Saving Money on Balloons

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Tip:

Use Wine Glasses to Hold Balloons

January 16, 2005

For my husbands 40th birthday, we were on a tight budget. Instead of purchasing weights for the dozen balloons that I bought, we tied them to water glasses with a stem, and put a bit of foil confetti in the bottom of each glass, and then sprinkled some on the table as well.

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The effect was elegant, yet cost very little. The party was huge success! By Katharine Barrett

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Tip:

Helium Balloons

February 23, 2005

A pal, who has several parties a year, told me it's cheaper in the long run to buy a tank of helium and your own balloons, than to have the store blow up the balloons for you or to rent a helium tank. By Terri H.

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Tip:

Glitter Paint on Balloons

December 12, 2004

For a party take blown up balloons and using a sponge or foam stamp (circles, triangles, spirals, hearts) dipped in glitter paint, dot the outside of the balloon to give it a more detailed look.

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Question:

How Can I Make Homemade Balloon Weights?

April 22, 2011

How do I make homemade balloon weights for graduation?

By Pam from MT

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April 22, 2011

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You can use almost anything as a weight. Small candy bars, small rocks that you can leave natural or paint with craft paints. You could even use unlit tea light candles, that you wrap in tissue paper to conceal what they are.

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You could even use play dough and work it into funky shapes and let them harden. You can probably think up more ideas without having to make something that looks like what comes with the balloons.

April 22, 2011

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Anything can be used as a weight as redhatterb said. Check with your Dad or other male relative who may have a workshop & tools. Ask if they have any spare metal washers. This can be found in hardware stores for very little cost and is a metal disc with a hole in the center. Use several if one is not heavy enough,

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April 27, 2011

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For my daughters graduation I went to Home Depot and purchased the largest (and heaviest) washers that I could find. Also went to the paint department and purchased some black spray paint ($1.00), then on to Michael's to purchase silver glitter.

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After spraying the washers, while the paint is still wet, sprinkle glitter (on both sides) and you not only have a baloon weight, but a pretty one at that. Have fun. The kids all loved theirs.

March 25, 2013

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I would find a smooth, nice looking rock, paint a face on it, and wrap it with shiny wrapping paper. Then tie tie balloons string to it along with some curling ribbon or other decorations. When the balloon has lived out it's usefulness the rock can become a "pet" rock.

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Below are some of our best ideas for saving money on kid’s birthday parties!

Birthday parties are so much fun to plan, but can get ridiculously expensive very quickly!! Although we certainly don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on birthday parties we have had some pretty epic ones for well under $30-$50!

I’ve broken down some money saving ideas based on age since different age groups tend to want different things.

Now that some my kids are getting older into the tween years we are moving away from parties for some of our kids and more into experiences.

Below will have tips for saving money celebrating a birthday regardless of age.

Baby/Preschool Age

This is the BEST age to save money – because the kids are so young they don’t even notice if you skimp! In fact when our oldest kids were in this age group we didn’t even to birthday parties for them.

Typically birthdays are themed around (expensive!) characters or ideas because it’s fun to plan for.

I’ve found it much cheaper to do themed parties like popsicles, polka dots, farm, transportation, etc. Here are some ways you can save money on a preschooler’s birthday party:

• Plan the decorations on solid colors – regardless of the character. For example, if you are planning an Elmo party, instead of buying Elmo decorations, have 1 small Elmo plush and use red balloons, red table covers, etc.  Thomas the Tank Engine? Use blue and green balloons, blue table cover, etc. Party planning gets expensive when you start buying character decor! Solid colored streamers, balloons, table cloths, etc. can go a LONG way to looking really festive!
• Check the Dollar Tree for $1 mylar (floating) balloons! They ALWAYS have birthday balloons on hand and if you’re REALLY lucky you might even find one to match your party theme – they are always a huge hit!
• Incorporate items you already own. For our train parties we used tracks we already had to decorate the tables with. We played Thomas movies in the background, etc. Make a playlist on YouTube and keep it running for the party!
• Print your own invitations! It’s totally acceptable these days to just print some simple invitations online and thanks to Pinterest and simple photo editors like PicMonkey it’s super easy to find or create what you want for free. Invitations alone can add up if you’re inviting a whole class!
• Make the cake as easy as can be! When you’re running around with little ones trying to prep the house for the upcoming party the last thing you want to stress about is buying an expensive cake or baking one that requires a lot of work. We’ve made paw print cakes (a circle cake with several smaller circles for the “toes”), built a robot out of square cakes, stacked cake pieces up and frosted them for a volcano cake with dinosaur toys, etc. There are a LOT of really creative and simple ideas out there when it comes to birthday cakes! It’s even easier to just bake a regular cake and place a few small toys on top in the theme of the party!
• Plates, silverware, cups, napkins – go to the Dollar Tree OR if you want to splurge for something a little nicer I order my party supplies from Oriental Trading when they have free shipping!

Elementary Aged Children

This is a fun age group and a lot of the kids are moving out of the “character” themed birthday parties (not all! If you are having a character themed party see the ideas above!). I have (so far!) been able to talk my boys into some themes that work well for me!

I find as the kids get older parties tend to get a little pricier! Pre-planning is a HUGE factor in helping me to save money on birthday parties in this age group.

Themed “ideas” might include things like a spa party, pet party, sports party, dinosaur party, sports theme, spy theme, etc. A theme without a specific character is SO much cheaper and you have a lot more room for inexpensive creativity!

Here are some ideas that I have incorporated to save money on my kid’s birthday parties:

• PRE-PLAN! I can’t say it enough! About 4 or so months before my kids birthdays rolls around I try to get them to nail down a theme for their birthday. This gives me plenty of time to keep an eye on clearance, free shipping deals, etc. to buy for. I also find that this allows me several “seasons” of supplies at the Dollar Tree and eventually they will carry what I want for the party.
• Make the party favor the party focus. What I mean by this is don’t bother with little bags of candy and trinkets at the end of the party. Instead incorporate something that can use or make AT the party to take home with them. For example at our bug parties we’ve bought $1 bug nets for each child. Center the party around creating their own jewelry to take home. Pirate parties get eye patches to take home and use for games. Dinosaur parties got to take home the DIY dig kits we made. Camping parties got $1 binoculars to use and take home. Etc.
• Order when Oriental Trading has free shipping! This is my favorite place to buy those specialty items that are hard to find – cauldrons for Harry Potter parties, rubber ducks, luau gear, etc. When I want extra special plates and napkins or favors for the party this is my #1 spot to go. They also have CHEAP craft supplies, jewelry making supplies, etc.
• Make your own decorations. Since my kids pick their theme 4 months out it gives me time here and there when I get a chance to put together a few decorations for the party – thank you Pinterest! In fact my kids have even made some of their own decorations for their parties! It really is fun to make it a whole family ordeal and everyone gets excited about it.
• Don’t serve lunch. This one can get a little tricky on timing but we keep our parties short and sweet. Just enough time that all the kids can come over and have an intensely fun time – but not long enough that they need more than cake to eat! Although I do usually have little buckets of fruit or candy out to snack on if the kids get hungry.

Middle/High School Aged Kids

Ah yes, this is the tricky age isn’t it! Kids this age can want quite the variety of things! The older the kids get the more expensive the requests get….although instead of a full blown party like the younger kiddos want it’s more a time to hang out than anything.

Since this age group is kind of all over the place in ideas from not even wanting to celebrate to planning big trips and pulling all-nights I’ll just throw out a few ideas for you! If they want an actual party you can use any of the ideas above that I’ve already mentioned! Here are some more inexpensive ideas and tips:

• Live by Groupon! My kids at this age just wanted a way to feel special and celebrate their birthday without a whole party. So we pick a special activity to do as a family (and maybe with a friend or 2). Groupon has saved us a TON of money and really helped give my kids a special day by finding activities half off. Things like horseback riding, zip lining, go-karts, theme parks, paintball, mini golf, the zoo, a concert, painting class, etc.
• Buy something that can be used later! This is more of a practical splurge perhaps! Consider planning a birthday activity where you may need to purchase something but it can be used over and over again. For example invest in a tent for a birthday camping overnighter with friends. Buy some fishing poles and head to the lake – let the birthday kid pick out some lures and gear. It is a gift, expense, and complete activity all wrapped into one purchase.
• Plan a trip! More than likely this will run you a bigger expense than a party will but you can combine all of the birthdays and do something exciting. Last year each of my boys got special nice sleeping bags for their birthdays and we took a mini weekend road trip to get away and celebrate. Since we were camping it only cost $15/night instead of the hotel price but we rented paddle boats and kayaks for $10/hour and let them enjoy the lake and make memories! One year we used our credit card points to get a free night at the Mall of America and took them to the indoor theme park for the day.
• Create a Scavenger Hunt they won’t forget! This idea certainly requires some pre-planning but can turn into one pretty epic birthday adventure!
• Host a Murder Mystery dinner! I don’t know any teenager who doesn’t love a good adventure and you can really carry the ambiance of a murder mystery dinner far! The meal can be an easy pizza ordered in or a crock pot meal. Hit the thrift stores for some in character outfits and have a ball!
• Plan a party theme! If you’ve read this entire post you’ll notice I’m pretty big on themed parties! They are fun to plan and easy to keep the kids occupied. Have an art painting night, a baking night, jewelry making night, movie night, etc. Glow sticks are also a really cool item for this age group.

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Here are a few more overall ideas to help stretch your budget when planning a birthday party:

• PLAN AHEAD! Did I say PLAN AHEAD?!
• Buy character decor secondhand (try Ebay or Craigslist).
• Look for balloons, plates, napkins, cups & streamers at the Dollar Tree.
• Make your own birthday cake or go for something non-traditional like dirt “cake”, rice krispies, etc.
• Make your own invitations or send e-vites online.
• Make your own decor with coloring sheets & online printouts.
• Shop around for party favors & buy in bulk.
• Buy plain solid colored balloons, streamers, plates & napkins.
• Make your own pinata! Fun for kids and cheap too!
• Have the party at home or a local park instead of at a destination.
• Make up your own games instead of buying games for parties.
• Keep the guest list small!
• Plan the party between meals so all you have to provide is cake.
• Instead of buying cans of soda or bottle water make your own beverages.

Our Themed Birthday Party Posts:

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