On Sunday, we had a few families from our church over so the kids could have a little Valentine Party. We were originally going to have it during the day on Thurs as more of a play date for the kids, but since we had so much snow and ice, we had to postpone it. I decided to fix lunch for everyone and have a little dessert table. I was working on a pretty tight budget, but I have a pretty good party stash, so I was able to use a lot of things I already had. Here is what I came up with...
I really didn't do too much for the decorations. I was trying to think of just a few things that would make the biggest impact. I made a banner out of an old banner I had left over from a birthday party.
Here is a picture of the old banner. I cut off the ears on the Mickey Mouse shapes so I would just had circles left. I put some cupcake liners that I already had behind the circles to give the banner a little more interest. The lips and mustaches where cut out of wrapping paper that I already had. Since the kids were exchanging Valentine's, I decided to hang the red and white chevron bags below the banner. I used black cardstock and chalk to put each child's name on their bag. I made another banner to hang above the sliding glass door in the kitchen. The only thing I had to buy was the pink glitter wrapping paper that I found on clearance at Walmart after Christmas for $1.
For the kitchen table, I just did my usual- cut shapes out of felt. I used left over scrap pieces for the mustache and just had to buy 4 pieces of pink felt for a total of $.92. I already had the fabric for the tablecloth (I have used it multiple times before) and I was able to use the flowers my husband gave me for Valentine's Day for a centerpiece.
I made a photo booth by hanging wrapping paper on the wall with painters' tape (as to not damage the walls). This picture was actually taken before I had the other backdrop set up. I just used fabric for this one. They were way too excited to get a decent picture during the party. The photo props were just made out of bamboo skewers, cardstock, and wrapping paper. I made sure the pointy end of the skewer was covered. The only thing I had to buy was some red glitter wrapping paper (like the pink) for $1.
Most of my favor/decoration budget was used on the favors. I already had the bags, ribbon, and paper shreds left over from a birthday party. For the tags, I found some free printables here.
I got a box of Valentine Fruit-by-the-Foot and some lip whistles (for the girls) at Walmart. I used my 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby to get some mustache whistles (for the boys). I also got some adhesive felt to make stick on mustaches and some mustache balloons. From Dollar Tree, I got some cookies and candy to fill up the bags. The total for the favor bags was $16.87 for 12 (we only had 9 kids at the party, but I made a few extras for some kids who couldn't come).
I thought I was done with the favors until I found these mustache lollipops at Walmart. They were 50% off after Valentine's Day (making them $.50 each), but I still went a little over budget on them. I guess there was a perk to the party being postponed. They were just too cute to pass up, although, they would have looked better if I had repackaged them and maybe added ribbon and displayed them better. Oh well, it was kind of an after thought.
I am not the best cook and I always get really nervous when I have to cook for people. I wanted to keep lunch pretty fool-proof, so I decided on spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad. We just had sweet tea, water, and fruit punch to drink.
These fuzzy mustache straws were actually pretty easy to make. I just used paper straws, adhesive felt, and black cardstock that I already had.
After lunch, the kids got to decorate cookies. I already had the cookie dough, pink icing, and pink, red, black, and white sprinkles. All I had to buy was some white icing for $1.29.
I'm pretty sure all the kids had a sugar rush with the dessert table, but hey, it's a party!
I just used a box cake mix and icing that I already had to make strawberry cupcakes. I already had the cupcake liners too, I just had to get the toppers, which I found at Walmart for $.75
Thanks to Little Debbie, I was able to put together these cute cake pops. All I did was put the snack cakes on a lollipop stick. It was as simple as that!
I know the popcorn is kind of random, but I already had the boxes and I had glued the mustaches on when we were originally just planning to do snacks for the play date. I didn't want them to go to waste, so I just went ahead and used them anyway. The "tray" is actually a picture frame that I bought at a yard sale several years ago. I just covered the back with wrapping paper so it can be changed out to match any theme. I think I have used it for pretty much every party we have had.
When we were just planning on doing a play date for the kids, I set a budget of $20 for favors/decorations and $20 for food. I stayed close (just a few dollars over with the added mustache lollipops) for the decorations/favors, but with adding lunch for 4 families, there is no way I could stick with a $20 budget for food. I just tried to keep the cost down as much as I could.
The total spent was...
Favors/decorations: $24.29
Food: $56.51
Overall, I think the party was a success. All the kids seemed to have fun, and the weather was gorgeous so they were able to play outside a lot. I think I have enough spaghetti and garlic bread in my freezer to last at least 2 meals.
"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7
"And [Jesus] said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind.This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-38
Thanks for reading!
