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

Enchanted Forest Party

For my daughters 2nd birthday we had an Enchanted Forest Party and I thought I'd share some of the pictures with you.

The best bit about creating this party was by far the food!

 I had great fun choosing names for all the different dishes...

Some of the names included fairy berries (raspberries), squirrel chips (dried bananas) ,birds nests (chocolate krispy cakes) and fairy wands (sticks with chopped fruit on).

I managed to get a good dose of healthy food in there too.

I made a wooden sign to go outside the hall instead of the normal balloons (see how I made this here)

For the decorations I went with a colour scheme of reds, whites, greens and browns. We put up our green gazebo in the hall and hung green crepe paper streamers from it...

 I also made some mini toadstools to scatter around the room and on the tables. (See how I made these here)

 For my daughters outfit I managed to find her a green fairy outfit in a charity shop which only cost me £3.00, bargain and I made her a flowery crown...

Following with the enchanted forest theme I didn't want to go with traditional party bags instead I made my own from old jam jars...

In all it was a great party and I think everyone enjoyed themselves although I'm not sure Lowenna really knew what was going on...

Linking up with Ta-dah Tuesday on Faith Hope and Charity Shopping

Pinterest Party - Jubilee Celebrations

This weeks theme for Moors Mummy's Pinterest Party is ... 

Jubilee Celebrations.

I have chosen a picture of Kate Middleton for this weeks theme. 

I don't care what any of the papers say I think she looked amazing and always does for that matter. As for the comment about her upstaging the Queen, I mean really where do they find these journalist. (The Daily Mail & here)

You keep doing what you are doing Kate and don't listen to them.

Picture from Pinterest

So your turn now, go on to Pinterest and find your Jubilee Celebration photo and join in the fun at Moors Mummy's blog .

Bring out the Balloons

Today Lj attended her first birthday party without her big brother. She has been to parties before but only because H has been invited so she goes along as well. However the invite for this party was just for her. 

So I got her all dressed up in her pretty party dress (£10 from Tesco, Bargain!) dropped H at pre school and off we went. I think I was more excited than her.

When we got to the party she just sat on my lap and wouldn't move. She got down a few times if something caught her eye but was soon back in the comfort of my arms. I kept asking her if she wanted to get down and play but the only answer I got was "No No".

I've always thought she was quite a confident child because whenever we go anywhere she gets straight into it, playing with the toys that are on offer or chatting away in her toodler babble to the other children. What I have now realised is that she is confident but only when her big brother is there to show her the way.

Anyway the time came to leave, it was a lovely party which she spent more time observing than participating in and that was Lj's first experience of a party without her brother. Although all of that watching must have worn her out because she fell asleep straight away in the car, clutching the contents of her party bag.

 

Pinterest Party - The Beach

So this weeks very apt theme, what with all the beautiful sunshine we've been having, for Pinterest Party is... The Beach. 

 Image from Pinterest

I cannot get enough of sunset photo's, they are by far the best pictures. All of my favourite colours in one image. Love it.

So it's your turn now, go to Moors Mummy's blog to find out how to join in.

Pinterest Party - Country Life

This weeks theme for Pinterest Party is ... Country Life.

When I typed Country Life into the search on Pinterset there were loads of great photots that I could have chosen (which you can find on my Pinterset Party Board if you are interested) but in the end I went for this one...

Image from  I am Worth It originally form Elle

 This to me sums up what growing up in the country is all about. I remember doing things like this all the time when I was young. You could always find me up a tree somwhere or making a den in the woods. 

I feel that nowadays with our modern world children don't do things like this anymore and it's such a shame. They'd rather spend the time on their Wii's, Playstations, Xboxes or whatever the latest gadget is. 

Whatever happened to making mud pies, playing pooh sticks over a bridge or wheelbarrow racing.

To check out other entries this week go over to Moors Mummy's blog, you could even join in x

Pinterest Party - Bubbles

This weeks theme for Moors Mummy's Pinterest Party is - Bubbles.

I have chosen the following picture because I think it's really unsual and would be fab to wear.

Image was originally uploaded to Pinterest by Hirokazu Ono
Original source - Dwell

So now it's your turn to join in the party, check out Moors Mummy's blog for details.