Last weekend my daughter had her tenth birthday (yikes!), and she invited five of the sweetest girls over for her very first Slumber Party. I was so worried about what to do with those girls (my husband took our other children to visit his parents for the night . . .), but they had a wonderful time, and were all so much fun! Here are a few things I did to keep the party within our budget:
1. Little Caesar's has a great deal on pizzas with our local Enjoy the City Booklet. I fed all seven of us for just $14 ~ not bad!
2. Instead of cake, Caroline wanted a Sundae Bar. I used a few toppings from last summer's ice cream sales that were in our pantry, and hit Walmart for the items we didn't already have. I also bought the plates, napkins, popcorn bags, and plasticware all at the Dollar Tree for ~ you guessed it ~ a dollar!
3. I found these cute metal buckets in the Target dollar bins last fall, and grabbed them because I knew with two little girls I could find a use for them. We filled them with candy from the Dollar Tree, $1 LED flashlights for flashlight tag (those were a hit!), and lemonade packets for them to mix in their water bottles. I used my Cricut Cutter with this vinyl adhesive to create names on each of the buckets, but you could easily just purchase stickers at your local craft store if you don't have a Cricut!
4. Of course, since I already had the Cricut out, we went ahead and made a sign for the mirror . . .
5. I bought a beach ball at Walmart for $1, and put different questions/dares on it for the girls to answer. They threw the ball, and whoever caught it had to answer the question under their right thumb. Here are a few of the ideas:
- Sing I'm A Little Teapot and do the hand motions
- What's the grossest thing you can think of?
- Look around at the group for 30 seconds without smiling.
- When you grow up, what will you be famous for?
- Do a backwards somersault.
- Lick your elbow.
6. When they arrived, we had simple markers and large sheets of paper and they colored their “placemats”. (I thought this was so cheesy, but they all loved it ~ 10 year old girls think apparently think coloring in bubble letters is still awesome ~ thank goodness!)
7. Because both my husband and daughter's birthdays are two days apart, they shared a cake on her “real” birthday. This was the double decker cake we got at Sam's for just $14.99! (Warning: you may not want to get icing on the top – it was very good, but with icing in the middle also it was wayyyyy too much for my family. . .)
That's it! We also watched a movie on Netflix (for free thanks to my free trial), and since all the girls love gymnastics, they practiced their “routines”. (They were so funny . . . they would take turns and “score” each other on how they did, and were incredibly thorough!) It was so much easier than I expected, and we spent less than $100 . . . and Caroline was thrilled when it was done.
Happy Birthday, Sweet Caroline!
(Can I just tell you how much I love that girl? If you're a momma, you already know.) 😉
This post is linked up to Follow Our Thrift at Coupon Closet. Thanks for the opportunity to link up! I'd love for you to join me over on Pinterest (I love that place!) If you have a blog and have done a little fluffing in your home, I’d love to see it, so leave your link in the comments section. Also, if there’s a craft you’ve seen on a website that you’re hoping to make, feel free to share that link as well (I’m always looking for new ideas!)
See more previous Friday Fluff Up projects and ideas . . . and Happy Fluffing!
Audrey Baumgardt says
wow, i love it!
Laurie says
Thanks Audrey!
Nina Balan says
Great d=ideas thanks.
Mira Girgis says
where is sam's? (the place u got the cake)
Marie Ely says
Thanks for sharing! My daughter’s 8th birthday is this month, and although she’s not having a sleepover party I still love your game ideas!
Laurie says
Thanks Marie ~ they really were so much fun! Hope you all have a great birthday party too. 🙂
windy says
I like how u did the words on ur mirror! Too bsd I dont have a circuit. 🙁 I like ur place mats and thr beach ball idea. Trying to plan something for my 10 and 6 yr olds bday but they are boys. Thanks for sharing. Also ur curtains are beautiful!
Laurie says
You could do the same think if you found big stickers at Hobby Lobby! 🙂 I do love my curtains – you can check out how I lucked into those here ~ https://passionatepennypincher.com/2013/01/why-you-shouldnt-penny-pinch-on-paint/
Good luck with your birthday parties – those boys are fun but definitely busier! 🙂
Jenn weiner says
I can’t believe she is 10!!!! Very cute ideas…love it:)
Laurie says
I can’t believe she’s 10 either…. ughhhhh! (I’m getting old entirely too fast!!!) 🙂