The House Party
Years ago, I met a friend for coffee. We chatted about our kid’s upcoming birthdays. She shared how her daughter was made fun of for her birthday party. The school friends asked, “What kind of ‘house party’ will you have this year?” Implying it was less of a celebration. Mom and daughter were already excited about their plans, so thankfully the comments had little effect.
The New Norm for Birthday Parties
But we were shocked by the response and discussed the new norm for children’s birthday parties. Party expectations start with 10-15 kids, food, cake, goodie bags, entertainment and more. She mentioned attending an indoor skydiving party at iFly. Over $600 for 12 people. Yikes! And that’s just the flying part!
To be fair, I’m all for experiences. In fact, I’m a huge fan of experiences, not stuff especially travel. But I fear we’re setting unrealistic expectations for our kids with extravagant parties and gifts. I was once very guilty of this. When my son was six, we hosted a pool party with 20 kids. The next year, 15 more joined us at Rebounderz. Let’s not forget the 50 people we invited to his 1st birthday!
At the time, the parties were affordable and convenient but the hazard came from the mountain of gifts. Generous friends spoiled my son. After a few years of this craziness, I reconsidered our birthday norm.
Were we just keeping up with the Joneses?
Could we create an experience with our party and keep it simple? Yes!
We became a “house party” family. With endless options, birthday parties need a budget. Low budget does not equal low-level fun. In fact, the opposite is true. Eventually, we stumbled into a formula that worked well for home-grown-house parties!
Pinterest for Simple Birthday Parties
It all began with the Star War Party and my love-hate relationship with Pinterest. Slowly but surely, I’m building a few boards for Simply Enough.
Our approach to Pinterest Parties is to take 2-3 ideas and ditch the rest. No guilt! Here was the plan for Star Wars:
- Grape lightsabers
- Vadar-Ade
- Pool noodle Light Sabers
- R2D2 Cake (Borrow mine!)
Just four items created a fun theme without making me crazy or breaking the bank. When we couldn’t find pool noodles, we improvised. I texted the moms of our sleepover guests and asked them to send any Star Wars paraphernalia with their boys. The next day, Lightsabers, Darth Vader voice simulators, character figurines and Kylo-Ren masks filled our living room.
Toys they already owned, rarely played with but when brought together, the boys re-enacted scenes from the movies.
I’m kinda glad we could not find pool noodles.
Earlier in the day, I purchased paper products, one Darth Vader mylar balloon, and a banner. I made the R2D2 cake. My simple plan came together before school let out. The banner alone was met with a huge smile and a hug from my son. Sometimes, I get this mom-thing right!
Nerf Wars Birthday
Here was our plan for another party, the Nerf Gun Fest. You’ll notice a lot of Blue and Orange which helped create the theme. (See Photos Below)
- Theme
- Guests bring their own Nerf Guns – (Free)
- Decorations
- Online Printables – (Free)
- Balloons Targets – $12.00
- Paper plates, cups, and napkins – $20.00
- Games
- Solo Cups – Stacked for shooting – So fun! – $8.00
- Streamer obstacle course – $1.99
- Nerf Gun Battle – (Free)
- Cardboard Box Forts – (Free)
- Goodie Bags – (Unnecessary but simple)
- Make it a Special
- Send a note in their lunch box
- Decorate before they get home from school
- Let them pick dinner, dessert, and breakfast – with limits
Best Birthday Party Ever
Since stumbling into this simple formula, we’ve also hosted a Pokemon Card party, kept our guest list small and expanded the fun to a movie and sleepover. My son took a very active role in planning. He shared the theme with his friends which created anticipation.
And the reviews were pretty good. One guest proclaimed “the best birthday party ever.” Last but not least, simple birthday parties mean easy cleanup, affordable budget and little planning time.
What’s your favorite birthday party theme?
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I’m a huge fan of the “home party” for my kiddos (girls) as the memories created are revisited each year. Over the years, we’ve done the following themes: Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, Fancy Nancy Tea Party, Unicorns & Rainbows, Legos, Shopkins, and Emoji’s. My kids play an active role in helping plan the games/activities/food, which is part of the fun. Pinterest makes it so easy and most of the party supplies are purchased on Amazon, Oriental Trading or the Dollar store.
Evite.com is my go to for managing the invites. I also create personalized thank you notes using the graphic from the evite, a picture of my daughter with her friend, as well as a picture of my daughter with the gift they brought her along with a hand written note. Then simply scan it and email the thank you to the parent…easy and fun!
I love the idea of using Evite for thank you notes and the invites of course. No clutter. Nicely done! Even if folks don’t have a full size scanner, there are lots of great apps like TinyScan or ScanPro for smart phones. Your themes sound fabulous too. I’d love to be invited. 🙂
Excellent post! Breaks my heart to hear about kids teasing someone for having a “house party!” I love house parties! 😉
Erica. We felt the same way. Thanks for reading and your comment. Simple parties are great. I loved your post as well!