Budget Birthday Party

Don't overlook discount and dollar stores in your party planning. I was able to do this entire thing including party favors, food, decorations and beverages for under thirty dollars and I had a great time with it.

I wasn't able to find a tablecloth to match so I used a big banner which only cost one dollar. I trimmed it to fit the table and then cut the leftover bits of it into streamers and bows for the balloons. That's what I call "a lot of bang for the buck".

We were all quite pleased with the results.

Some of the party favors included balloons, stickers, bubble blowers and poppers with streamers.

I kept the menu easy and mobile with choices for dieters as well as anyone else.

Coffee or tea

carrot sticks
celery sticks
beef sticks
cheese sticks
individual shrimp cocktails in shot glasses
Breaded/battered green beans, clam strips and mushrooms
Assorted cookies

Yes, a good time was had by all.

Everyone brought cheese and repaired the faucet at the Halloween Tea

Sometimes you just have to laugh at life and all of the plans we make. My company arrived just as I was getting the food laid out on the table and they dropped a hostess gift, a computer project,4 kinds of cheese, muffins and yogurt in the middle of it which of course changed things a lot. I never got the chance to set the salad out and in the middle of the mayhem (three different deliveries and a phone call) and I discovered that the shrimp ring hadn't been thawed.
Ordinarily this would not be a problem, you can thaw it in minutes under running water but there hasn't been any running water in the kitchen for over a week while we were waiting for parts to repair the faucet unless you count the 2 inches of water shooting EVERYWHERE  and rolling down the basement stairs when the shut off valve under the sink gave out. (more about that on Doug's blog). The good news is the parts arrived, the bad news is that he installed them DURING THE PARTY.
Anyway, there were suddenly 5 kinds of cheese and a computer project(which of course is another story) in the middle of the table for the salami taste test. (same brand but one package of lite and one reduced sodium) It was interesting to compare the numbers and most preferred the lite and there was also the question of  whether or not to cancel our pie taste test ( one regular and one diabetic friendly version) after the muffins and having spent our morning baking.
The crackers (for those of us who still eat them) were a number of different choices and I was surprised to find that my favorite was Blue Diamond Natural Almond Nut Thins which are a nut and rice cracker snack.
the calorie count per serving was the same as Back to Nature Spinach and Roasted Garlic Crackers but you only get 6 of the wheat crackers per serving as opposed to 16 of the rice ones. I don't know about you but if I'm trying to diet a larger portion is going to help me feel like I'm eating more and being deprived less so I was excited about that as well as the fact that they are gluten free which is important to a lot of people these days too.
What does any of this have to do with gardening or painting?... which of course are the main subjects of this blog. Actually a couple of things, if the weather had been better we'd have headed to the garden to pick rose hips to make tea with (you can use fresh ones, chopped and boiled) and now that the party is over I get my work table back and have and least 3 painting projects I'll be working on.
What's next? Follow the blog and find out. There's always something going on around here and generally lots of things at once. Thanks for stopping by to visit with me, come again soon.
The big excitement for me right now is that I just discovered that Zazzle is going to do wrapping paper and I can't wait to see some of my designs on it!!!

14 dollar and 51 cent Decorating for a Halloween Tea for Three

This dishtowels will be a take home gift after the party. I still haven't decided whether or not to use them as place mats when I set the table. They have chef's knives on them and were on clearance at Target for 88 cents each and they reminded me of the knives in slasher movies so I thought they'd fit nicely with the Halloween theme. They'd be a nice souvenir of the party and everyone can always use an extra dishtowel.

cost: 2.64

These paper plates and napkins came from dollar tree for a dollar a package if we only use one for each of us the cost for this party will be 30 cents. I purchased brown cups and saucers at a thrift store for 10 cents each that should go nicely with these, they're real dishes so they'll last for years.

cost: 90 cents

This tablecloth was from Walmart. The reason I chose this design is that it went well with the paper plates and napkins and I can use what's left again at Thanksgiving. Depending on how you figure things it makes it less than 2.00 per holiday.

cost: 3.97

Here are the makings for a centerpiece from dollar tree. it can be used for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. That's more like 2.50 per holiday.

cost: 5.00

I think you'll agree that you'd have to pay a LOT more than 5.00 for this an arrangement like this almost anywhere.

 This jointed skeleton will be laid out across the table and was purchased at Dollar Tree
cost: 1.00

 These little skeletons were also purchased at dollar tree. I took the garland apart and plan to sit the jointed skeletons on the saucers, leaning up against the cups. The leftover one will be worked into the centerpiece.

cost: 1.00

The decorations will go together in a flash and then I can get on with planning the menu.

Free Party Decorating Ideas

4 Questions:

1. How much time do you have?

2.Will you have help?

3. What supplies do you have on hand?

4. How many tables do you have to decorate?

5 Steps:

1. Divide your supplies by the number of tables you're  decorating to see if you'll have enough of             everything.  

                a. if you don't have enough,borrow, buy or make anything else you need.

2. Draw up a plan on paper so you'll know what goes where on the day of the party.

3. Decorate

4. Party

5. Clean up

Here's one I'm working on now. There were 4 little wooden baskets with hearts on them so I'll fill those with flowers as centerpieces on the food and the main table. There are a lot of artificial flowers to work with so I'll dump those out and pull out the ones I need for that.

Centerpieces on the other tables will be a few gifts that we'll be giving out. There just happened to be some extra things laying around (small photo albums, wrapping paper and assorted curling ribbons) and this will give me a chance to combine things that weren't being used into something we need.

I'll shoot pictures as I work so that you can follow the project and see how it turns out.

Low Budget, No Budget Birthday

Sometimes it's just about finding different ways to arrange or use the things you've already got. This time 2 old, heavy lead crystal candle holder/vases held silverware as I set up as much of the serving area on the buffet as I could (that old commercial coffeepot takes up a lot of room) There wasn't enough space left for the glasses and napkins so I arranged them on a cake platter. There aren't enough matching napkins so I just alternated the different patterns in a stack.
Tables were set up both inside the house and out so people could settle in wherever they were comfortable and since I didn't have any birthday decorations I brought up some holiday garlands to help set a festive mood.
I suppose I should have taken pictures when I had put all the food out or written up the menu for you but things had gotten too busy by then.  

One thing I like to do when people come up for events like this is to let them pick a drawing or painting along with the other gifts I'm giving them. Here's the one that left yesterday. I'd almost forgotten this one so I'm waving good bye by putting the design on a lot of items in my store http://www.zazzle.com/julia_art*