The $50 Birthday Bash!

My little lady has grown up so fast! She just turned three and we had a fun little party at our house. I know some people go all out for kids birthdays - which is great if you can (and please invite us if you do) - but we are definitely on a budget here. So, I really wanted something for the kids to have lots of fun while at the same time spending as little money as possible. First: the fun (scroll down to the end of the post for a breakdown of how we threw a fun party for $50). I used a lot of things I had on hand which kept the cost down.  Obviously everyone has different things on hand but the idea is to start with what you have so you can get the most out of what you do buy.

Making your own cake is definitely one way to save on birthday party fun. There are tons of tutorials for how to decorate cakes at home on YouTube (that's how I learned) and here's a yummy - and easy - fondant recipe. 

Now, Mia definitely marches to the beat of her own drummer and has very definite ideas of what she likes. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted me to make so I could make a theme to the party.  I should have known better after last year's out-of-left-field answer: "purple dragon!" (this definitely put my YouTube taught cake decorating skills to the test!)

But I still wasn't prepared when she said with authority: "A school bus!...NOT A YELLOW BUS, though, Mama.  A BLUE one."

A blue school bus? Really? I attempted to sway her by showing her other gorgeous cakes online (with obvious party themes) and she would say "Woah!! That's pretty. ...pause...I need a blue school bus, though."

That's my girl.

The wands doubled as a pretty bouquet

So we had a "princesses riding the bus" theme.  Because we make up our own themes around here. Whether they make sense or not.

For the party I made several different stations/activities that the kids could play in as they wanted.  I found this to be a better option than having it very structured. That way, they never got bored & unruly and could do what they found fun. Here are the stations:

First up they made crowns & got flower wands that I made to carry around as an ice breaker.

Bonus! We're using this as our sensory bin this month and Mia is still loving it.

Find!

In the bin: Rainbow Rice, butterfly foam stickers, felt cupcakes, pom poms, heart bracelets, road signs (for the bus theme!), and a medicine container to put treasures in. I also pulled out a few unique items and snapped a picture & printed it so the kids could have an eye-spy game with the sensory bin too.

Be sure to seal the ziplocks with packing tape!

Squish!

In the bin: Water beads (I got them at Michael's in the flower section but these are similar). Also are bags of baby oil, colored water & little erasers from easter for fun squishing.

The girls had a blast with this one...Squish!

Pipe cleaners bent into shapes make nice bubble wands too

Pop!

I made a free version of this bubble station using a cardboard box from recycling I cut holes in & spray painted.  Added mason jars with homemade bubble solution & wands.

The cars make neat tire tracks through the paint.

Paint!

To follow along in the bus/transportation theme. I made some finger paints in squeeze bottles & added plastic cars and paper to a bin for fun painting outside.

Drive!

The last project was something I saw on Pinterest and got my husband to help on.  We bought a cheap-o shower curtain at Walmart and he drew a city on it for the kids to drive the matchbox cars on. It was neat because he could make places that Mia identifies with so she especially likes it (and - bonus! - she still plays with it).  I made some road signs like these from bottle caps, tooth picks & cardstock to go with it.

I also sent the kids home with a muslin bag with a game & a hair clip that I made (all the guests were girls) but I can't find pics of them! Darn!

Here is a breakdown of the party expenses:

Totals	Cake
$8	$2	Cake Mix (BOGO at Publix)
	$2	Marshmallows for Fondant
	$4	Black Icing tube
	On hand	Confectioner sugar, cardboard for cakeboard, gel food coloring, candles
	Wands & Crowns
$22.50	$7	Flowers (on sale at Michael’s)
	$5	Ribbon (sale at Michael’s) – also used for decorative touches around the party
	$5	Tulle (used coupon at Michael’s)
	$2	Dowels
	$1	White Posterboard (Dollar Tree)
	$2.50	Rhinestone stickers (on sale at Michael’s)
	On Hand	Hot Glue, Jingle Bells (for wands), Scrapbook supplies & glue for crown decorating
	Find!
$3	$2.50	Road sign trinkets
	$.50	Cupcake felt shapes
	On hand	Rainbow rice, foam stickers, cups, scoopers, medicine divider, trinkets
$0	Squish!
	On Hand	Water Beads, Baby oil, food coloring, water, ziplocks, flower erasers
$2	Pop!
	$2	Bubble wands
	On Hand	Cardboard box from recycling, mason jars, soap for bubble recipe, pipe cleaners for more wands
$2	Paint!
	$2	Plastic cars
	On Hand	Paper,  Squeeze Bottles, Flour/Salt/Food coloring for paint
$2.50	Drive!
	$2.50	Shower Curtain (Walmart)
	On Hand	Sharpies, Matchbox cars
$0	Gifts
	On Hand	Fabric, Ribbon, tins, tacks, cardstock, alligator clips (I can't find pics of these! but I made hair clips & a little game to take home in a muslin bag)
$10	Misc
	$5	Spray Paint – I painted several things at the different stations the same color to unify the theme
	$5	Solid color tablecloth, utensils, plates
$50!