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Monday, July 17, 2017

DIY Cars Birthday Party: On a Budget, Without Anyone Knowing It!

Birthday's are big for me. There are other holidays I go all out for as well, but when it comes to my little padawan growing up, I do my best to make sure his birthday's are memorable. While I want to give him the best party ever, I don't always have the funds to splurge like I'd like to. This simply means I have to improvise.

Last year I threw my son a Star Wars themed party (see that post HERE) and everything was completely DIY. This year was no different. I wanted to do things DIY style again, with a few actual decorative pieces. The reason I decided to purchase a few key pieces that I didn't DIY myself, was simply because (thanks to Cars 3 being a big hit), there were a number of dollar - and budget friendly - "Cars" themed items at Target! So it was still a budget party, with DIY mixed in. 


First up, gift bags.

At Target they were selling eight gift bags for $3, so I purchased 2 sets. Then I used some sticker paper that I had (shipping labels, full sheets) and printed out an entire sheet of checkered patterned paper on the sticker paper. Using my mini paper guillotine, I cut strips 2 blocks tall and measured the length to fit the bags themselves. Once every strip was cut, I simply took the back off and slapped them [carefully] onto the bags themselves. 

Total so far: $6

As for the inserts - not photographed - I went to the dollar section and looked for some bags of goodies. I also decided to go to Target's party section to see their goody bags and I highly recommend checking the prices of the infamous "themed" goody bag packs on Amazon, because not only are they cheaper, but Target will price match!

Total now: $12

I also used my left over sticker paper and printed out multiple "Cars" logo's without the words, so the kids could write their names on them. This helped alleviate the "who's bag is who's" issue.

Now onto the decor:

I got some punch balloons (3 sets) that had Cars prints on them, a number 6 gold balloon (the size of two palms), a Cars center piece, and "road" themed duct tape, all from Target's Dollar section.

I was scrolling Pinterest one night, when I saw this mom print Lightning McQueen's eyes (the red car from Disney's Cars trilogy), cut them out, and glued them onto red cups. It made it look like the cups themselves were Lightning McQueen. I was inspired. 


My little padawan specifically wanted a Cars 3 theme, so I purchased brown (Tow Mater), black (Jackson Storm), and red (Lightning McQueen) colored cups from Dollar Tree. Then I googled each character's eyes, cropped the pictures, printed them out on sticker paper, and cut just the eyes out. Once every set of eyes was cut out, I stuck them on the corresponding characters colored cups. 

Afterwards I got 2 tablecloths:red and black and a silver platter for some cupcakes along with silverware all from Dollar Tree.

Current total: $25

As for the other "generic, pre-made decor", I purchased a Cars cupcake tower from Party City for $3, a Cars "Happy Birthday Banner" for $3, and some $2 Cars confetti, to bring together the entire theme together.

The cupcakes were all funfetti and I decided to skip any extra's by simply frosting one set red and one set yellow. Only thing left was to get a "6" candle and a pinata.

I decided to get the pinata from a small shop, instead of Party City, because I felt they were far less expensive and just as good of quality as a pricier one would be. The lady was incredibly sweet and had a Lightning McQueen among her many beautiful creations. The price was $20 and it could hold up to 8lbs of candy. It was a bit hard for the kiddos to break apart, but eventually candy rained and everyone dove for the sweets. 

Grand total: $54

All in all the total was more, seeing as how we supplied burgers, pizza (supplied by my mom), and drinks, plus I got a few cooking utensils and baskets to house the food momentarily, I didn't spend more than $75, making this 30 person party go off without a hitch!

As you can see, throwing a party doesn't have to be intricately detailed with the finest jewels. It's the memories and people you share them with that will make the moments last forever. 

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