Thrifty Thursday: Kid's Birthday Parties and how to make cupcake picks

We have had a few years of going to more and more birthday parties as my son gets older.  The parties are more and more extravagant including bouncy houses, puppet shows, and more.  I was feeling the pressure this year to do something big.  Then I stepped back and thought about my son's past birthdays and what were his favorite parts.

His first birthday he didn't really do anything but hang out and get attention from everyone at the party.  He wasn't interested in the cake or any food but did love showing off for all of the adults.  Is that all he needs??

On his second, third, and fourth birthday, I sent some treats into school for him to share with his school friends on his birthday.  They gave him a special crown and fawned over him all day.  He came home on cloud nine and excited that it was his birthday.  One of those years, we had a birthday party at the house over the weekend with his friends and adults and he kept saying that his "real" party was already at school .  I put thought and energy into doing the party at the house and he was super happy about the fun at school.

What did all of these parties have?  People making him feel special on his special day.  I don't know about you, but that doesn't cost any money.

We are starting to plan his fifth birthday party and I decided to go with a snow theme.  I have a snowflake tablecloth and cloth napkins which we have used for a few years so I will put that on the table.

We have some paper plates and napkins with snowflakes (I actually looked in the drawer with all our paper goods and there are four different kinds of napkins with snowflakes and one with snowman).

I also had some extra silver ones that I got half off after Christmas a few years ago.  I can't tell you how many holidays here have been silver and we still have a pile of them left.

so we will use those to go with the blue and silver snowflake theme.  I only have one set of the big ones and one of the small ones but it brings together the idea of the snow and winter so I am going with it.

We cut paper snowflakes to hang around for decorations.  My son and I had fun making the decorations (and my husband joined in a for a few).  I am sure my son will show everyone who comes all the ones that were his.  I folded a few extra scrap papers so that all of the friends (kids and parents alike) can make their own snowflakes.  I also have out tissue paper in case it is easier for the kids to cut but I am not sure if we are going to use those.

I dug into my winter decoration box in the basement to see what else I already have.  I found some lanterns that we didn't use for Christmas.  There were a few other things in there like candles and candle holders but I don't think that I am going to pull them out.  I did put them on top, just in case.

This year I also bought winter window clings after Christmas because we had so much fun decorating the door for Halloween and it turns out that I had nothing for Christmas.  Good thing that most of them were snowman (or maybe I planned it that way).

I went searching for where I stashed them and it took a little bit to find them in my 6 Christmas bins!!  I think that we have gone over the top crazy with the amount of Christmas stuff that we have already so I don't think that adding any more was necessary but I pulled them out when he was getting ready to go to school and we decorated the door.  Sorry it is a little deary and rainy here but no snow.

 My son decided that he needed to put one thing a little different so now our door is find what is wrong.  In case you can't see it up above, here is the close up.  He put the ice skating polar bear on his back so he wasn't skating on the ground anymore.  He found this entirely entertaining and laughed and laughed....what a five year old finds amusing but I am sure he is going to show everyone that comes through the door.

It is hard to have a winter birthday because everyone is stuck inside if the weather is bad so I need to come up with a lot of different things to entertain the kids. I bought foam snowflakes and penguins at Target when they were 70% off so they were $0.30 for a package of 10.  I decided to buy two packs of each!  That way if we don't use them all, we will have some to decorate for next year.

They can decorate them with puffy foam stickers (also purchased at Target for $2.50).  I bought two buckets of these because we had no other winter stickers so why not!

I also have some eye stickers and bought glitter glue (with my Kmart credit).  They will have two fun things to bring home with them to decorate their house for the winter and I can put them right into the gift bags when they are dry.

My son has also requested to make a paper plate craft so I think that we are going to make the snowman head like we have already made.  If I get a lot of energy, we might also make the melted snowman that I saw with the bowl but I still have to prep a few more things to get this done.

I don't know how to settle on anything with a preschooler but I have trouble every year because my son declares what he wants and changes his mind with in a few days (whether it be his birthday cupcakes, Christmas presents, or Halloween costumes).  I try to be flexible but there are limits to my creativity and time.  My son decided this year that he wanted Thomas cupcakes for school because that was what he wanted last year. We went with McQueen last year because I refused his day before pleading.

I was so ready this year to go with Thomas but he asked for Lego at the last minute so I told him that would be next years theme (at least I get a head start).  I made confetti cupcakes with blue cotton candy icing with Thomas cupcake picks in silver muffin papers (I got all of the cake stuff at Harris Teeter free after coupons instead of making them from scratch).

It is easy to make the cupcakes decorated just like your kids want them by adding a pick on top.  I got the circles cut at the office at school instead of buying a punch at the store which I was just about to do so they saved me some money there.  It never hurts to ask because they have the tools and it cost them no money to let me make a few circles.  After doing one, I quickly figured out that I should decorate the one side and flip them over.

The key is to put down the glue, stick in the toothpick and put the sticker over it so that it all stays together without having to hold them until they dry.  I put the toothpick where I wanted it and then picked it up and did the line of glue. If you don't have toothpicks, you can also cut up wooden skewers or use lollipop sticks. 

I added the sticker over top which held everything.  After I did all ten, I went back and pushed the sticker down a little to make sure that it was touching the glue while it was drying.  Then, I added the little stickers around the edge to dress it up.

Here were my final picks which are going to be great stuck on top of the cupcakes with blue cotton candy icing.

The final cupcakes looked like this so I was pretty happy and my son was super excited to share them with his friends at school on Wacky Wednesday which also happens to be his birthday so we made the cupcakes with all different toppings.  I used five marshmallows since he turned five.  I thought they were pretty cute, what do you think?

We are going to do snowflake cake and snowman cupcakes at home.  I got a snowflake pan at Target 50% off  after Christmas this year which I am going to use for a yummy pound cake.

I am going to make chocolate cupcakes with white icing (unless the birthday boy has a last minute change but I have food coloring and flavor packets in case he does).  I tried to make snowflake muffin picks but the first batch folded up with the glue drying and I am almost out of toothpicks. I gave up because I have to get some more and try another glue but then I came up with another plan.  I am going to use snowman muffin papers and then make a snowman face with either mini chocolate chips or chocolate covered pomegranate seeds with a candy corn nose just like our Cracker Snowman Sweet Snack.

I made a three tier cupcake holder last year so I guess I better get searching to wrap one in snowflake paper soon!!  I have the paper and need to work on making that while he is in school. 

I decided that it would be a good idea to make a game that would also double as decoration so I am trying to figure out the best thing to do but I think that I am going with pin the nose on the snowman.  I was thinking about a snow ball game but I don't know how much throwing to encourage with a group of 5 year old boys.  Since the movie Frozen just came out, I looked all over online to find something that I could print out and use and Pinterest to the rescue but it just linked to picture here.  I am not sure if it came from a blog or straight from Disney but that is where I found it if you want it.  My husband printed on a plotter at work and then laminated it (which is not necessary but that is what he did with the one last year too so it will probably go into my son's room).

I also went searching for other games to have for backups.  I found a snowman dice rolling game.  Even if we don't do it for the party, it is super fun for us to play. I am going to print out a bunch of them and I will either send them in the gift bags if we don't play.  I hope that you print it out and do it for yourselves to have a little winter party!!

I made gift bags with bouncy balls (on sale half off after Halloween), angry bird tattoos (on sale half off after Halloween), playdough (on sale half off after Christmas) and lots of other things that I have collected through the year (also clearanced) to make sure that I would have interesting gift bags to send home with the kids including their crafts and other stuff too!!  I pulled out winter bags from the pile of bags that I have and I will use those to put everything in for the friends to take home.

I am still looking for a little winter inspiration for decoration and games but here is hoping that I can keep the kids happy and entertained for the length of the party. Any ideas you can share that would make this winter wonderland into a great and thrifty party??