by miraclesinprogress

Created on: August 16, 2010

BUDGET BIRTHDAYS:

This is truly one of my favorite celebrations of the entire year, and, after many years of learning how to throw budget birthday parties, I am eager to share some ideas that can assist you in having an affordable, celebratory experience.

When my children were young, I began a tradition that they all remember (and [we] still practice) to this day, and this tradition involves large, colored poster boards. When one child would have an upcoming birthday, the family would purchase a huge poster board in the child's favorite color, and we would all get out our giant felt markers, along with festive and colorful stickers.

After the birthday child was away at a friend's, we would all huddle together and I would outline, "Happy Birthday, - (child's name)!" at the top center of the board in large letters in black felt marker. Then the other two children would excitedly start coloring in the letters, one by one. We would then choose birthday stickers with which to decorate this giant "birthday card," along with other stickers that had a theme that the person would enjoy, such as cats for the cat lover, dogs for the dog lover, Batman, Ninja Turtles (in the day!), Barbies, etc. (There is such a wealth of interesting themes now, such as the Twilight series, Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, and more that you will NEVER be at a loss for ideas!)

We would often add little sayings or stickers that said, "You rock!" or "You're the best!", and then tack this creation up on the living room wall (or front door) or another very obvious place, and it would not only delight the birthday recipient first thing in the morning, all the other children and household visitors would see it upon their arrival and these posters never failed to receive appreciative comments! This really had such an effect at letting the child feel special that many of my friends decided to try this idea, and this can be what you might call a "family birthday card."

Next, I would design a birthday cake that had a theme that was relevant to the child's interests, and now that there is so much information available on the internet, you can find sites that will assist you in creating and icing your own birthday cakes. If time will not allow, you can always offer your skills (babysitting? bookkeeping?) in return to a "chef" friend who might be able to create the perfect cake for your child.

As for foods, I found it delighted both the birthday child

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