Planning My Daughter's 4th Birthday - How I'm Making it Special

Mar

Planning My Daughter's 4th Birthday - How I'm Making it Special

My whole philosophy about throwing a great party is that you only need a few unexpected details to make it special. Well, for this party, which is today, I'm living my own advice.

So what are my unexpected details?

Well, first my gorgeous mermaid printables from Love the Day. This is the first time I'm using party printables and so far I'm loving the whole experience. If I want more decorations, I just press "print." How cool is that?

My second detail is my cupcake toppers from Two Sugar Babies. I've never seen or tasted fondant cupcake toppers before and I bet most of my guests haven't either, so I can't wait to see their reaction. Plus Charynn designed a special 3-D mermaid topper for my daughter's cupcake. I promise you, she's going to go nuts!

My third detail is my photo booth with props. Kelli from The Paper Dolls Shoppe designed these adorable photo booth printable lips and mustaches that we're giving away for FREE. Again, I bet most of my guests have never seen this before, so I'm curious to see how it goes over. Four-year-olds can be pretty unpredictable, therefore this might be an exercise in letting go. :)

And finally, the party favors, which are a very important detail to my daughter. She wanted to give her friends something special, and I didn't want to give them sweets because of the possible wrath of the other mothers. :) So I found these cute mermaid and pirate Shrinky Dinks for half off...

...and wrapped them up pretty with what else... my printables!! What do you think?

My last detail is my two balloon bouquets from Balloon Celebrations. Cyndy is definitely helping me out here. I don't think I could afford them otherwise, so a big thank you to you, Cyndy!

There you have it. Budgets are hard, but most of us have to deal with them. And at the end of the day, I really only have to please one person - my daughter. (Okay two people, my husband when the Visa bill comes.)

If you have similar stories, or tips on how you saved money throwing a party, or special details you added to make your party memorable, I'd love to hear them.

And as I've said before, wish me luck today... and of course I'll be sharing how it all went down.

Comments

Wendy says...

@ 07:51 on Mar 11, 2011

Budgets ARE hard! I always have a budget for my parties, I just can't afford to spend a ton. I love printables! I've never done a photo booth either, I bet it would be fun. And I'm sure the kids will love the mustaches! The goody packages look great. And those balloons are awesome! Why are balloons so darn expensive?

Fara says...

@ 07:59 on Mar 11, 2011

good luck Jillian, everything will turn absolute wonderful! Love the mermaid theme parties. My daughter love them too (she is turning six this year). I will love to see how turn out! Fara

Kristin says...

@ 08:06 on Mar 11, 2011

This maybe be an obvious question (sorry!) but what exactly is a photo booth? Are you renting a booth or just designating an area for photos? Sounds like a wonderful idea, I'd like to know how it's executed! Thanks!

Nicole @ Tradewind Tiaras says...

@ 08:14 on Mar 11, 2011

I can't wait to read the party wrap-up! I'm sure it will be absolutely spectacular, and I completely agree, having small (inexpensive!) touches makes a huge impact!

Laura says...

@ 08:27 on Mar 11, 2011

Everything looks great already! I LOVE the way you wrapped the favors. It looks amazing. Can't wait to see all the pics and I know our daughter will love it!

Lisa says...

@ 00:11 on Mar 12, 2011

I too am wondering what a phot booth is?

Amanda McMillen says...

@ 16:00 on Mar 14, 2011

OMG I love these and I am now in love with twosugarbabies I have recently ordered some stuff from them and i will Be getting more soon! Thank you for telling me about them!

Unique Scrap Designs says...

@ 17:18 on Mar 18, 2011

What a cute mermaid party!!! I love the balloon arrangement! :) http://www.uniquescrapdesigns.com http://www.etsy.com/shop/UniqueScrapDesigns

Stacey McDonnell says...

@ 11:08 on Apr 28, 2011

A photo booth is just as is says. Remember when we were kids they had photo booths at th earcarde or some fun place in the mall. While renting one of those is popular these days and they are sprouting up everywhere again. In a party atmosphere witha budget like most of thes ladies have done they used a fabric back drop and some sort of prop foo the kids to sit on. Meanwhile the children can pick funny hats scarves make funny faces nand even like above facial expressions on a stick while some one at the party is appointed to take pics of the kids at the photo booth you create or can actually rent one of the old ones. Lots of fun for any party and really cute for carnival parties too. especially after the kids get their faces painted ortattoed. Hope that makes sense or helps. ried to exxplain in a easy format. Sorry too if I answered in responsetothis wuestion although I had nothing to do with that party. Just thought I would answer since no one responded. i plan childrens parties on a budget too. Stacey

Irina says...

@ 03:45 on Feb 06, 2012

Thank you for the free printables! We just had a unicorn party but who knows I might need them next year. I am pinning them.