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Saturday, August 15, 2009

Saving Money on a Themed Birthday Party

Birthday Party

My son has recently become fascinated by “Finding Nemo,” mostly through merchandise and seeing clownfish in books. He’s only seen some of the movie twice. He was enthusiastic enough about it, though, that I decided to make that the theme of his birthday party. In retrospect, I probably could have done it cheaper, but we had a good time and learned a lot.

First, let’s talk decorations. I spent about $60 on decorations, mostly from our local Card and Party Warehouse and PartyAmerica.com. Because the Disney movie I chose was so old, I had trouble finding party gear at our usual stores. We invited 9 kids and 10 adults. We ended up with 7 kids and 7 adults, plus us, so 8 kids and 9 adults. I bought two packs of dinner plates, two packs of lunch plates, 2 packs of napkins, 1 pack of cups, a tablecover, stickers, temporary tattoos, and three hanging fish online. These were all themed. I also bought two packs of streamers, goody bags, silverware, and plain cups and plates, along with Take and Toss cups for the toddlers. We also bought a dozen helium balloons and a Nemo and Marlin helium balloon. Invitations were done on Evite.

We spent about $65 on food. Nearly $50 of that went to pizza, beer, and beer nuggets. The rest went to cake-making supplies, Goldfish crackers, Swedish fish, and fruit for a fruit salad.

The goody bags were simple. I filled them with individual Goldfish bags, Finding Nemo fruit snacks, and crayons. Since I got the crayons on sale for $.25, each bag cost me about $1.25.

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