Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Liam's 2nd birthday party - on a budget!

Liam's first birthday was full of tons of family, friends and the house was packed.  It was great for a 1st birthday, but now I'm happy to scale back for the next few years.  But I love themes and had tons of things I could re-create for his 2nd birthday. I pinned a ton of stuff on Pinterest and then tried to figure out what of that I had or could recreate so I didn't have to spend money.  Liam loves trains, trucks, cars, etc so it made sense to use what we already had around the house for the theme and decor.  Here's the details:

Theme - Transportation Party


Invites - I found what I liked on Pinterest then used similar wording on my own invites.  I tried to print on cardstock and use postcard stamps I already had but the paper wouldn't go through my printer, so I used paper and mailed them.  I bought 2 stamps of a car and a truck and used previous stamppads (cost for 2 stamps - approx $8)

Food - I went light because I had fewer people so I did chips, green peppers, dip, Oreos, deli ham and cheese with buns.  I also had tea, water, and cake, of course!  I used transportation like labels for the names of the food.  Chips was gravel.  Meat and cheese was the Pit Stop.  Drinks were Refueling Station.  Green Peppers were Produce Car and Oreos were Spare Tires.  I also had a huge dump truck that fit all the Oreos that worked perfectly. (Food - $20)



Favors - Car and truck cookies in baggies with a tag I made from Pinterest inspiration.  Printed at home.



Cake - I sent a photo of what I like to the lady who made our wedding cake and what I wanted and she did a great job for a great price.  Cake was strawberry with cream cheese frosting.  And she made the cookies as well which were phenomenal.  (Cake and cookies - $37)



Decor - Most of the decor, I made beforehand.  I actually had my student aide's help color and cut most of it.  We found road signs, colored them, and I taped them to dowel rod sticks and placed those in vases around the living room.  For the table, I had tons of black cardstock from our wedding that I cut in half and we used a white colored pencil for road lines.  I taped a "map" on the kitchen table and set up the food in between the roads.  I grabbed a handful of Liam's cars and fire trucks and dump trucks and put them on the road.  Problem was, he saw them and wanted to play with them then!





Outfit - Liam's themed shirt came from Etsy - Gifts by Gita.  This woman was awesome.  She apologized for being a week late on sending his shirt which was still in plenty of time because she got in an accident.  His shirt was embroidered perfectly and she sent a keychain for being "understanding" with an "L" on it.  So sweet and love the extra touch.  (shirt - $24)



It was a great day with family.  Liam felt loved and I was not overwhelmed to get my house super clean.  We had fun and all on a budget.  Enjoy!


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