Thrifty Pirate Party

For my sons birthday this year we decided to have a pirate theme. He is just slightly obssessed with pirates at the moment thanks to Jake and the Neverland Pirates!

 As always I hate spending money so I needed to come up with some money saving ideas, as parties can be pretty expensive events these days. Once you've paid for all of the food, decoration, party bags and cake it all adds up. To try and save some money I always aim to make as many of the decorations as I can, like for example the cups...

I brought a massive pack of Tesco value plain white cups which cost pennies. I then printed off the above image from the web (I cannot find the original source for this, if it's you please shout). I then cut it out and stuck it onto all of the cups. It was quite time consuming but worth it I think. As cups with pre-printed design on can cost you around £2.00 for a pack of 8 where as I only paid 55p for a pack of 25!

 I also stuck some on some old beer bottles that we had lying around ready for recycling, just to add some more decoration to the table.

Like my daughters Enchanted Forest Party that we had last year I made up name labels for all of the food. This is the fun bit...

I made the labels myself by printing off images from the web and sticking them all together. The little flags I brought online and I believe they cost me about £2 for a pack of 50!

I also wanting to get some healthy food in there somewhere...

 The party food doesn't have to be expensive, if you shop around you can find some great deals. I personally like to use a lot of the value range party foods that you can find in most supermarkets. Kids don't care in the slightest about how much the food cost. Here's the party boy enjoying his value party snowballs...

I started to worry about finding my son a pirate outfit for the day. Every pirate outfit I found online seemed to cost between £15 - £25 which is way more than I was prepared to spend on an outfit that he would only wear once! Until luck would have it I went into our local charity shop on my weekly recky and came across a pirate outfit and it was only £1...

For the table decorations I was able to use the paper plates that we had left over from my daughters party and make it work with the new theme, from toadstools to pirates. I also brought a few bags of gold coins in advance at Christmas in our local pound shop to scatter across the tables. The gold on the table were rocks from the garden that I spray painted with gold spray, again form the pound shop...

For the party bags I brought the red and white striped paper bags online at very low cost. I printed the name labels off on my computer and stuck them on. I then just used some string I had at home to tie them off. I thought they turned out pretty good...

So there you have it, a thrifty pirate party. I think everyone enjoyed themselves...

I'm linking up with Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping's linky Ta Dah Tuesday

Thrifty Finds Of The Week

This week I have found some great thrifty finds in charity shops and also at a local jumble sale.

First off I found these gorgeous picture frames at a charity shop in Exeter, £3 each...

  

I brought them with the intention of putting my own pictures of the kids in them but when I got them home I realised that it wasn't very easy to get the pictures out, so I have left them in. I think the original pictures are growing on me though.

I also found this retro pot to go in my kitchen for only £1.00...

After I had finished raiding the charity shops I headed off to the jumble sale where I got a load of great bargains...

 All the adult clothes were 50p each and the childrens clothes were only 20p! So I stocked up...

My favourite item by far was this lovely knit jumper...

I also love this vintage style top for my daughter...

 So what about you, found any great bargains this week?

I'm linking up with Magpie Monday over at Me & My Shadow

10 Tips for Surviving the School Holidays

1) PLAN, PLAN, PLAN - You don't have to follow your plan to the letter but even if you have a rough idea of what you might do each day helps!

2) ARRANGE MEET UPS - with fellow mummies, preferably somewhere that the kiddies can run wild for a bit while you have a good natter

3) EXCEPT MESS - Unless you are prepared to spend the next few weeks constantly picking up after them, just let them get on with it an have a good tidy up when they go back to school

4) PUT ON THE TV - Yes I said the T word, obviously I don't mean for the entire holidays but even just once a day for a limited amount of time gives you a break and makes them just sit and chill for a bit. We all need some R&R time and maybe throw in some popcorn to make it a bit more exciting. (I wouldn't advise popcorn everyday though)

5)  GO FOR WALKS - Of course this is weather permitting but it's a great way for the kids to burn some energy, get some fresh air and best of all it's FREE. Or perhaps try a treasure trail which makes the walk more interesting!

6) RESEARCH NEW CRAFT IDEAS - Get online and find some new ideas for things to create, bake or build. There are loads of good websites out there that have loads of fun ideas. Pinterest is one of my favourites.

7) STOCK UP ON CRAFT SUPPLIES - Prior to the holidays beginning make sure you have all of the resources that you may need, glue, scissors, toilet rolls, coloured card etc. Start collecting up a stock a few weeks before.

8)  GET A COLLECTION OF BOARD GAMES - Time to raid the charity shops and find some new games. You can pick up some great ones for a fraction of the price that the high street stores sell them at. This is always good as a back up for the horrible rainy days.

9) VISIT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY - Go and find some new books to read. You could have a theme for the week, like the Tudors, and then find books on your chosen subject and see who can learn the most by the end of the week. Maybe create a quiz for the end of the week and see who wins. Libraries also stock DVD's which you can hire for very low cost too.

 

10) DON'T FEAR BOREDOM - It is okay for your children to get bored, this forces them to use their own imagination and create fun for themselves. No one expects you to be super mum for the entire length of the holidays. 

So what about you? What are your top tips for surviving the school holidays?

The Joys Of Charity Shopping

I had a very weird day on Wednesday! It was my first morning all on my own in about 4 and a half years. My baby went to pre-school.

I didn't really know what to do with my self and I thought I'd just go home and catch up on 4 and a half years of housework, that just never gets done and then I thought I have devoted all that time to my children taking them to toddler groups, sign and rhyme classes or whatever the latest craze is at that time. So I'm going to spend the morning doing something that I want to do and something that I just can't do with two little ones in tow. Raid the charity shops!

I love charity shopping. I get a real buzz when I walk into a shop, not knowing what treasures you will find inside. I then I get an even bigger buzz when you find a real bargain. I hardly ever buy new anymore, I just find new products boring in comparison, they have no history and no story.

Sometimes you don't find anything in any of the shops and then you have days when every single shop you go into has something that you simple must have. This day was one of those days.

Here's a few bits I found that I was really pleased with...

 These two Moroccan lanterns were £3.99 for the pair!

 and these two, his and hers, crochet blankets were just £2 each.

The kids love them and it's really cute when they are all snuggled up on their chair together with their blankets.

So what about you are you a charity shopper or does the idea of buying second hand goods just not appeal to you?