Hey there! How’s your day going so far? I’m typing this the night before I post it (yes, the secret is out- I’m a step ahead), and I’m EXHAUSTED. Which is kind of weird, considering I fell asleep halfway through a really nice beer last night at 7 p.m. My first beer. On a Saturday night. I slept 10 and a half hours, and I’m about to fall facedown into the keyboard over here. Despite my early night, I have been running all weekend – ice skating and a sleepover with our adorable niece Friday night, Barbie Dress-Up birthday party and prep Saturday, chores, grocery shopping and football Sunday. And my to-do list is just as long as ever. How does that even happen? I think it grows in my sleep. Ten hours, ten more things to do. Does this happen to you?!?
SO. Barbie Dress-Up Birthday Party. Here’s a fancy title photo:
Hey, hey! Don’t pay any attention to the deranged, vacant look in their eyes. Kind of creepy, no? Mercy is turning six this year, and being that my sister is attempting to help my portfolio grow, she enlisted me in planning this party for a budget of $80. I panicked a little, to be honest. I’m good at the budget party scene, but $80? It was a challenge. And then I came up $20 under budget. Oh, yeah, baby!
The scoop:
Every good party starts with a cute Barbie invitation, right? At least this one did. The invitations cost $3.50 for six. I used card stock to create an envelope, tucked a Barbie coloring page and stickers inside, then taped a marker to the backside. The girls loved the invite/activity, and it took the place of party favors.
Do you know how easy and inexpensive it is to make a tutu? For less than $4, you can buy tulle, use some leftover ribbon from another project, and tie a tutu together – all in under an hour. It’s super easy, way cheap, and makes a great wrap for a punch bowl in times like these. Just saying. Here’s a link for the tutu instructions. On the menu: cheese and crackers, fruit skewers with chocolate dipped bananas, orange sherbet punch, pink lemonade and cake pops.
Do you ever attempt something and realize that maybe you just aren’t meant to make cake pops? Uh, I mean… yea. I shouldn’t make cake pops. But my sister is great at them. So Sara? You’re officially my cake pop producer. Thanks 🙂
A great way to keep costs down for a dress-up party is to ask for borrowed clothing donations. I was able to get a teenage niece and another sister to raid their closets for me.
The birthday girl in her chosen outfit and accessories walking the makeshift runway! I was impressed with the coordination some of these little ladies used! Plastic tablecloths became curtains, with some streamers, balloons and a roll of black wrapping paper to complete the scene for about $4. Not bad, eh? This picture is pretty crappy though, I’ll give you that…
Muuuch better picture! Pin the bows on Barbie game. Cost $2. And the girls loved it. Old school and so cool!
Totally cute, right? Just a couple pieces of poster board, a scarf as the blindfold, a few dizzy ladies and a ton of fun!
The bulk of the party budget was for food, which came in for around $40 because we planned the party for a two-hour block in between meal times (from 2-4 p.m.). This meant we didn’t have to provide anything substantial to eat, since party time was after the lunch and before the dinner hours.
The girls had such a great time, and my sister was relieved that she didn’t have to do much (other than save the dang cake pops – seriously? never again). For less than $80, we had a party for six 6-year-olds, their moms and our immediate family, which = over 25 people. Pretty awesome, don’t you think?
Ok, my pillow is practically whisper-screaming my name. I hope you have a great week, talk to you soon!
