February 2nd, 2010
Don’t say it. You wish that just this once you could throw a party and money wouldn’t be an issue. Believe me, this would be your worst nightmare.
Let’s assume that you have a personal or family budget in real life. This budget tells you how much you can spend on food and clothes so that you will still have money left over to pay your heat, power, rent or mortgage. It provides you with peace of mind and some financial structure. So why wouldn’t you have a party budget? Just like your personal budget, a party budget will give you structure and more importantly, boundaries. And boundaries can give you inspiration. A budget determines whether you will be making your own cake or ordering the unique cake you saw on your baker’s website. Both are a great idea. A budget determines whether you’ll be hiring a clown or begging your husband to dress up like one. And both options work. If you think a party with a million dollar budget will be easier to plan–You. Are. Wrong. More money means higher expectations, which means more stress. (Hhmm, ever been to a wedding?) Less money doesn’t equal stress-free either. Ever have a princess cake that turned out more like the ugly stepsister, homemade ice cream that didn’t ever freeze, or invitations that never got made? I have.
Let’s get started
1. Acknowledge that the grass will always be greener on the other side. The simple, inexpensive pool party that your friend had for her daughter probably looked effortless and you might regret spending so much time and money on your pool party. Or the unbelievably gorgeous catered tea party that you saw in a magazine might make you break the 10th commandment (Thou shalt not covet) and you might start foolishly selling your valuables on Ebay to get the money to recreate it. But I am here to tell you that whatever someone else did, does, or will do doesn’t matter. This is your party, not a competition.
2. Ask yourself these questions: What do I normally spend on a party? When I think about how much a party should cost, what’s the first number that comes to mind? What amount do I feel comfortable spending on this party? In my mind’s eye, what do I see this party costing? However you phrase it, there is always a dollar amount somewhere, at the back of your head that feels right to you. Start there.
3. Now ask yourself these questions: Is this amount realistic (either too high or too low)? What can I afford to spend on this party? Can I use some of my family’s food money to cover the cost of the party food? Can we skip going out to the movies this month and use that extra cash for the party? Determine the amount of money you can spend on the party.
4. Estimate. Estimate. Estimate. How much will the cake & cupcakes cost? Are you going to serve any food? Don’t forget to add in the little stuff. Balloons from the party store. Napkins in the party colors. Cupcake liners. Copies from the copy shop. The two spools of ribbon you’ll need to tie on all of the favor bags. Whatever. And plan for a few last minute surprises. Inevitably you’ll find the most amazing thing that is perfect for your party and that your party can’t live without. And you’ll find it at the last minute, either after you’ve spent all of your party money or requiring rush shipping to get there in time. Not that I’d know anything about that. Ahem. But if this often happens to you, plan for that now.
5. A good trick for balancing costs is to pair two things together. Let’s say that you have $50 set aside for invitations and take home favors. You can spend $40 on cool swimming party invitations with a beach ball and sand tucked inside every envelope (plus extra shipping) and buy $10 worth of candy to send home with the kids as their take home favor. Since they’ll be getting a shovel and pail for the sand sculpture contest anyway, there is no need to spend a lot on ONE MORE THING to take home. Or you could make your own teapot invitations, print them at home, and hand deliver them. This would cost about $1. Then you could splurge and buy all 7 guests an awesome mini tea set that cost $7 each. Balance it out to make things easier.
Things I balance: invites/take home favors. food/cake: serve inexpensive popsicles and order an awesome dolphin cake vs. serve over-the-top dainty tea party food and make your own mini cupcakes. table centerpiece/decorations: use the dolphin cake as the table centerpiece and focus your time and money on killer decorations vs. ordering a gorgeous flower arrangement for the center of your tea party table and borrowing your mother’s china to set the table as your decor. activites: do a couple of small activities that are free like swimming in your in-laws’ pool and eating those popsicles then add in a more expensive activity like a sand castle building contest with real sand, shovels, pails, etc. vs. doing 2 similarly priced crafts like embellishing tea party hats & gloves.
You probably do this anyway and don’t know it. It basically goes like this: “If I spend a lot on this, I need to cut back on that.” Of course you could choose to do the cooler, more expensive option for every pair (good thing you have a budget and you know that you can afford it) or you could choose the less expensive option for every pair and keep costs down. But from my experience most people want to splurge on a few things, but not everything. Balance.
6. If you find yourself over budget as you are pre-planning your party, take a look and see if anything can do double duty. Can you use all of the pool gear you already have for decorations and not buy anything new? Instead of one large floral arrangement on the tea party table, could your florist make a bunch of tiny flower bouquets for the same cost that the girls could take home instead of a mini $7 tea set? And don’t forget to look around your house for things you can use to improvise.
Your party budget can be your best friend if you treat it right. Budget Best Friends 4-evah.
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January 21st, 2010
If you haven’t already read my post where I declared my love for activity stations, you might want to read it now. Otherwise, I’ll show you the three stations and final group activity that I used for this party. There were 16 kids who came–each of my four kids got to invite three friends. So there was a huge mix of ages, both boys and girls.
#1: The Craft Table: The kids made a valentine heart out of paper plates. They could decorate it with doilies, stickers, glitter, etc. They punched a hole in the top and made a handle with a ribbon.
#2: The Cookie Table: Yummy vegan cookies and frosting (shh, don’t tell) made by one of my favorite bakers awaited the kids on a table full of organic and all natural candy. They frosted, decorated and talked to their hearts content.
#3: Making Gum from Scratch: I taught the kids at this station how to make gum from chicle. It was hard work, fun, and a new experience for me. The kids loved the concept and I didn’t have any complaints.
#4 And then we all played valentine bingo.
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January 19th, 2010
I thought it would be SO fun to make homemade gum for this party from a “Make Your Own Chewing Gum” kit I found on Glee Gum. Wow, making your own gum is harder than it seems. And more complicated. But the kids enjoyed it and I always think it’s cool to teach kids where stuff comes from or how it’s really made. Gum doesn’t just grow on the grocery store shelves, you know.
After we finished making all of the gum, I cut the gum dough into little pieces and wrapped it in waxed paper and put it into these containers for the kids to take home and enjoy.
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January 19th, 2010
I made three wreaths for this party. Fun, but time consuming. Start early.
I used the instructions from here, but bent the hanger into a heart shape.
This is just a candy wreath and once again, I just bent the wire into a heart shape. Instructions here.
You guessed it. This is a Christmas wreath made from ornament balls (thanks Eddie Ross) and I just bent the hanger into a heart shape.
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January 16th, 2010
Jenin, the sweetheart who runs Creative Hostess, interviewed me recently. You can see what I said here. And P.S. I love her website. She gathers all of the cutest parties and features them all in one cool place.
This is a picture of my feet at the Valentine’s party. Don’t look if feet gross you out.
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January 15th, 2010
We served a sweet little drink at the valentine’s party: pink lemonade with heart ice cubes.
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January 14th, 2010
I found these cute white milkglass vases at the thriftstore. They are super cheap and perfect for these little button bouquets that I bought on Etsy from KadyHope. I knew that real flowers would cost way too much during the Valentine’s holiday, so button bouquets were the perfect solution.
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