Help!

[bjones]

My son is having his one year old bday party in a couple of weeks and I need help on some REALLY cheap ideas. I am VERY low on my budget, but need to come up with something. There will mostly be adults there...3-5 kids between the 4-5 age range. A very short party...maybe even just an hour... you know how little one's are! Please help! Any suggestions would be wonderful!

[netmechwife]

Do you bake? It would be cheapest to bake your own cake. Cupcakes are easier for little ones to eat. I would just invite everyone for cake and ice cream. Don't worry about other foods unless you want to. For goodies for the kids to take home you might try making each one their own homemade playdough. You can use small yogurt containers and decorate them or paint them to put the playdough in. The children can help if you want (activity idea). You can also print coloring pages off the internet for them to color at the party. Or find another cheap craft idea for them to do. You don't need decorations or you might try just a few balloons. (Maybe even use cutouts of your little ones hand outline and put them all over the house. You could use the hands as invitations and thank you notes too.

I guess this is starting to sound like an Art theme party!

There are also lots of game ideas that require no props on the ideabox and other sites like it.

You could make the cake shaped like a crayon by using a rectangle pan and cutting the end into a point.
Or use the rectangle pan and make a "paintbox" design by using white icing and coloring a little of the extra icing in different colors with food coloring and putting 8 different colored circles on the white frosted cake. I made a wonderful peanut butter cake for my 2 year old on his last birthday. Everyone liked it especially the kids. If you want the recipe I can post it for you.

Good luck and have a great time. Let me know if you want more ideas... God bless you.

[bjones]

Thank you netmechwife...some great ideas...I really appreciate it. I would love the receipe if you don't mind. Sounds wonderful. I will have to try some of your ideas. Do you think it would be too retarded to just do cupcakes for everyone? I kind-of wanted to do something simple...yet...different. Suggestions? Comments? I'm open to everything at this point.

Thanks again!!!:)

[PamE]

What about making cupcakes in ice cream cones and decorating them as clowns?


Or, here's a great link for really fun cakes!

http://www.family.go.com/recipes/special/specialfeature/cakefinder_tlp/

[PamE]

Happy Birthday to your ds, by the way!

:bdaycake:

Okay, I found a link for the clown cupcakes. I was going to try to describe them, but figured you'd be royally confused by the time I got done!


:bday:


http://204.148.156.137/fbnr_web/Tango/FBNR/recipe.taf?function=detail&RecipeID=2747001110&Searchtype=recipelist&List=430.htm


:Party:

[bjones]

Thank you for all of your wonderful ideas. Everyone was great. I did however make just cupcakes, which actually worked out really well for the kids that I had running around. Easy, and very simple to decorate, eh? I will keep in mind the 'clown' idea. I just got that, but the party was this past Sunday...so we might have to do that next year. Great idea though.

Thanks for all of your support!