I took for granted the luxuries I had become accustomed to over the last few years, and I'm not even talking about the days of my Mercedes and Louis Vuitton bags. I'm talking about my bi-weekly trips to Target, when I couldn't walk out without "needing" $100 worth of....what the heck did I even buy, exactly?
Now, I've "decided"/had to become Betty Bargain. First, I needed to kindly let my kids know that they've been WAY too spoiled over the years BUT I want them to have fun and keep up with exciting surprises, as if we were millionaires. I want to be rich in fun and fabulousity...on a budget, of course!
So, here we go! 1st party on a budget. My initial goal was to throw the last minute Back to School party my son mentioned on a rainy day last week, and do it for less than $40. Apparently, an invitation to this party was sent out to Irene, and that girl showed up in full force, knocking out our electricity for a few days. Luckily, this party gal is a planner! I had looked around and found some great, FREE, printables for back to school...(notice there are quite a few of other occassions for free printables too)
Printables
So, I printed out the ABC banner and made our "Back to School" banner and some other paper printables. I also, pre hurricane, had gone to Walmart and gotten the paper products (Red and green plates and green napkins- all .97 each) For my apple drinks that you'll see below, I got cups for $2, Gummy Worms $1.49, and Red Fruit Punch $1.48. I had straws and printed the leaves from the above printables link above. I spent $1.99 on donut holes, and had red chocolate wafers that I had melted and then dipped the donut holes (which were put on wooden skewers that I also strangely had on hand) and set to dry. Prior to drying all the way, I broke pieces of pretzels and stuck them in for the stem and found green laffy taffy in my pantry (I'm a closet candy junkie and have the craziest selection of stuff in there at all times) and used it as the apple leaf. I stuck the apple "cake" pops into styrofoam that had been cut from an insert in one of my husbands packages from his company (had cleared that he didn't need it...I've learned that lesson awhile ago with my first cake pop trial). The styrofoam was place on top of a soup can that had been surrounded by #2 pencils (A Pencil Vase, if you will), which I got at Walmart for $1.40. This is adorable and I found the idea at:
www.inspirationforcreation.com
Initially, I had planned to order Dominos pizza as the main course. As a former New Yorker, I know this breaks all kinds of pizza rules, but I figure kids don't really care nor do they eat that much when there are 10 of them either antsy to play more or get dessert. Plus, Dominos had a $3.99 deal, and since I'm Suzy Savings right now, that was up my price alley. BUT, with the hurricane and loss of power, I sent a text to all the parents coming and said, "Bring what you want to Grill before it goes bad". So, we feasted on Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Buns that were in the freezer, Pork Chops, Meatball Hoagies...it was a protein feast!! Neighbors brought some veggies and dip and cut up strawberries, so we were set.
Another neighbor bought a frozen Duncan Hines cake that had defrosted (double chocolate fudge...hello!), and an hour or two before, when the power had finally come back on, I had baked up the rest of the tub of cookie dough that I had bought at Sams Club earlier this month. I printed up a sign that said, "You're One Smart Cookie..." from the free printables I listed above. Threw some apples in a bowl and used some of my Christmas Red Table Linens and we were set!! I threw out some glue sticks and rulers and pencil sharpeners on the runner as decor too. Free decor since we already owned it!
Earlier in the year, I saw colored pencils on sale for .50 cents a box. I stocked up with 10 boxes, but later realized...who needs 500 colored pencils, anyway?! So, I wrapped them up in brown paper bags, printed off a note to thank the kids for coming...."Good Luck this school year. Make each day a Master Piece. Love, Alex, Will, Samantha and Alaina" Stuck them on some green cardstock and taped them on...instant favors, for $5 total.
I initially had budgeted for $40, but ended up spending $16.27! But the look on my sons face when he came home from school and saw the setup was: Priceless.
So, people, it can be done super cute, and super cheap. I'm telling you...cheap is the new chic.
Here are some pictures from the evening!
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