I'm all for my babies having fabulous birthday parties, but the frugalista in me won't let me spend ridiculous amounts and the utilitarian in me won't let me indulge in any impractical endeavour. So with all that in mind, here are some ideas I had for giving my babies a fabulous but sensible birthday party
- Theme colors: I like the idea of a themed party but they can get pretty expensive. My fix, pick colors from a holiday just before the party. That way once the holiday is over and all the nick-nacks are on clearance in the stores, I can buy them for peanuts. This works great for table covers, paper napkins, plates, drinkware and decor. I really love the St Patrick's day greens, the valentine's day reds and the easter pastels
- Useful party favors: I much prefer party favors that are educational or useful. A great way to get these is to buy in September once all the back to school items are on sale. Mandy also gave me a great idea of including little books - I've seen these for as low as a $1 on sale racks.
- Educational favors: Apart from the above, a store that caters to teachers was a good source of $1.50 books for me. They had sticker books, coloring books and activity books. All were from Dover Publishing and can be ordered direct from the website. Additionally, they have a 10% bulk discount and ship internationally
- Decoration Favors: I decorated with helium balloons and tied a goody bag to the end of each balloon. At the end of the party, the kids were estatic to go home with a balloon and a goody bag and I was happy to not have a room full of balloons.
- Cheap party favors: One good thing about a November birthday? Buying halloween candy on sale. 'Nuff said (If this was a confessional post, I will tell you I have "tasted" 25 of the 50 bags of candy in the box, but it's not a confessional so...)
- Venue: Parks are free and community halls or apartment complex social rooms are cheap with no food restrictions if the house is too small for all the guests
- Guests: Speaking of guests, the babies can easily be overwhelmed with a crowd especially since separation anxiety kicks in around this time. I tried to keep the crowd small with just 6 kids invited. In the end, both girls enjoyed playing with the other kids and barely noticed the 3 additonal adults
- Invitations: Free at Evite. Everyone has an email address and RSVPs are easier
- Cakes: I forgot my craft gene on the busstop bench in high school so I have to do with grocery store cakes. They are not bad at all and most stores are willing to put an extra touch on the cake. With 2 babies and 2 cakes, I was glad to flip through the 100 page cake catalogue in my grocery store. We got 2 Disney princess cakes and had them put the Princess Tiana head on both
- Birthday outfits: Shop around and explore all options. In retrospect, I wish I had skipped the dress and got the nice tutu and leggings outfits from Gymboree. The girls would have been more comfortable
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| Disney Princess Tiana Cakes for Twins |
