Enjoy my Easter themed children’s double birthday party!  It was for 36 guests and EVERYTHING cost under 150:  snacks/drinks, cakes, cupcakes, printing of goods, invites, favors for 14, decor…you name it!  Read the captions to see my ideas or tips at saving money.  Pin and follow me on Pinterest and here on herpartypants!  Thanks for lookin’, pals!

My invitations and party pack came from the wonderful Dee Dubs Designs on Etsy.  She is fast, talented, creative, and affordable.  I have used her before when she customized my Gender Reveal for me and I will use her again. I loved the vintage bunny and simple design.  My little girls LOVE glasses so it was only fitting to have a bunny in some.  Check out this gal’s Etsy shop to have her create something just for you or browse her other unique party invitations and packages.

 Invites on the party plates from Target that I fell in love with!

I had a neat idea for party favors.  Since it was an Easter theme party, an egg hunt seemed like a natural fun party activity but I decided to tweak it a little in a creative direction.  Instead of packing a million eggs which required a lot of candy and each child to bring a basket, I bought 2 pack Hobby Lobby medium fillable eggs at 50 percent off and hid only one egg per child in the yard.  Beats the same old gift bags.  To do one better, since none of the little kids could read, I used my patterned scallop tags from Dee Dubs Designs and mounted a picture of each child on each egg so they didn’t have to look for their names, just their picture to know which favor was theirs.  I downloaded pictures of the guests from Facebook and punched them out with paper punches and tied them on with string from Hobby Lobby.  Boom: activity and favor all in one without a kid or parent having 50 plastic eggs to keep up with.  Each favor broke down to a little over a dollar each.  Notice I gave each girl attendant sunglasses to match the invite and to implement something my little girls love:  some shades!

 For the big kids, about 8 and up, I made Peep S’mores bags. Again, each favor bag broke down to about a dollar each and they gave the older kids something to take and make at home.  They weren’t too childlike but still kept in the theme.  They loved them and they look precious.  I put them in a chicken wire basket from Target’s one spot that I spray painted.  Cheap, cheap!

Helium balloons are so expensive these days.  Especially mylar ones!  Hang balloons instead of inflating them.  I got two packs of latex balloons from Walmart/Hobby Lobby and draped them into a banner with one dollar gift wrap string from the dollar store.  I scattered some extra balloons on the floor because hey, kids love some balloons!

 The table set up was thrown together the night before and I didn’t know what I was going to do as I was going.  I used one dollar plastic cloths from the dollar store and used a contrasting color as a runner.  I used a pot I already had, bound it with the two toned baker’s twine from Hobby Lobby that I used on the favors and wrapped it around and tied it into a bow.  I used a fake branch I have in my home decor from Z Gallerie and hung painted styrofoam eggs on them that were a dollar a pack at the dollar tree.  Super simple and still a little chic.  Did she say chic dollar tree items?  Oh, I did.

The cups were from the Dollar Tree and plates from Target’s Easter aisle.  I adore the bold and bright geometric plates.  The pinwheel straws were from Target’s Easter aisle as well and they brought a little spring whimsy to the table.

Each of my girls had individual bunny cakes that were made by a local baker for only 8 dollars.  Even though I made cakes for years, with this big ole’ pregnant belly and two toddlers, I’ll just pay someone else!

Instead of having someone scoop ice cream, just like we did at my daughter’s One Direction Birthday Party, we served individual ice cream sandwiches.  It is way easier on everyone and the kids love it!  I got 24 ice cream sandwiches for 5 dollars taking advantage of a deal at Kroger.  Gotta love it!

2 dozen glitter dusted cupcakes for the kids.  I failed to get the cupcake toppers on in time.  You can let your imagination run wild!  They were bunny heads with glasses like the invites =0)  The colors were to bold too leave a picture out, toppers or not!

Due to the time of party, I didn’t have to feed the guests but I did these little snack cups filled with mini-appetizers, if you will.  I was going with a bunny/garden food theme with carrots (and ranch) cups, fruit/berry cups, but then the rascally pretzel cups with cream cheese pineapple dip slipped in too.  The snack cups can be found for 1-2 dollars a pack in all sorts of sizes, colors, and patterns at almost anywhere: dollar stores, Wilton aisles at Target/Walmart, party stores, Hobby Lobby, etc.

Each cup requires little food and each person can have a sampling of everything.  It’s like the cute cheap version of passing h’orderves at a wedding.  It was an unbelievably cheap way to serve food with a fun presentation.  As you can see, I used a cupcake stand for my treat cups. Super.

Outside I used my antique Coca-Cola cart and filled it with bubbles and chalk for the kids to do while they played outside.  Easy, affordable, and putting it in this fun crate gave it some flare, I think.

Sand treasure dig?  Absolutely. The girls were surprised with a sandbox for their party and I filled it up with party favors for each guest to have fun digging up little treasures to keep.  It was an activity plus another little take away for the kids that again only cost me a few dollars.  For an outdoor party, utilize whatever toys/things you have to make it into something new or fun at a party.  Outdoor parties at home have a million affordable play options and you save on a venue or inflatable, etc.

 Every year my kids wear a number shirt on their birthdays from Old Navy.  You can always find them on-line in most young ages and they cost around 8 dollars each when you catch them on sale.  You never have to wonder when you look back in pictures how old they were or which party it was.  Plus, they look really cute in them and get a kick out of wearing them.

I hope you enjoyed this simple and affordable party!  Share, pin, & enjoy!  Thanks to Shelly Griffin Photography for all of the great pictures.  No party is great without being captured well so thank you , thank you, thank you!