A Little Party Decor/Food Info

With this party, I really wanted a homemade feel. 

To start, I had Mason paint us a sign directing the party goers to the birthday fun. The wood is from an old pallet (pallet upcycle! free wood!) and the paint I already had on hand so this party staple was a total free bee and very cute! I had multiple compliments on it. Which, who wouldn't love it! It was done by my own little Picasso/birthday boy!

Also, in this same shot, the pennant banners hanging on either side of the railing. The fabric was all scored at a local thrift store for a dollar. I literally paid ONE DOLLAR. I did a rough cut of the pennants, attached them to a piece of twine using alternating pieces of scrap to tie the ends, and these babies hung out down the walkway greeting our incoming guests.

Total cost for these cute additions- $3. (In all actuality, less than that since I still have a lot of twine/scrap fabric left)

Next up! CUPCAKES! Who doesn't love cupcakes! I decided on mini-cupcakes simply because they are precious. Mini things usually are... Case in point, my boys! Mini people are especially cute.

I decided on one classic cupcake and one no so run of the mill cupcake.

For our classic cupcake I did a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Simple, but loved by kids and adults alike.

For our not so average cupcake, I did a chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting that I found here on Annie's Eats.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

I am not usually a frosting kind of gal, but this frosting is amazing. I can literally eat it right out of the bowl. 

 To finish them off I added some cute little toppers. Some I made using the train silhouette on my Carnival Cricut cartridge and some left over card stock from the invitations and for the others I tied small scraps of the $1 thrifted fabric onto the tops of toothpicks. (I got A LOT of use from that fabric! That dollar was seriously stretched.)

The mason jars were all collected from the same thrift store and also the GW.

The white toolbox was found at (once again) the same thrift store for .50. She was green and rusted to high heaven. I cleaned her up and gave her a shot of Krylon spray paint in Almond. Afterwards, I scuffed her up to get her back to looking old and used and she fit in quite nicely as a super "manly" cupcake stand.

The red lantern has been in my mom's possession for years. Borrowing= Free Decor!

All of the picture frames were purchased at the Dollar Tree. Once again, shot them with some Krylon spray paint in Almond and scuffed them up. Good thing about them... You can never have too many picture frames so the $5 I spent on frames will get a whole heck of a lot more use than just the party.

My cake (that I decorated all by my little lonesome!) was made using white cake mix and butter creme using the good old fashioned unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk recipe. The black train silhouette was done using probably the best thing ever invented, (for folks like me who want clean lines, but don't have the cake decorating skill) sugar sheets! I cut the shape out of card stock using the same Cricut cartridge, traced it onto the sugar sheet, and cut it using some regular old scissors.

Result- A cake that looks like I know what i am doing without me actually knowing what I am doing. Win!

The cake stands...

2 chargers from the dollar section of Target- $2

2 candlesticks from the trusty thrift store- $1

Glue- On hand

Krylon's Almond spray paint- On hand

After cleaning and gluing together the chargers and candle sticks, I sprayed them with the Krylon and distressed them.

Result- Super cute, inexpensive cake plates that will definitely get a lot of use. I love them!

Another Dollar Tree frame ($1), a chipboard letter from Hobby Lobby ($2), Target dollar section train whistle ($1 and personalized by me for free!), and a lantern (once again) from the trusty old thrift store ($.25).

The window was given to me by my aunt and uncle (FREE!) and the drink jugs I have had for about 2 years now (originally bought at Target for $25 a pop, but I have gotten SO much use out of them).

The stands under the drink jugs were originally meant to be a candle holder and a candy dish. They worked perfectly for what I needed them for. Together they were $1 and after some spray paint they fit in beautifully. I also managed to score the gingham seen here along with the gingham on the cake table for $3 on clearance. Score!

Once again with the scrap fabric! (I told you that I got a lot of use out of it!)

There are a few things I would have done differently, but overall I was very pleased. Our real expense came from the venue and the entertainment, which isn't too terribly bad. ESPECIALLY considering that it was a double birthday party!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Monday! I know I am!Being back at work is like a vacation compared to our crazy weekend!