My son’s 6th Birthday party was a success…and we did it without taking out a loan! Don’t get me wrong. It looks fabulous to serve cheese puffs as Nerf darts…but it’s not for me. I personally think it’s going a little overboard to label bottled water and serve unhealthy snacks just because of it’s color/shape. To each their own. It’s hard not to over do it. Everything must be themed, well thought out and…perfect. After all, you have your children, spouse, other mothers and their children to impress. A mother can spend a small fortune and drive herself crazy living up to Pinterest expectations! On my quest for finding Nerf party inspiration, I saw a lot of very cute ideas. When it came down to execution and practicality, I threw most of the ideas out the window. I’m proof ladies! Take comfort in knowing that your child will be JUST as happy with homemade cupcakes as bakery bought. I promise.
I knew I was making most of the decorations so I kept everything simple and based off of the colors blue and orange. When planning for a birthday party, first go to the dollar store. Once you research what you can buy on the cheap (usually basic items like table cloths, plates and utensils). You can decide what you can order online or buy at other stores. Keep in mind, dollar stores may only carry popular colors. I found blue items at the Dollar Tree and orange items at my local Walmart for .97 each! All items were logo free but still screamed “Nerf” when assembled together.First order of business was invitations. I took a picture of my son holding his favorite Nerf gun then had 4×6 pictures printed. Next, I used blue card stock and glued orange printer paper fon top or contrast. I hand wrote the Time, Place, Date, Address and so on. There you go, very cute, personal and thrifty invitations! The picture also helped classmate’s parents identify which kid was hosting the party. As popular as I would like to think my kid is, I’m sure the picture helped. My intention was to keep the same format for the thank you cards and replace my son’s picture with a picture of my son with each guest. Yeahhhh, boys + Nerf wars + sugar = no pictures. Maybe next year…eyes rolling.
I found some cute cupcake toppers on Etsy. I am such a fan of homemade items…but not of their prices. The toppers I liked were $12 before shipping and handling. You read right, $12 for colored paper and tooth picks. I was inspired to make my own version.
For the cupcakes, I mixed one Wilton white frosting with an orange confetti frosting. I did this because the orange frosting was too wet to hold the awesome swirl shape that we all love. I have tried adding loads of confectioners sugar and Meringue Powder with less success. This “cheat method” works for me when I cannot make my own frosting (or if I am too lazy or pressed for time). Each chocolate cupcake had the orange filling inside as well. The cool cupcake toppers and blue cupcake liners tied everything together.
I was also able to find BLUE velvet cake and blue frosting. Score! I wanted my cake to be smaller (since I already had cupcakes). I found 3 small round pans from the Dollar Tree. There I am saving money again.
Here is the final product. I know it’s a little smurfy, but it tasted and looked great to the kids.
The extra card stock (from the cupcake toppers and invitations) was used to make my Happy Birthday banner. Please ignore the ugly brown paint. Can you say future DIY project? I used blue jute rope ($1.99 at Michael’s) instead of yarn because it’s what I had. The letters were from The Dollar Tree, an awesome tip that I learned from my best blogger friend Kelly. She is a craft-a-holic and loves homemade projects too! Check out her blog, Stories of a Life Homemade for more craft tips.
Next, I MADE a target piñata to keep with the Nerf gun theme. It was a project that my kids loved to help with and the outcome was larger and stronger than anything I would have bought. Click HERE for step by step instructions. This project was fun, easy and CHEAP! Did I mention it was cheap? It was.
We only played one game in addition to the piñata. We had each child shoot at 3 different targets at varying distances. The winner got a prize…ahem of course a Nerf gun. For this game we used a weaker gun. This was not verified (thank goodness) but I swear some of the guns will leave a dent in drywall. Well, this is judging by the various bruises I have acquired…usually on the back side of my body.
Speaking of injury, I highly suggest providing eye protection. Cheap glasses can be found anywhere. I bought “Construction themed” glasses from the Oriental Trading Company. They were untinted, perfect for little faces and inexpensive yet sturdy. Even if the kids do not wear the safety glasses, at least they were provided. Thankfully, the only child shot in the eye was my birthday boy. No law suit there!
I got personal satisfaction knowing that I saved my hard earned money while having priceless craft time with my children. By saving money on the decorations, I was able to “splurge” on healthier alternatives to junk food and sugar. Fresh produce for a group can be expensive, especially during a snowy Michigan February. Avoid the pre-made trays! Instead buy everything separately and chop it all yourself. My fruit loving kiddos were very happy and I was able to serve the left over fruits and veggies for dinner the next night. Hooray for left overs! Nerf war on ya’ll.
