January 27, 2012

birthday party revision no. 692


It's almost embarrassing to admit, but I've kind of been planning Charlotte's first birthday since she was just weeks old. Okay, I may have thought about it once or twice in the hospital too. But it was fleeting.

What can I say? I love me a party.

I had started to for real plan around the holidays, excel spreadsheet and all. I always start out somewhat conservative but these things take on a life of their own. Thirty dollar custom birthday hat that will be worn once? Throw it in the (virtual) cart! Adorable party plates that I absolutely have to have, because I absolutely do not like anything else ever manufactured, but they are more expensive than some everyday dinnerware? Throw me sixty!

Well, all of this came to an abrupt halt some time last week. We're going through some major life realizations/changes around thee ol' homestead that significantly impairs this little thing called cashflow.

Party CANCELLED. Tears. Broke. No money.

I had to come to grips with the fact that even though we couldn't have a five-piece band and a live elephant, Charlotte's birthday was still going to come and we were going to celebrate it one way or another. Isn't that what you do as a parent, you always find a way?

Well, there won't be any jugglers or trapeze artists (disclaimer: we weren't planning a circus but it was going to be quite a snazzy party) BUT I eked out a tiny bit of pocket change in our budget to accomodate a small cake and punch family event. I've never completely understood the phrase your wallet is so tight it sqeaks up until lately.

Behold- my new budget plan!

I'm going to try and construct this for Charlotte's smash cake:



source: the queen of everything, Martha Stewart.

For everyone else, there will be an assortment of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with plain white buttercream frosting piled high. The cupcake liners I'm using are the second from the bottom in this picture:



They are from Shop Sweet Lulu, which I can't express how much I love. I want to buy everything on that website, twice.

We are also having pink sparkling punch served in mason jars, with these adorable things:



They are also from the lovely Shop Sweet Lulu.

Instead of making a tablecloth out of a gorgeous ($30) piece of Amy Butler fabric like I first planned, I'm going to try and paint a pink or aqua chevron stripe on a cheap plain white cloth ala this talented lady:



OK, so hers is a rug, but I figure the instructions will pretty much be the same.

Today, I received a huge 16 X 20 print that I ordered for F-R-E-E. I understand Mpix.com is the best place to print pictures quality-wise but I just can't pass up free prints from Shutterfly in my inbox. I had a blank canvas laying around, so I modgepodged the picture to it. It's a bit crooked, whoops... but otherwise turned out okay. I will use this on the console for decoration, along with a few other things I have up my sleeve.

bday poster

I will be sure to post pictures of the actual event, although my 'plan' could become slightly altered between now and then. I just hope we don't become poorer, so I don't have to figure out how to divide a single cupcake amongst all of the party guests. It could happen, but we'll roll with the punches.

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