cheap party decorations

[powersmom]

My DD is turning 1 next month. I am trying to plan it on a budget. Does anyone have any good ideas on where to look for decorations? I'm thinking of going with either a flower theme or maybe just pink. I want everything to look nice, since I am planning on taking lots of pics and making a book of her 1st birthday.

Any ideas on where to get things would be much appreciated - this is my 1st kids party, and I'm not that great of a party planner to begin with :)

[SnuggleBuggles]

When I decorate for my boy's 1st birthdays I focus on the high chair area mostly since that's where the crucial cake eating/ smashing pictures will be. I spent a lot of time repositioning and decorating the area on and around ds2's high chair so it would look great in the pictures. Balloons, a happy birthday sign, banner around the high chair and anything else fun and colorful. I then had a good amount of decorations on the table where I had the cake arranged. Some balloons and streamers around the rest made it look festive in the background. Usually it's the people filling up the space that make the shots of the party look good. Spend the $ where you are going t have the priority photos, imo. Just making sure the area is really full makes all the difference. The things don't have to cost a lot that fill that space. Layers of decoration really makes it fun, think 3D.

Check "birthday banners" on Etsy for some crafty ideas you might be able to make on your own (like felt signs- felt + hot glue).

Beth

[Tondi G]

We love this website for party supplies. They have a bunch of 1st birthday themed stuff!

http://www.birthdaydirect.com/1st-birthday-party-supplies-c-33.html

If you decide to go with just pink you could easily mix some light pink with hot pink... kinda 2 tone. It would give it a little something so it's not just all baby pink.

http://www.birthdaydirect.com/solid-color-party-supplies-c-45.html

Oriental Trading Company sells party supplies too

http://www.orientaltrading.com/party-themes-and-events/birthday-a1-388960+1338-1-1.fltr

they sell jumbo rolls of streamers for a good price

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=OTCG442&prodCatId=388662&mode=Browsing&erec=4&Ipp=16&No=16&Ne=90000&sp=true&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=388662&tabId=1&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sd=Jumbo+Streamers

Balloons and streamers can go a long way with making your space fun and festive!

[goodnightmoon]

Do you have a Dollar Tree near you? Ours is filled with luau-type decorations right now. They have every flower decoration imaginable (wall hangings, banners, balloons, leis, etc) and also have party supplies in pink, yellow, blue or green (plates, pitchers, napkins, utensils, fancy plastic glasses, etc). They even have invitations and party hats.

If no dollar tree, maybe another dollar store?

[JTsMom]

Blown up balloons- tons of them. You can buy a roll of pink curling ribbon to hang them from. Party city usually has good prices on that sort of thing. Streamers are really inexpensive too. Maybe make a big banner on a piece of butcher paper or the back of some wrapping paper and decorate it with some clip art pics, or silk flowers. Do you have any pink stuff you could pull out? Maybe pink sheets for tablecloths, etc? If not, a plastic one would be inexpensive.

The dollar store usually has 3 pieces of posterboard for $1. You can cut those into big flower shapes and hang them around. If they don't have a color that will work, you can buy a big bottle of pink tempera paint at Michaels with a coupon, or glue shredded up pink tissue paper to them.

I saw an idea for making balloon bouquets with tissue paper wrapped around a roll of TP. I'll see if I can find a pic.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Cost effective for us means reusing the same decorations. So...I have a big box in the top of DD's closet for our party supplies that came from Target. Not sure if they still have them:
- cone-shaped hat for the birthday kid - with felt numbers (1-6) to stick on it
- Happy Birthday banner (big, long, all primary colors)
- some primary colored mylar balloons that we reuse (Party City refills them for $.49 or .79)
- Red cotton tablecloths to fit our kitchen and dining room tables (two that match so we can push them together if we have a bigger party)
- cake stand (sometimes reuse our stainless wedding one or the one from W-S that has a glass lid)

We MAY get plates or napkins with a theme or we may just do solids, but the kids love pulling out the same hat and banner every time it is someone's birthday!

Oh, we usually get a dozen balloons from party city the day of.

[JTsMom]

This is the best pic I could find. If you pause this video at 9 seconds, you can see the bouquet pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E-XeWUEhvU

Baically, you wrap a roll of TP with tissue, gather it, tie with ribbon, put some balloons on sticks/straws/whatever (that way you don't have to pay for helium), and shove them in as well. Voila. You could even jazz it up with a tissue paper flower.

[hellokitty]

This is the best pic I could find. If you pause this video at 9 seconds, you can see the bouquet pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E-XeWUEhvU

Baically, you wrap a roll of TP with tissue, gather it, tie with ribbon, put some balloons on sticks/straws/whatever (that way you don't have to pay for helium), and shove them in as well. Voila. You could even jazz it up with a tissue paper flower.

That is a really clever idea!

[calebsmama03]

Homemade giant pom poms?
http://tammymitchell.typepad.com/life_in_pictures/2009/03/crafty-corner-tissue-paper-pom-poms.html

[Indianamom2]

I found this website the other day when I was searching for something else.
I think they have some absolutely adorable party things.

http://www.butterflycraze.com/hearttoheartparties.php

If you're going for a flower theme, these placemats (reusable) are adorable:

http://www.butterflycraze.com/grass_mat2.php

I love the idea of the big tulle pom-poms on here too, and if you're crafty, I bet they'd be easy to make (you can buy tulle by the spool at craft stores).

http://www.butterflycraze.com/fairy_party-garlandpompom.php

A few of those would make a big impact.

I also like the paper lanterns for decoration. You can find those at places like Factory Card and Party Outlet for a few dollars each (in various sizes/colors).

Oh and the Dollar Tree stores are fantastic for mylar helium balloons.

[August Mom]

Party City seems to have the best prices on theme decorations/party supplies.

Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree have good deals on solids or generics.

Discount Drug Mart has the best price on balloons - $.50/balloon blown up, I think it is. Giant Eagle has decent deals on balloon bouquets also.