Happy Frugal Friday!

Last weekend I threw my son a fairly large Circus-themed birthday bash. 24 of his closest friends and cousins came (from preschool and playgroup). Plus all their grownup escorts, 3 sets of grandparents, and some aunts and uncles. Whew, that's a lotta people!

Now we don't do such a grand affair every year, but he was turning 4 and is a big boy who is almost finished his very first year of school. So my hubby and I thought that was pretty darned good reason to do it up big! Even though it was a big celebration, the price tag wasn't too big. Here is a look at how we did it big for less:

Custom sheet cake ($5) I saved big by making it myself. These can run $25-35 at the store, but a few years back I took a Wilton cake class at our local craft store during half-price class month for only twelve bucks. I did have to invest in some supplies then but I still have them all. Wilton cake supplies last for a very long time. Best money I have ever spent in my life! Ever since I have been baking and decorating all the cakes our family needs to celebrate with. All I had to buy this time around was 2 boxes of cake mix. I used up some ingredients we always have on hand to make the famous Wilton frosting that everyone loves and some candies and such to decorate the clown head I put on top of the sheet cake.

Food ($43 ) We kept it pretty basic with circus themed foods upon my son's request. Hot dogs, french fries, soft pretzels, popcorn, and cotton candy were on the menu. Kids drank Hugs and grownups had bottled water. I probably could have gone a wee bit cheaper by stirring up big ole jugs of lemonade, but I didn't feel like lugging them to the party location.

Party Rental ($0) We wanted to rent out the gazebo at our local park. It is normally $10 an hour, but with the enconomy the way it is our county is waiving permit fees this year. They wrote us up a permit and reserved our party. No mess at our house...yay!

Games ($12) I picked up a pinata at the local Royal Bargains for $7. I filled it with clearance candy. Instead of filling up loot bags on top of that, I simply handed them out to the kids and let them fill it up with falling candy. That's enough treats! I also bought a Pin The Nose on the Clown game for a buck. 

Paper products ($11) All these were picked up at the dollar store. I let my son pick out a theme of party goods he liked. I bought half of the plates we needed in the print and half solid colored. The solid-colored packs come with much more in them. Even when you shop in the dollar store thigns can add up quickly (i.e. when printed paltes come 8 to a pack and solid colors can be found 20 or 40 to a pack). I bought plain white napkins. Clown hats were on clearance (yes, even at the dollar store). Solid colored tablecloths rounded out my purchase.

Balloons ($6) These were the only decorations we had. I ordered the ones I wanted in advance at our dollar store.

Entertainment ($0 for me) The park had 2 playgrounds. Enough said. Of course my son had a hankering for a balloon-animal-making clown like the one at our local diner on Sunday mornings. So my in-laws graciously hired one for the occasion, which was a nice birthday present for him. He certainly has enough toys!

TOTAL SPENT ($ 77) Not too shabby considering most kiddie places charge somewhere in the ballpark of $200-350 for a similar sized party.