Zulily

Many of you may not be members to Zulily.com, but its well worth signing up for.  There are some amazing deals there.  They post new deals daily.  The reason I mentioned them, is because, today they have party decorations/supplies for some really incredible prices.  It might be worth it to some of you!  :)

A Peter Rabbit 1st Birthday

So far, this has been my favorite party that I've planned.  It was so much fun for me, and simple.  I chose to keep the theme a more traditional, classic garden party.  I used mostly natural items from around my home, (which were mostly free) and easy to gather.  The first picture below is of a potted mum.  I used to potted mums for the base of my trellis.  To make the trellis, I used to two large sticks and wired them together to form a peak.  I then took different shades of green paper, and cutout leaves, using my Cricut.  I wired the leaves onto the sticks to make it look as though something were growing up it.  The second picture below, is of an old washtub (a splurge I bought for my home) that I used to hold my favors.  The favors for the party were handmade carrot soap.  To make the soap, I bought pre made soap from Michaels.  You can melt it in the microwave.  (I chose to use this because I have small children, and didn't like the idea of using lye around them.)  I melted it down, and added my own ingredients to it.  I added carrot baby food and some natural honey.  After it started to set, I added oats to the top.  I didnt let the soap set completely because I wanted to personalize it.  I cut the soap into squares, and then to each square I used a rubber stamp to imprint a rabbit, the letter A, and the words "Thank you"(alternately on the soap).  The other favor was canned goods that I canned from my own garden.  These were surprisingly a big hit.  For the food, we served soup and salad.  I thought the salad was nice idea for serving a variety of vegetables successfully.  I served the food in pint, quart and bushel baskets.  For centerpieces, I had my husband cut logs to set potted mums, and mason jars on.  I also decorated the logs with small garden tools and watering cans.  I used garden burlap as table runners.  *Tip-  If you chose to use burlap for any event, please hesitate before buying at a craft store.  I bought one roll at a craft store which was only 3 ft or so in length and cost $3.99.  I found a 15ftx3ft roll of garden burlap at Home Depot for $12.99.  A much better investment. *
This time around for the cake, I decided to change things up a little bit.  Instead of a traditional cake, I chose to go with the cake pop(push pop).  I used carrot flavored cake.  I used cream cheese flavored icing which I dyed orange(lighter shade than the cake).  I iced the cake wafer and put it into the push pop and just alternated until I got to the top.  I then took green fruit roll ups and used a cookie cutter to cut out a leaf shape for the greens.  The end result was a pushpop that looked like a carrot.  I hope you find these ideas helpful.  And you can always use your own creativity to personlize it. 






A washtub to hold the favors of the party.  Handmade carrot soap and canned goods from our garden.

Table centerpieces.  We cut the logs ourselves.  You cant beat FREE!  I purchased mums early in the fall season and kept them indoors until party time.  Saved me a bunch of money.  The jars are my own canning jars, with tealights for a little elegance.  The tools and watering can are from factorydirectcraft.com  I also printed small pictures from Peter Rabbit and just glued them double sided to a dowel rod. 

Slate slabs I got at Michaels on clearance. 

Our food table.  Soup and salad, and pleny of fruits and veggies. 

Another picture of the washtub. 

I've decided to revisit 2013 and share the events that I've planned. Starting with my husband's 30th birthday party. He is one who doesn't care to be the center of attention,so I knew a big birthday bash that focused solely on him, was out of the question. However, I felt it was still important to pay tribute to him. In our area, trying to find anything fun to do is nearly impossible, especially if you're an adult. It took me forever to come up with a solution. What I chose to do was to have all guests meet at a local paintball course. This ended up to be a nice compromise among all ages. The kids and men loved it. **Word of advice** It is a very extreme sport,so please use caution when allowing children to play. I wouldn't recommend anyone under age 10. ** Since this was an adult party, in leui of gifts, I asked that the guests pay their admission. One perk of an adult party, they dont't expect gifts. I lucked out when reserving the party room because they didn't charge a fee to use it. The only expenses I paid were, catering, decorations, and cake. If you choose to cater your event, ask when booking, if you can pick it up that day and serve it yourself. You will save yourself some money. Thank you Frederick's Meats. Overall this party was the least expensive event I've planned yet. Total cost: $200.00 urbanwarzone.com birthdayinabox.com Fredericksmeats.net

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New Year, New Look!!

Another year has come and gone. And I've failed horribly at maintaining my blog. So my New Years resolution, is to try harder than ever to deliver to you the best money saving event planning tips I possibly can. Here are a few to get you started. First, every parent knows their when their childs birthday will arrive. For myself, I try to communicate with my kids a month or two in advance to get a feel for what theme they might want. I do this because I can keep my eyes open for sales or clearance items to save tons of money. The latest party I planned was Peter Rabbit. It was an October birthday, so when August and September came around I was able to score some fantastic clearance deals at Michaels. I especially love when they offer coupons for a percentage off sale items. SUPER SUPER Savings! Secondly by giving myself such a big time frame, I dont have to rush to complete items that Id be creating myself. After all, I still have kids and a home to attend to. The overall idea is to work smarter not harder because afterall these are moments that we want to remember forever. One last thing... Ive noticed after looking at many family photos that I dont have many pictures with my children and thats because I'm always the photographer. If you are able to splurge this is where to do it. Photos are an investment for your children. Its important that they capture special moments with every member of their family....especially mom.