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.

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.

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!

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.

For instance, last year, my husband and I hosted or helped with parties of all different sizes.  One night in the middle of the summer we decided we wanted to BBQ and wanted some friends to join us.  It was a last minute thing and we asked our friends to BYOB (bring your own beef) and a side dish for all to share.  We had about 14 people show up (on a Tuesday!) and had a great time.  We also threw a more organized, larger party for my sons first birthday (more on that later).

No matter the size,  the time or money, you can have a great party so long as you have a reason and reasonable expectations.

Picking your reason:  Do you want to have a birthday party for yourself, a family member or a friend?  Are you throwing a Bridal or Baby Shower?  Are you wanting to have friends over and just have a good time?  Do you want to have a tea with some women?  Are you having a Super Bowl party?  Pick a reason and that will give you the direction and focus you need to see your party through until the end.

Reasonable Expectations:  Realize that about 10% of the people who RSVP they are coming probably won’t make it.  If people don’t RSVP, expect that they won’t make it.  Take into account that adults eat more then kids (I can’t tell you how much this helps!  I have done a few parties and did a head count not figuring this in…let’s just say there was money spent that could have been saved or used elsewhere and we were eating leftovers for some time!)  Things are not always going to go as planned.  Be flexible!  The most important thing is that you and your guests have a good time.  The other stuff is just filler.  People don’t know what you do and don’t have planned so if something doesn’t make it out, don’t freak.  They have no idea!

The biggest reason that you should have for throwing a party?  To have a good time!  That’s it.  If you are not going to enjoy it, don’t waste your time and money. It makes no sense.  Just take your child to something that you can both enjoy or your spouse to a nice dinner.  No one likes a grouchy host/hostess.

If you decide that you want to have a great party on a budget, this is the place for you!

Wow.  2009 was amazing.  It was crazy but beautiful.  Asa celebrated his first birthday, Greg and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary, and we enjoyed every trial and joy along the way.  We bought our first house in December of ‘08 (missing the tax credit by 20 days! Uggg!), renovated it throughout 2009, and opened it up to host community group, parties, and a roommate.  We saw some family highs and some family lows.  Overall, 2009 was a good year.  Thank you Jesus for letting us experience it, safe, happy and healthy.

I realize I have not been faithful to blog as much as I had planned to over the last few years.  Forgive me for my laziness (or busyness-whatever you want to call it).  I just felt like I didn’t have anything to share that would  contribute to the already saturated blog-o-sphere.

For some time now I have been thinking about doing a blog sharing tips and tricks on how to throw a party on a budget.  I have been scouring the internet trying to find a blog with this subject and seem to come up short.  All I really come across are a list of 10 or so “tips” to help you on your way to having a memorable party.  Hogwash I say!  So I am going to share tips and ideas that I have learned/come up with to throwing a memorable party on the cheap.  I’ve done parties for anywhere between $50 to $1000 so whatever your budget, I hope I will be able to help you throw the best party possible.

I should also add that this blog is not going to be about “made to order” party packages.  I understand if you are short on time and money.  I understand that your daughter is in love with Dora and the plates and party package was on sale at Party City.  I get it.  There is nothing wrong with that.  But this blog is intended to help take it to the next level of partydom.  You can use those items, but still make it memorable to the kids/parents/friends with adding more dimensions.

Throwing a great party takes time and thought.  But impromtu parties are also really fun and can be great.  It just takes having the right tools.

Thanks for joining me on this journey and I hope we can learn from each other!

Recently I got an e-mail from a friend of mine that said, “I thought you might like this”.  Typically I don’t pay attention to these e-mails, but something made me go look.  What did I find?  Paradise. (Well, not really).  But what I found was really cool.

Swaptree.com is a web-site that allows members to post items they have (books, movies, Cd’s and video games) in their member profile.  Then they get to go through and pick items they want.  When there is a match, swaptree lets you know.  You can then initiate a trade with someone.  If you both decide to trade, you get to mail your item and they mail their item and all you are paying for is shipping and handling!  Whoo Hoo!!!  It’s better then the library!!!  Users then rate each other (much like e-bay and amazon) and that’s how you build trust that you will send the item you promised.  It is so cool.

I’m addicted now.  It’s a great way to be green, save money, and get rid of items that you don’t want anymore. Go check it out!  Now, if only they would work on bundleing items…

I finished work on April 30 and am now just doing some stuff from home. The good part of that is now I can sleep in and work when I want to. The bad part is I can sleep in and don’t work when I should. Since I tend to be a procrastinator I end up doing my work later at night and then need more sleep in the morning…I guess it will prepare me for baby

Things are going well as far as baby goes. From what the midwife said, he is in position. For new mom’s this usually happens a few weeks before baby comes so we are right on schedule. We have the nursery set up for the most part. We still have a few things we need to get but they are not immediately needed (although a mattress for the crib and bedding is pretty high up there. Thankfully we have a bassinet that we can use until we are able to make the other purchases we need to). We finished our childbirth class and it was informative to say the least. I think I am going to leave myself some room to change my mind about pain meds if things get to be more then I can take. We also went to this really great GIANT “garage” sale if you will that had nothing but baby and young children stuff. That was nice because we were able to buy things that were close to brand new (in some cases they were new) for much cheaper then if we had gone to Babies-r-us or Target. Baby crap is expensive! Note to self: when you can buy it used- do it. Babies grow really fast.

My family is doing well. Mom is traveling, Andy is traveling, Quinn is in Texas, Dad is working. Greg is working and writing a lot. As for me, I’m ready for baby to be here. I’m a little freaked out about what happens once baby is here, and more freaked out about the process of baby getting here, but countless other women have done it and survived so I probably can too.

This whole election process is really starting to annoy me. I can see that Hillary rightly deserves her title as, “willing to do anything to become President”. Barring an act of God, I don’t think she will win this nomination and honestly, this process is taking longer then anyone cares to hear about. The drama that has come out is so junior high. Seriously. Granted, there are a few things that we should be concerned about, but some of it is so childish and petty.

I hope to have some tips up in the next week or two about how to have a great party with low cost. Until then, I’m just gearing up.

Greg stole my blog idea for Murphy and God fighting, so I decided to write it anyway but in a different way.

Last month we had over $1900 dollars of expected/unexpected expenses come up. We thought that we could budget some of it in (and did) but some of it was just unforeseen expenses. Yes, we do Dave Ramsey so we have our minor emergency fund in place, however, we hate digging into that money. It leaves you feeling vulnerable for those few weeks that you are trying to build that money back up again. In addition, the expenses were more then our emergency fund.

To top all of that off, we are due to have our first baby in 8 weeks and currently have a crib (no mattress) and dresser (thank you Greg’s mom Rhonda and step dad Steve!), a few diapers, a few toys, and some baby wipes. Granted, we haven’t had a shower yet, but it still makes you nervous knowing that you have a LOT of bills and need to buy things for the baby. What makes you especially nervous, is knowing that you have made a commitment not to go back into debt so it is NOT an option. Needless to say, I’ve been trying to work a few extra hours to make a little extra money, but also because I plan to leave the office at the end of April and need to finish some things there

Little did I know that God had other plans and showed up to what I thought would be really really TIGHT few months. I am humbly reminded once again what a great God we serve. He continually provides for us and is patient with me and my worry.

Below you will find an itemized list of expenses and how God took care of them all.

New Crown for Shannon’s tooth- 945.90
Doctor’s Bills- 118.41
Doola- 250.00
KGB-ahem-sorry, that was the IRS- 353.00
Travel for Greg- 65.00
Unexpected car trouble (the water pump needed replacing)- 64.94
Travel for a wedding- 100.00
Unexpected phone expense- 25.00
Other random things you tend to forget to budget for 50.00

A God who provides for His children and sends random checks to your house with your name on them that amount to over 1100.00- PRICELESS

There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s God.