Archive for February, 2010

Asa’s First Birthday – How to save money on a kid’s birthday party.

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Feb
22

Goes to show how on top of things I am.  Asa celebrated his first birthday on June 5, 2009.  Turning one is quite a milestone in my book and I knew I wanted to commemorate the occasion with a party fit for a one year old (and his friends since he wouldn’t remember any of it).  I started researching a few months prior and narrowing down my themes.  I wanted something cute and fun but not too old for him.  I finally settled on a bug theme birthday.

Normally we would do the party at our house, but since our backyard was still not kid friendly, we opted for a park. (Hosting at your house, a friends house, or a park is way cheaper then paying for an event venue).

(NOTE: The park we picked was not the one across the street from our house.  It was a 10 minute drive away.  We picked it because: A. The park across the street hosts little league and we didn’t want to compete with them.  B. The park 10 minutes away had a great play area for toddlers and bigger kids.  C. It was free!)

We made our guest list (which was quite large for a one year old) and sent out e-vites (save the planet and party at the same time.  How can that not be a good thing?)

During my research, I decided since it was a bug themed party, I wanted bug themed food.  This also acted as my decor (we were at a park which was also fitting.)  Below are pictures and descriptions of where I got the inspiration for the food as well as other pieces for the party.

The Veggie Garden: I wanted something akin to a garden in your backyard with vegetables flowing freely out.  My husband came up with the idea to use bread to look like mounds of dirt with veggies stuck in or sitting on top of the mounds.

Oh a marching we will go!  Ants on logs are a tried and true classic.  I used both rasins and crasins to simulate black and red ants.  The avocado frog is from Annabel Karamel’s Complete Party Planner.

I loved the idea of doing edible bees and found a few recipes to use, but ultimately, I used one from Danielle’s Place.  The only thing I did differently was freeze them so they would be soft right when the kids started to eat them.  They were delish!

Cheese Worms were another must and so easy to do!  Taste of Home had the idea and I loved it!

Taste of Home had really awesome ideas for delicious, nutritious food that looked like bugs.  I loved the wealth of ideas I found there.  These spiders were a great find.

These ladybugs were tasty and something that the adults loved as much as the kids.

My love of the carved watermelon…I don’t know where I came up with the idea, but I told my husband I wanted this and he really came through

(well, he did part of it.  My girlfriend Gloriane saved it because it was going to get scrapped when it wasn’t turning out great.  She’s the one who thought to put the cloves in for the eyes.)

Burgers and dogs.  No explanation necessary.

We had a mini ice cream sundae bar.  I found some great toppings including Keebler Bug Bites which are graham crackers shaped like bugs, gummy worms, and Lightning Bug Candy.

This is just a random picture of one of the food tables.  Oh!  For drinks we served bug juice and bottled waters (it was the beginning of the summer after all!)  I also made an ice mold ring that I had frozen gummy worms into so we would have bugs in the juice.

My girlfriend Ofelia made this centerpiece which I thought was so cute!  It (obviously) had Asa’s name, bugs and his age. So cute!

Fruit is a great healthy treat that kids and adults love!  I bought a flat of strawberries for about $7 at the Farmers Market before the party.  Great buy!

My husband made the butterfly using cardboard and aluminum foil.  I used bowls to mimic butterfly spots and some pineapples were cut out to be flowers.

My girl Lisa Mays brought this classic- worms in dirt!  It was a big hit with the kids and adults alike.

Cake!  I wanted to do something different then cupcakes (which I love) and just a big cake.  My mom works at Williams Sonoma and got me these great bundt cake pans from there.  One was a caterpillar and the others was an assortment of bugs.  I used the recipes included with the cakes and they came out great!

We decorated them the night before and really had fun with it.  I bought the big leaf plates from Party City to look like a bug on a leaf and we used brown painting paper (from Home Depot) as tablecloths.

So how do you save money on a kids birthday?

1. Make the food yourself
2. Don’t be afraid to ask people to bring stuff
3. Don’t be afraid to ask people to bring a recipe you have already decided to use
(Note: My general rule on this is that, unless we are having a potluck, I ask only really close people to bring something.  The exception is when someone asks me if they can bring something.  I’m always happy to pass something off to someone else).
4. Use coupons.  I did not pay full price when at all possible.  Get the discounts while you can!
5. Reuse what you already have.  We had brown paper from painting our house.  It made sense to use it as a tablecloth for a bug party.
6. Buy in bulk when it makes sense.  I love Costco and I love a good deal.  We bought our burgers, hot dogs and buns there.  They had great prices!
7. Use your local Farmers Market.  It saves money.  Especially when you buy seasonal produce.

Invitations – Things to think about when doing invitations for a party.

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Feb
19

So what kind of invites do you want to send out?  It really depends on the feel of the party.  I’m always a big fan of using e-vite (being green!), but I do have to say, there is something about receiving an invitation in person or in the mail that is always a joy.

There is so much you can do with invites.  You can wrap them in boxes and deliver them, create them to resemble your theme, the possibilities are endless.

The thing to remember is that your invitations are the way people will find out about the party, so you want to set the mood of the party with your invite choice.  Do you want to have a more formal party?  Your invitation should reflect that (and say something on it as well).  Is it a luau?  Use a cut out of a Palm tree to write or print the info on.

Make sure you include any important info about the party.  You can never go wrong addressing the who, what, where, when and why (In fact, if you are missing any of these things you probably should hire someone to plan your party for you- and yes, I am available, but it’s not cheap ;-) .

A lot of books will tell you to mail or hand deliver your invites anywhere between 3-6 weeks before the party.  In general 3 weeks is a good amount of time, but if you are wanting a large turnout, closer to 6 weeks is better.  When Greg and I threw our Christmas party last year, we sent out a save the date at the end of September (you can never be too early if you want people at your Christmas party).  In my opinion, the earlier you tell people, the better the chance of them making it (especially people with kids!)

Keep in mind you should ALWAYS have some form of RSVP.  Either an e-mail, web page, telephone number, whatever.  Some people will tell you in person and that is fine, but if you want to save money, you need to know how many people to expect.  If they don’t RSVP at all, plan on them not being there.  Of the people that RSVP yes, you can expect 10% of them to not show up (stuff happens, you can’t get mad about it, just roll with it).  If they RSVP no, believe them.

Who to invite? – How many people should I plan for my party?

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Feb
17

Sorry for the delay in updates.  I let time get away from me but I am back now.

Making a guest list is always a dilema for me.  I am a naturally outgoing person and enjoy having people over.  I like to invite anyone and everyone to parties, but believe me, that can be an expensive habit.  So what do you do?  Well, if you have your reason and you have your budget, that should be helpful in making your guest list.

Make a preliminary list.  Include any family and friends that you want at the party (also include those that you may not exactly want but may be *gulp obligated to invite i.e.crazy Uncle Ned who could eat you out of house and home)  How many people are on the list?  Is that a reasonable amount for the budget you have set up or do you need to re-evaluate?   If you think you can reasonably handle guests, then you are ready to send out invites.  If there are too many, you have to make adjustments.  Decide what is most important to you (and the person the party is being thrown for) and make your cuts based on that.

After you’ve made your list, you can send out your invites!

There are probably about 4 different ways we have for categorizing parties we throw and who we invite.

1. The intimate gathering.  This is like a sit down dinner with family and/or close friends.
2. The semi-intimate get-together.  This is inviting friends and close friends/family over to hang out, eat and play games.
3. The get-to-know people party.  This is where we invite aquaintances, friends, and close friends/family to hang out.
4. The epic party.  This is when we invite anyone and everyone.  If we know your name, you are probably invited (unless you weird us out, then don’t hold your breath).

It is really all about personal preference.  Some people just do not like to have a type 3 or 4 party (plus they can get pricey!).  Let your budget and your reason guide you.  You’ll get there!

Counting the Cost – How to budget for a party?

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Feb
01

After you’ve decided on a reason to throw a party, you have to decide on *dun, dun, dun- a budget.  The dreaded ‘B’ word.  While budgets are the ban of some peoples existence, they can be your greatest tool and asset and they are ESSENTIAL to having a great party.  Why are they ESSENTIAL?  Because the last thing you want to do is spend $500 on a birthday party when you can only afford $100 and you’re paying off your daughters 10th birthday party at her 11th.  That’s just dumb.

Debt is not your friend.   Look, as much fun as parties are and can be, you DO NOT want to have stress on you throughout the rest of the year paying off something you couldn’t afford in the first place.  Birthdays come once a year.  They are something you CAN plan for.  Same with holidays.  They don’t change (Christmas is always the 25th of December, Easter is always in March or April, etc.) Yes, there are “life events” that can come up unexpectedly (baby showers, bridal showers), but you usually have time to plan for those (babies take -shocker!- 9 months to come along and unless it’s a shotgun wedding, you usually have a few months to plan and save).

So how do you prepare your budget?  Well, it’s going to be different for everyone. A few things you HAVE to plan for are guests (how many), food (are you going to have any, how much, will it be potluck, etc.), and everything else (decor, plates, utensils, venue, etc.).   Sometimes your budget will determine the size and scale of your party, and sometimes (for the lucky few) the budget will be determined by the size and scale of your party.

The best thing that you can do is plan at the beginning of the year what parties you want to throw, how much you want to spend, and make a plan for it.  I realize that’s not always possible, so my ideas can be used by the planners and by the more spontaneous people.

That being said, decide your budget and stick to it.  Realize that sometimes you will have to sacrifice something you want to get something you want more.  Sometimes your time won’t allow for everything you would like to do.  Sometimes your budget won’t allow for everything you would like to do.  Pick the best ideas and run with them.  If you do only a few things, make them great.

A budget that is reasonable and something you can stick to is going to be your greatest asset.