anything for our babes.
Balloons were probably the most expensive part of this party, other than the rented bouncy house. AND balloons are cheap. Most of our decorations included printables that we made prior on my Cricut. Speaking of Cricut– can we just agree it’s every mom’s dream machine? Buying a Cricut was a real splurge, but Santa Claus was good to me that year.
Our cake was from Tom Thumb. It was delicious, cheap, and all it needed was our printable topper. Our food consisted of popcorn, a fruit tray, a veggie tray, and PIZZA (not pictured.)
These placemats were printed from Office Depot, but could easily be downsized and printed at your home. Our cups were a Walmart special with straws and napkins that were also purchased in the Walmart party section.
Our gift bags included lots of candy and trinkets from dollar tree that were perfectly wrapped in blue bags to match our colorful theme.
Drinks included water, lemonade, and juice boxes. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
And of course, the borrowed from a pal BOUNCEY HOUSE. This was a total hit. Inexpensive and hours of fun.
I hope that this inspires you to make the most of your budget friendly party. With Dollar Tree (and the help of a girl friend), anything is possible!
Such Pretty Faces 