7 Secrets to Throwing an Epic Birthday Party

Cardboard, Creativity, and a Little Planning Ahead

When I received the invite to my nephew’s pirate party, I was worried. The event was taking place at his house during the wintertime. The five-year-old kids would be cooped up indoors. How would more than 20 kids be entertained inside? Would I hear so many chaotic screams of “Arrr” and “Ahoy” that I would want to walk the plank?

My fears subsided when I beheld the enormous cardboard pirate ship moored in the living room. If the boat hadn’t been so crowded with kids, I would have jumped on board myself. When I noticed organized activity stations set up throughout the house, I knew all the kids would have a blast. The party was a huge success! My kids still talk about it four years later.

The pirate party isn’t the only impressive at-home event my sister, Tara, and her husband Mike Stull have hosted. They have thrown other equally successful events for their children. Knights and princesses, cowboys and cowgirls, fairies and gnomes, Star Wars, and pirates. For each party, this couple has created a thematic cardboard play area. A castle, an Old West town, that pirate ship. There are also games centered around the theme and favor to take home.

So, what is the secret to throwing an epic birthday party on a dime? Read our 7 Secrets to Throwing an Epic Birthday Party to find out!

1 – Planning in Advance

The Stull Family is already planning the next theme party for June—unicorns! They get ideas from Pinterest.com and other crafting websites. Sometimes they brainstorm ideas on their own. Planning helps them to have enough time to create all the activities and the cardboard centerpiece, shop for deals, and utilize coupons.
Potential Savings: $25-$50 from advanced planning that allows for using coupons and buying sale items.

2 – Homemade

Almost everything at creative birthday parties can be improvised from the cardboard centerpieces to the games, food, and favors. This significantly cuts down on the cost of the party.
Potential Savings: $50-$75 by not buying a store-bought cake, games, or favors.

3 – Teamwork

Tara and Mike work together to make the centerpiece, games, favors, and homemade baking for their parties. They also include their kids in the process of creative brainstorming and creating the items. By working together, they don’t become too overwhelmed with the planning and building that is involved. It makes the process more fun for the entire family.
Potential Savings: $25-$50 by working together.

4 – Old School Games with A Theme

At their parties, the Stulls offer simple games that everyone loves, and they incorporate the theme into the game. Instead of a typical water gunfight, they created a water gun shooting range for the Western theme party. Instead of pin the tail on the donkey, it was pin-the-lightsaber-on-Yoda for the Star Wars theme party. Some other games they’ve devised are a pirate scavenger hunt for gold coins, relay cowboy horse races, and beware of the shark toss bean bag game.

Potential Savings: $100-$200 by not hosting the party at an outside venue such as a play gym, bowling alley, or laser tag place.

5 – Finding Free or Discounted Items

Tara and Mike asked local appliance stores for free cardboard boxes to create the centerpiece, games, and favors. They also have procured deeply discounted paint for a quarter of the original price that people had returned to home stores because they didn’t like the color.

Potential Savings: $25-$50 by not purchasing cardboard, games, and favors as well as buying mistake paint, which is then used for crafts, games, or painting the cardboard centerpieces.

6 – Using Coupons and Purchasing Sale Items

They purchase some of the items at craft stores using coupons. They also use coupons at the grocery store to buy the food for the party. Coupons can be found at the store’s website or app or by signing up for the store’s emails, and online coupon websites like Coupons.com.
Potential Savings: $50-$100 by using coupons and purchasing sale items.

7 – Selling on Craigslist

After the last party, they sold some games they created for $30. They plan to do this for future parties.
Potential Savings: $50-$100 depending on the items created and sold. You could also sell your household items before the event to help fund it.

Who’s Ready to Party?!

These parties are a lot of work, but the whole family loves creating a memorable event. I know that we are anxiously awaiting the unicorn party. Who knows, maybe we will even spy a real one?