My son just had his 7th birthday. We really did not have a lot to spend on his party, but we really wanted to make him feel special. I hope this inspires someone to not break the bank on our beloved children...
Gifts: We had a gift card for some returned items at Toys 'R Us, so I checked the store out for deals he would like. (Fortunately, we try not to be too specific when the kid's ask for items on their wish lists... helps tremendously with the budget.) We found a great Toy Story 3 puzzle that looks 3-D for $5. It was a great gift, as we just saw the movie, the kids are totally into Toy Story (they also just got a Toy Story room makeover) and they are also fascinated by 3-D, as that is how we saw the movie! We also picked up some CitiBlocs on clearance (~$11 for 200) - these were the same types of blocks our son had played with on a recent family trip to a science museum (Discovery Place, Charlotte, NC - where we went on a free day, of course!) Another hit! (His mother also had fun playing with these... hehe) Because of the store credit, these two gifts didn't cost us a dime!
Theme/Decorations: Pirates of the Caribbean (a favorite family ride in Disney World)... I'll be honest - I could not find much with this theme in the store (though I didn't check the Disney store...), but maybe it's for the best! I found some pictures online to decorate with. I made a centerpiece out of pirate flags, and added some pirate flags to the kids' disposable cups (affixed with clear packaging tape to make it smooth). Maybe some adults might find it tacky, but my son loved it! We also managed to get the red from some pirate flags and blue from water to be the theme colors - which works out perfectly with some after-Independence Day clearance items - like the blue napkins I got. I also had red and blue streamers on hand already from some past parties. I also got hubby to find the music from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disney World to play in a loop while we were together. It brought back memories of Disney trips (that we only went on with fabulous discounts, of course).
This was just a family party, but had we had a bunch of kids, we would've easily expanded the evening with party games like a treasure hunt, or pirate races to and from treasure chests (easily made from cardboard boxes). Lots of party game ideas can be found with just a simple Internet search.
Food: Domino's has a 5-5-5 deal, which we utilized for dinner. Now, this was a splurge, as I could've cooked myself or gotten free Boston Market meals (I have gift cards), but still, my son always asks for pizza, and after the tip, 3 medium pizzas for $20 or so isn't bad - plus Domino's has that great tasting new crust! Best of all, I have leftovers for future meals, including the kids' lunches for their summer fun program. That makes things easy!
Birthday Cake: Really, it was pretty simple to make this cake... I made a pirate ship cake. It was chocolate cake (mix on sale for $1 in the store), with chocolate frosting ($1.24 in the store). Chocolate is brown, as is the wood on a pirate ship, so I didn't even need to color frosting! I made marks in the frosting to indicate boards that the ship was made of. I used another printed out pirate sail & flag attached to a chop stick (free from a free Chinese meal we had gotten) to make the mast. It turned out great! Just over $2 for a cake that my son adored!
There you go... birthday on a budget - tailored to my son!
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