Hi! Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve been going blog crazy the past couple of days now. I get a lot of friends and family asking me about party themes, decorations, and how I manage it all. [Little background story: I have two under two. They’re sixteen months apart. Need I say more? Yes. I also have a beautiful step who helps out a lot!] Juggling it all isn’t nearly as hard as it may seem.
The key to a stress free DIY party is T-I-M-E.
The sooner you start planning, the easier it will be. Anything that’s DIY usually takes a lot of time. I’ve planned all of our family parties [for the kids] AND our wedding on an extremely reasonable budget [because I’m frugal. I usually only spend money when I have to]. I normally start brainstorming themes and planning my family parties two months in advance.
So…you’ve been on Pinterest for 80 hours, pinned an entire board of ideas, you’ve finally come up with a theme for your party, and booked a venue…What next?
Start with the things you know will take the longest: For me, it’s online ordering. My favorite website is Oriental Trading, but I’m sure there are tons of others. Order/Make your invitations and order/buy your supplies, decorations, party favors, outfits, etc well before your party date. Why? Shipping could take weeks depending on your order and the place you order from. Ordering early to make sure your invitations are spelled correctly, outfits fit properly and that your order is satisfactory. If you’re like me, you may be ordering fabric to DIY matching outfits if you can’t find what you’re looking for online. I ordered these hats from Oriental Trading. I found the shirts at Walmart at approximately $5 each. The birthday boy wore orange to stand out.
If you’re DIY-ing your props and decorations, buy/order all of your supplies in a timely fashion too. I usually like to start making my props two weeks before the party date and I buy majority of the items from the dollar store. It gives me time to buy any additional things I may need or come up with an alternative if it doesn’t work out. I ordered these blocks, cones, and construction hats from Oriental Trading for a construction themed party. The blocks had to be assembled and I made the cupcake stand with cake circles, card stock, and some old cans.
While you’re waiting for your online orders to be delivered, think about dishes you’d like to serve at your event. If you’re going to hire a caterer, call a few local places and get prices. [Also, ask them about their allergens and what they use to cook their food. Lots of children have severe allergies to ingredients that the food is cooked with]. I like to take the frugal and convenient route for food. I order about 8 pizzas from Little Caesars and ask them to cut them into squares. That way, there’s enough for everyone and there’s always enough left over for seconds. I also like to boil a pack of hot dogs. There you have it…a party meal for 30 guests under $50! Because my children have allergies, I bake their cakes myself. I also wanted to make sure I had enough snacks because kids love snacks! I do a trial cake a week before to make sure that I can decorate it how I envision it to look. I also write down all of the ingredients for my guests who may have allergies as well.
Decorating is the easy part! If I have their parties at home, I decorate the night before while baking their cake. If I have their party at a venue, I come early to set up. My kids love to help me [by help I mean tear down everything]. I also assemble their goodie bags/thank you gifts after decorating. Helpful hint: It’s always beneficial to delegate your guests to help host, serve, or entertain too! An idea for non-food related thank you gifts: I gave away live goldfish for my son’s first birthday party. The theme was under the sea! The kids loved their prizes and the parent’s loved the idea! The fish only cost $0.25 each, their bowls were $1 each at the dollar store, and the marbles were also $1 from the dollar store. I spent $4.50 total!
There you have it! That’s just how I manage to get it all done and still have a good time. I plan very early and I start with the most time consuming activities first and work my way down my list.
My list is usually in this order:
- Online Ordering (fabric/outfits & party favors)
- Create the Invitation
- Buy decorations & dinner ware from local dollar store
- Make outfits & assemble decorations and props
- Trial cake 1 week before
- Prepare Menu/Put in order 1 week before
- Decorate the night before
- PARTY!!!
Up Next: DIY Easter Baskets for $15 or less!
Happy Planning!
