Over the winter break my oldest had a birthday. And since we did the whole big sleepover party thing last year I told her this year she could have a very low-key party this year...aka a few friends hanging out & eating some cake :) Thankfully she was totally on board with that idea!
I'm not sure when it happened (maybe with the explostion of blogging & Pinterest) but I've noticed a trend to not only throw big birthday parties for kids every single year but to also have an awesome theme complete with matching decor, party favors & gifts. I'm here to tell you I am not one of those moms. Oh sure, we've had some fun themed parties & we've all enjoyed them. But I don't think it's necessary to do every single year to ensure my kid feels special.
I discovered several years ago that cupcakes are definitely the way to go when it comes to parties. I'm going to admit, as much as I like making and serving healthy, homemade foods to my family, I went the easy route for this party. Last year I baked cupcakes. This year I bought them at Safeway...partially to make it easier on myself, partially because I knew if I made cupcakes I'd have a lot of leftovers...which I would then eat!
Simple table with cupcakes, a few treats & some homemade pompoms...and one of our gingerbread houses we actually made after Christmas :)
The suckers I found at a candy shop at the mall & put them in a jar with some gumballs. Each girl got to take one home. The gumballs ended up in my daughter's gumball machine.
I made up simple gift bags...kraft bags with a notebook, pencils, cute post-its (all from Target), mini Jelly Belly's, fun chapstick (candy store in the mall).
For lunch I kept it simple - homemade subs, pretzels & chips, root beer & cream soda. The smaller plastic buckets I picked up at Target a while back. They're perfect for parties. The bigger one was from a party store. The white trays are from Joanns years back. And the big white metal bucket that I used for drinks was also from Target several years back. I have 2 of them and they are perfect for holding drinks for a party/get-together.
The only other decorating I did was some banners. The "Happy Birthday" banner was from, you probably guessed, Target! The doily banners I made myself by simply folding a doily in half over some bakers twine.
I also found some cute star garland in the clearance section (Christmas) at Target.
Yes, I do a lot of my shopping at Target! haha
The girls ate lunch, did the cake & presents thing, played Just Dance 2014 & karaoke (my daughter got a karaoke machine for Christmas so we hooked it up to the tv) and hung out in her room.
Simple. Laid back. Fun.
