Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget, Or, "Princess Party on a Budget"

Michaela Byrd celebrated her second birthday with family earlier in the month, but we waited until this past Saturday to throw a party.

I needed just a little bit of time after the holidays to get the house back together before having a bunch of toddlers and preschoolers over to destroy everything again.

If you're expecting to see a party worthy of a feature on Birthday Girl or The Creative Party Place, you might be more than slightly disappointed.

While I personally love (!) reading about blow-out birthday parties with picture perfect details, I just can't justify hiring a *real* Princess to come and serenade my two year old or renting a giant blow-up bouncy castle for a kid who may or may not snap a spindly little arm trying to keep up with her big sister. This party was about creating pretty memories for my little one without blowing up our bank account.

After some deliberation, Michaela Byrd told me she wanted to have a "Pincess" party this year. As luck would have it, a trip to the local Dollar Tree revealed a small selection of Princess themed decorations.

I cut up a "Pin the Crown" game from DT (Dollar Tree) and used it as a wall decoration behind Birthday Girl's chair. We hung a DT banner under that and another in the Kitchen window.

I used things we had on hand for other decorations:

Tissue paper pom pom in the Addition (made after 11:30 Friday night, which explains why I forgot to cut out the curved ends...oops)

Boas from the dress up trunk to dress up the chandelier in the Dining room:

We recycled the homemade "Pin the Flower on Ariel" from Natalie's party, and the kids had a blast playing that and Hullabaloo:

Watching a 2 year old open presents is usually uneventful. They don't really get excited about much.

Michaela Byrd would stoically take a gift out of the bag, say "Open!" and then move on to the next thing.

But everyone got excited when it was time for snacks!

The kitchen table was decorated with more DT finds, and a tutu from the dress up trunk.

I'm not particularly a fan of character-themed parties, but clearly my girls are. (Natalie loved her Ariel party in December.) Michaela Byrd spotted some Disney Princess plates and napkins at Target, and they magically made their way into our cart along with some crowns from the Dollar Spot.

We had one little boy guest who was such a good sport about all the girlieness. He had a sword at his place setting, which he promptly swung in the air.

If you'd like the recipe for the cupcakes and to see how I like to do icing, come back tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to you!

After we hosed all the icing off the kids, they had a blast playing with the new gifts and dismantling the house.

The girls took home simple goody bags with a lollipop ring, some Princess stickers, and some chocolate hearts. The little man got a soft football.

Does this look like the face of a child who was deprived of a fun party?

Striving to "keep up with the Joneses" turns my girls' birthdays into a competition, when it should be about them and celebrating their special day. This year, I chose to focus on creating a memorable time for them on their birthdays--in a way that's within our family's means. I can still enjoy reading about other families' bashes...I just try not to let myself feel bad for not spending $400 to rent an elephant for the kids to ride on.

All in all, I probably spent less than thirty dollars on this party, and the kids had a blast. What more can I hope for?

Linking to
Victory of the Week party
A Soft Place to Land
The CSI Project