Earlier, I blogged about my party favors and how I really like to make sure I am not overspending in this area – because let’s be honest, it would be super easy to go to the store, grab a bunch of stuff, spend about $5 a person, and think, $5 a kid isn’t bad. But when you have 20 kids coming? That’s $100! I don’t know about you, but that’s a hefty chunk of my party budget! For the monster party, I kept the cost down by buying big packs of chaulk (52 sticks for $3), packs of stickers ($4 for 20 sheets), cellophane bags ($2 for 40), and making my own printable bag toppers. Total cost per favor: 50 cents, not counting the cardstock and ribbon, which I had on hand.
For C’s Valentine’s Day party, I made homemade playdough scented with kool-aid, which cost $1 for 2 jars, and I had all of the play dough ingredients on hand, except the kool-aid, which cost $1 for 3 packages. I tied a heart shaped cookie cutter onto the jar, which was also 2/$1, and used some printable tags that I created myself. Total cost: around $1.50 per favour – I also only had 6 kids at this party.
And in my last post, I showed you the pencils, notebooks, and bubbles favors that I put together for C’s summer themed birthday party at a cost of under $1 per favor:
Here are a few things I always try to keep in mind when I am shopping for party favors:
- How many people are coming? How much can I afford to spend per person? Set a budget in mind before you start shopping, or it will be way too easy to blow it!
- Shop the Dollarstore, but only if you can get more than one item in a pack and make sure it’s a good deal. 4 small notebooks in a pack was a great deal, however 3 packs of bubbles was not such a great deal, compared to Walmart’s 8 for $3.
- Shop early and shop around. Get ideas and price them out before you even purchase a thing.
- Save on packaging. Use paper bags or cellophane bags decorated with printable tags and ribbon.
- Think of ways to repurpose or redesign items. For instance, the notebooks above were pretty ugly and didn’t really fit with the summer theme until I decorated the covers.
- Don’t buy useless junk just for the sake of filling a party favor bag. I would much rather my kid came home from a party with a notepad and stickers that she will (definitely) use, over a bunch of traditional “loot bag fillers”.
- DIY – look around your craft room. Surplus of flowers? Make pretty hair clips for a tea party. Use what you have already!
KCoake says
Great tips! Thanks
Amanda @ The Little Giggler says
These are all great! Thanks for the tip!
Hopeful1 says
These are fantastic ideas! Thanks for sharing them. : )
pinkoddy says
What a great post. For our son’s birthday we bought paper bag and had the guests just glue stuff onto them as part of the party 🙂
Jill says
Such cute ideas – as usual! =) Thanks for sharing at the Pomp Party! Pinning to our Pomp Party board!
Jill @ Create.Craft.Love.
YummyInspirations says
Thanks for all the great ideas! Both my boys birthdays are in the next month so it’s perfect timing!
Meredith @ Wait Til Your Father Gets Home says
These are such cute ideas! I’ll definitely keep these in mind for the future :o) I’m featuring you today on Favorite Pins Friday! http://www.waittilyourfathergetshome.com/2012/06/29/favorite-pins-friday-7/