To be fair, there is something to be said for paying someone else to do the setup, entertainment, and cleanup for a party. Then you get to go home and relax (or at least bring the kids down from the sugar-high). I have done a few of those before. Last year, we did a skating party, and it was really nice to let someone else worry about everything- including the cake!
I've also had some home birthday parties that were very fun and memorable. My daughter is very creative and likes doing projects with Mom, so she actively participated in planning and preparing for some of her previous parties. I really treasure those memories.
Earlier this year, my daughter turned 7, and wanted to have a party for her friends. I'm on a tight budget right now, but I didn't want my daughter to miss out. I thought I could stretch my dollar more by having a home birthday party. Here's what I think you need for the basic home party:
- a theme
- a few games/activities that go with the theme
- decoration ideas on the cheap
- an idea for a homemade cake
- it helps to have an assistant
Invitations are the first way to introduce the theme to the guests. You can buy them, but I find making them on the computer is really easy. It actually saves time if you do it right. Postcards or quarter-fold paper invitations require no envelopes to mail. You can print the party information instead of hand-writing it 15 times. And, they are cheaper than store-bought ones!
Daughter chose a butterfly theme for the party. I was just happy that it wouldn't be anything to do with Disney Princesses. I decided early on that I would make the invitations on the computer. I downloaded some clip-art of butterflies to make my own quarter-fold invitations. Daughter liked the invitations because of the clip art. I also got several comments by moms on how easy they must have been for mailing.
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| Toilet Paper Relay |
This just requires a little creativity. You can modify all kinds of games to fit your theme. For example, you can do a sort of bean bag toss and alter the items you toss, or the bucket into which you toss the items to fit the theme. I have also hidden an item that fits the theme around the house and the kids find it (e.g. "find the pumpkin, bear, etc.")
I remembered the toilet paper relay from my summer camp days, which I renamed to "Caterpillar Cocoon." In this relay race you have teams that use a roll of toilet paper to wrap up one person. The team with the most covered person at the end of the set time period wins. The kids loved this activity. It was really funny when they started bursting out of the "cocoon" and pretended to be butterflies. I also hid tiny bags of candy containing gummy worms, etc. around the house. The kids went on a scavenger hunt to "Find the Nectar." Kids love to find things. Just be sure you have clear boundaries as to where the items will and will not be hidden.
My daughter loves crafting of all kinds, so I figured that one of our activities should be a craft. I had seen pens decorated with fake flowers at a craft show and thought that would be a fun and easy craft. I had also seen some butterfly decorations at the local craft store that I though we could use with the flower pens to keep with the theme. I had to buy a box of cheap pens, floral tape, fake flowers, and decorative butterflies (and bumblebees). The kids each got to choose the flowers they wanted to use and the color of the butterfly or bumblebee pick. We had a boy at the party, and even he enjoyed making it (he said it was for his mom). All the kids had fun and wanted to make more than one. Note: It may require an adult to get the floral tape started, but then the kids can finish wrapping the rest of the pen themselves. Also, the floral tape stays sticky for a while, but after a week or so it becomes less sticky from using the pen.
You don't have to spend a lot of time or money on the decorations. If you decorate the table tastefully with napkins and plates and have a cool cake or arranged cupcakes as a centerpiece, it functions as decoration, too. Latex balloons are cheap decorations, too, but then of course, you have to deal with them after the party is over (pop pop pop) and they are one-time-use decorations.
I tend to save decorations from other parties, so I have a box from which to choose. I figured I would just use some colored streamers, but I discovered some Lisa Frank banners, pennants, and hanging mobiles in the box when I opened it. Some of these girly decorations had butterflies and fairies on them, but others didn't. Daughter thought they were awesome anyways, because they were pink and girly. I had previously bought some plastic solid-color tablecloths from the party store on clearance at some point in time, and had some leftover flower paper plates and napkins, so I used those, too.
The Cake
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| Cupcake tower with decorating goodies. |
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| Samples of the completed masterpieces. |
- My mom always made them.
- They are cheaper than store-bought.
- I don't care for most kinds of store frosting (too much sugar, cream, or BULK).
- They are unique and are made with TLC.
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| My attempt at the butterfly cake pattern. |
I still had the idea for decorating a cake in my brain, and I think I was compelled to satisfy my creative urges at the expense of common sense, again. Once I found a nice butterfly cake pattern, I decided to make the cake despite us already doing the cupcakes. Unfortunately, I waited until the day of the party to actually cut and frost the thing, so it wasn't as good as my perfectionist self would have liked. My daughter, though, LOVED it, which is all that matters.
A Helpful Assistant
I always seem to forget this part in my zeal, but luckily, these kids were all really well-behaved. My mother-in-law attended the party, and another mom was there, and they both helped the kids making the flower pens, which gave me a chance to cut the flowers to length. I did have all the materials ready on the table for the craft, but next time, I would have them all cut to the right length ahead of time.
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| Non-Gift Bags with projects to take home. |
Gift Bags- I'm not a huge fan of gift bags. They are fun to do, but really add to the cost of a party. You are already giving them the cake and games- having fun (not getting stuff). I did provide colored paper bags they could use to take home the crafts and cupcakes they made, and the candy bags they found in the "nectar hunt." It was functional, and it wasn't just full of $5 worth of cheap plastic crap to clutter up their house.
Gifts- Daughter's birthday is in February, which is really just over a month from Christmas. Before the invitations went out, we talked about how she really had a lot of toys, already. We already have a policy, that if she gets a new toy, she has to get rid of something else (her room is stuffed to capacity). Since a lot of her stuff was new, I proposed that we asked for "no gifts" at the party. As I type this, I know that makes me sound like a cruel parent. The presents is what kids look forward to the most, it seems. Daughter had, however, already received so many birthday gifts from family members prior to the party, that she really was NOT missing out. After attending a friend's party where they had people bring cat/dog food to donate to an animal shelter instead of gifts for the birthday kid, we decided to ask for food donations for the local food bank at our party. We collected a huge box of of canned goods, and my daughter got to feel really generous in giving it all to the needy. I was so proud of her!
The Verdict
Success! After the games, the craft, the cupcake decorating, and singing Happy Birthday, I let the kids have unstructured play time. They went to my kids' rooms to play with all their toys and had the most fun. We had planned to do the "Find the Nectar" game outside and have outside playtime, but it was wet and muddy out, so we did it all indoors. The free choice playtime was great, as it allowed me to visit with the parents while all the kids had a great time playing and pretending with "new" toys. Daughter said it was "the best birthday party ever," which is just what I wanted to hear. I was tired out afterwards, but it was a fun and memorable party!
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