Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

Birthday's, Party Planning

Dalmatian Party

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When your daughter is obsessed with puppies, you get her a puppy. Or, for those of us that are already at their responsibility’s max, you throw her a dalmatian themed birthday party. Now, THAT is something that I can handle.

In all seriousness, my daughter really loves dalmatian puppies. And after thinking about it, we decided to go with a “One Hundred and EIGHT” Birthday party theme. And by we, I actually mean her. She came up with it all on her own. I’m one proud mom.

This entire party was actually one of the most affordable parties I’ve ever done. I really didn’t spend much. I found most things on clearance ahead of the party (the plastic cups that we personalized were only $.25 each on clearance). I handmade the dog bone pinata (cost me $1.50 to buy the tissue paper at Dollar Tree). The most expensive stuff was the puppies and doghouses (total was about $55, doghouses were from Temu and puppies were from Amazon).

For the tablescape, I got everything at the Dollar Tree. I added black spots to white plates, from vinyl that I got for $.25 at the Dollar Tree (I also added these spots to balloons and other random things throughout the house). And because flowers are the easiest way to enhance the tablescape, I got all of them from Trader Joe’s ($30).

Overall, it was a pretty easy party (nothing too time consuming, minus the pinata). But the way it all came together? Pure perfection.

Holidays!

14 Things I Love About You

I’m always looking for traditions to start with my littles and one of the easiest ones that I’ve found is the ’14 Things I Love About You’ Valentine’s tradition. I love it because it’s easy and my kids love it because they love hearing all of the little things that I love about them. And because none of us have extra time, I’m going to make it easier for you.

When I first started this tradition I had to cut out the hearts from construction paper. And of course I wanted a few different colors so I needed to get extra paper. I’m making it easier for you: print off the sheets of hearts below and cut them out. Write a reason you love your child on each heart (you’ll only need 14, there’s a few extra), and tape one to their bedroom door each night from February 1st to the 14th. That’s it. Could it be any easier?

Kids love these little traditions and I love nothing more than doing them to see their smiles. But sometimes being a mom can get overwhelming, so don’t make it harder on yourself than it has to be. You can do little traditions like this that they’ll remember forever that don’t take much preparation on your part.

Download your heart printables here.

And in case you’re like me and you need a little help coming up with 14 things you love about your kid (listen, sometimes it’s the end of the night and I just can’t think straight), here’s a good list to start with:

  1. You are sweet.
  2. You are cuddly.
  3. You are silly.
  4. You are beautiful.
  5. You are inspiring.
  6. You are touching.
  7. You are unique.
  8. You are hopeful.
  9. You are joyful.
  10. You are sincere.
  11. You are determined.
  12. You’re full of potential.
  13. You are funny.
  14. You are loving.
  15. You are daring.
  16. You are artistic.
  17. You are athletic.
  18. You are creative.
  19. You’re a great big/little sister/brother.
  20. You make me laugh.
Birthday's

Purple Minnie Mouse

You guys know how much I embrace the first three years of my children’s lives. The sweet baby smells, the snuggles, the complete control over which birthday party themes you get to throw. You know, the important stuff.

Quinn was VERY specific about her third birthday party. It was going to be Minnie Mouse, and it was going to be purple. Of course, Minnie Mouse is not very original, but whatevs, I knew how much it would mean to one little mouse. So off I went, thinking I’d be able to get some fun stuff for her from my typical party websites.

NOT the case. Hardly anything comes in purple for Minnie Mouse, so I did what I should have done from the start, and started creating myself.

I found some purple mouse head balloons from Temu, and mixed them with a purple balloon kit. The balloons may have been one of my favorite things, maybe a close second to the photo strips. Taking her photos was not only fun, but the results were my FAVORITE. She has such a personality, and it showed through this shoot.

I made my own piñata of course, as is starting to become customary in this house. It sounds all fun and games until you’re up until midnight gluing tissue paper onto cardboard. Thankfully my husband pours drinks in this household.

At every party, I try to keep the kids occupied with something to do. We played ‘pin the bow on Minnie,’ had a Minnie Mouse scavenger hunt, and broke open the piñata. Then cake and ice cream, presents, and a swift kick to the butt and out the door they went. Okay not exactly, but close.

Birthday's

Surfing Into 6

Since I’ve finally gotten around to blogging about Quinn’s second birthday party that was almost a year ago, I can now move on to Sawyer’s from October. Nothing like mom life. One day I’ll be on top of my game, I promise. Just not today.

After some serious thought (read: she tried to change the party theme after I had bought everything for this one) we ended up going with a “Surfing Into 6” theme. I ran with it, because I keep thinking that ‘this party’ will be the last fun theme I get to throw her (we are already narrowing down her 7th birthday between a Princess party and a ‘Puppy’ party). But don’t let my negativity fool you, I’ve already got several ideas for Princesses AND puppies.

When I started planning, I found three old surfboards on Facebook Marketplace for $20 each and decided they’d be our focal points. They ended up being even cuter than I had hoped. I used spray paint on each of them to color them with the matching party colors, and it covered quite nicely. I was also able to sell them after the party for more than I bought them for, making it quite the perfect investment!

For a backdrop, I ordered sheets of sheer fabric from Temu ($2 each), used a wooden dowel from Hobby Lobby, and strung them up behind my dessert table. I think they added a perfect touch!

Party Backdrop Idea for cheap

I also made my own Surfboard piñata (they’re much easier than they look to make, just time consuming. pro tip: Make sure you have fringe scissors). I turned our little playhouse into a surf shack by using fake grass skirts to cover the roof and I made little surfboard wands for each place setting.

The tableware is from The Party Darling, the cookies from Cellar Door Cookies, and the mini favor baskets from Sun Jellies. The balloon garland is from Amazon.