When Jessica from Mad in Crafts threw her son a superhero-themed birthday party, she knew that capes would be a fun thing to have on hand for the kids.  So she whipped up a whole stack of them, cleverly using thrifted t-shirts!  They make a great party favor – or just a fun addition to a dress-up collection – and they’re a great way to give new life to an old tee.  You can leave them as plain, solid colors, or you could even use felt to add superhero logos to them!  [how to make an easy superhero cape]

Project estimate:

• T-shirt, on hand or $1
• Scissors, on hand

Total:  Free and up!

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If there is one thing I have learned in my years if party planning, it’s that the magic is in the details. If you nail all of the little stuff, the big picture will come together nicely. If you have an Angry Birds fan with an upcoming birthday, the game makes a perfect party theme. Kit from Kids Parties 123 is a party planning pro, and she assembled a great list of Angry Birds party ideas, from decorations to activities to food. And most of it can be done with stuff you can find at… You guessed it, the dollar store! [how to throw an angry birds birthday party]

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When it comes to birthday parties (especially themed parties), the details are oh so important.  Wanting to give a dollar store birthday candle a more custom look for her daughter’s party, Colleen from Banman Land devised a quick and easy makeover that gave it a special, personal touch.  To change up the theme of the candle, look in the novelty button section of your local craft store for all kinds of fun motifs, or look for shiny table scatter in various shapes!  [how to revamp a dollar store birthday candle]

Project estimate:

• Birthday candle, $1
• Buttons, rhinestones, and/or other embellishments, on hand or $1 and up
• Glitter puff paint, $1 and up

Total:  $2 and up

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If you’re planning a birthday party, here’s an idea for you to take a whack at.  (Yuk, yuk, yuk!)  Our friend Beckie at Infarrantly Creative has been perfecting the art of the paper bag piñata, an alternative to the papier mache variety that cuts out the mess and the drying time.  It’s quick enough that you can make it last-minute, and it’s easy to customize for any party theme.  Now you have no excuse not to have a piñata ever again!  [how to make a paper bag piñata]

Project estimate:

• Paper bag, on hand
• Crepe paper streamers, $1
• Plastic hanger, on hand
• Artwork, on hand
• Sewing machine (optional), on hand
• Packing tape, on hand
• Hot glue, on hand
• Candy, $1 and up

Total:  $2 and up

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Every kid loves a pizza party.  How can you make pizza even more fun to eat?  Turn the box into a monster! Kim from Today Is My Someday dressed up a box for her son and his friends and it was a huge hit!  Using some basic supplies that she already had around the house, it took her just a few minutes to give her box monster a set of scary teeth, flared nostrils, and creepy orange eyes.  Will your guests dare to reach between the rows of teeth to snag a slice?  [how to make a pizza box monster]

Project estimate:

• Pizza box, on hand
• Paper, on hand
• Marker, on hand
• Pom poms or googly eyes, on hand or $1
• Corks, on hand

Total:  Free and up

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Over on our Dollar Store Crafts Facebook page, reader Kristina T asks:

My son has come up with the crazy idea of doing a zombie birthday party…He is going to be 5 so nothing too creepy but I can’t seem to find much. Anyone have any ideas?

My first question was “Does your son like Plants vs. Zombies?” because PvZ is a super-cute game that is (mostly) not too creepy for kids. Kristina’s answer was no, so read on for my recommendations and then please post your own ideas!

Kid Zombie Party Tip: Keep it non-specific

Because your son is only turning 5, I would let him know it’s a zombie party but keep the theme less obvious to outsiders (like parents of other five year-olds!). Some parents won’t be happy with sending their kindergarteners to an undead-themed birthday party! Too many awkward questions, y’know?

Zombie Walk: That said, it could be fun to have a zombie walk (you could call it a monster walk). Have kids dress in raggedy clothes, paint their faces white or grey, and then video them walking down your neighborhood street slow and jerky-like. The more game-like you make the event (and instructions), the better. After the walk, cue the video up right away so kids can watch themselves on TV.

1. Zombie Party Drink: Swamp Juice by Family Fun [Swamp Juice Recipe Here]

I love the creepy yet cute look of this swamp juice, and it would work well with a zombie-themed party. I love the orange and green color scheme too!

2. Zombie Cupcakes: Zombie Zoo by Rocky Mountain News [Instructions no longer available] [via Post Punk Kitchen]

Sadly, the Rocky Mountain News is no more, and the recipe for these adorable zombie zoo cupcakes is gone along with the newspaper and most of its online archive.

The good news is these cute zombie cupcakes look fairly simple: frost cupcakes in orange, green, and purple, and add candy features and frosting details. Buy premade frosting in tubes for the detail work. You could even let kiddos decorate their own monster/zombie face cupcakes. Kids LOVE decorating cupcakes!

3. Zombie Party Craft: Cardboard Tube Action Figures by Relentless Toil [Toilet Paper Tube Puppets]

Okay, this isn’t terribly zombie-ish, but it’s so cute and it would be a great party activity. Use cardboard tubes (like paper towel rolls) to create these cute little color-and-cut action figures. Snap a picture of the kiddos at the beginning of the party and print their faces out on your printer before the craft begins. If that’s too much pressure for you (it is for me during a party!), maybe have some pre-cut heads from magazines that they can choose from.

If you don’t have paper towel rolls, you can just roll card stock or recycled cardboard into tubes and tape them. They’ll work just as well!

4. Zombie Party Craft: Crazy Eyes Photos [Crazy Eyes Photos]

I love this idea! Just glue googly eyes over the eyes from any picture in a magazine. This could provide hours of entertainment for the right kid (or, ahem, adult).

Baby Brain Hat photo at the top: licensed from cory.cousins on Flickr. There are no instructions for making the baby brain hat, but if you know how to knit i-cord (or use a knitting loom), you can knit yourself a whole lot of pink i-cord and attach it to a ready-made hat for a funny brain hat.

Okay, everyone! Now it’s your turn! Give us some great ideas for a zombie-themed birthday party that is kid-friendly!

The post Question: Kid-Friendly Zombie Party? appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

My youngest son just turned 1, and we had a low-key birthday party for him. I like to do something special for first birthday parties, so this year’s theme was Smiling’s My Favorite because this boy is so smiley, he started smiling socially at one month. I bought party supplies at the dollar store and Target’s dollar spot. I decided to do a couple of funny photo activities that involve smiling:

Funny Hat Photo Booth (total cost: about $13)

1. I bought funny hats at the dollar store and the Target dollar spot, including this funny clown wig…

And this cowboy hat. Other hats we had for the activity: Tom Sawyer straw hat, firefighter hat, jester hat, knight’s helmet, hard hats and a few others. We had several of these hats already on hand. I spent $7.50 at Target for three hats (they were in the $2.50 section of the dollar spot), and $5 at Dollar Tree for five other hats (I had to get doubles of some of the more boyish hats because I didn’t want my two older boys to fight over them!). Total cost for this activity: $12.50

The idea of the photo booth: make a station where you set out funny hats, then take pictures of the party-goers wearing the funny hats. (In reality, everyone was kind of under the weather on party day, so we only took a couple funny hat photos. I still like the idea, though!)

The other photo activity was:

Half-Face Photos (total cost: $5)

I found this idea for funny photo party invitations at Photojojo but instead of making invitations like the article suggested, I just had photos with partygoer’s chins made up, and set them out on a table for people to use and have fun with. It could be fun to do this, and glue popsicle sticks to the bottom back of the photo to make them into little signs your partygoers can hold up in front of their faces.

I had the photos printed in advance by uploading them on Costco.com’s website and then picking them up at the photo center the next time I went shopping at Costco. I got 39 photos printed up for 13 cents each, which was $5.07 total. (Actually, I used a coupon I had for 50 free prints, so they were free). Total cost for me: FREE, but a value of about $5

Party Games (total cost: FREE)

The party was really just our family and my parents so everything was pretty informal! I didn’t plan on any party games in advance, so I threw a few games together at the last minute. They turned out to be a lot of fun for the boys! Good thing kids are just as impressed by simple ideas as they are by show-stopping ideas.

I wrote a whole post about these last-minute party games at Make and Takes, but here is the quick rundown:

1. Stacking Contest (Total cost: FREE)

I gave each boy a flat surface (diaper boxes!) and a plastic bin full of foam building blocks that we already had in our toy closet. The object: to build the tallest tower. There were no prizes, it was just a fun activity for the kids. The baby got to knock the towers over when they were built. We just used what we had on hand to do this activity.

2. Clothespin Drop (Total cost: FREE)

This is an oldie but goodie. I remember doing the clothespin drop game at my birthday parties when I was a kid in the 80s! If you don’t have clothespins, substitute blocks or beanbags (or whatever else you have on hand). For his turn, the baby enjoyed putting clothespins in the container and taking them out again. We just used what we had on hand to do this activity.

Supplies you need:

• 5-10 clothespins
• A Mason jar or other container (I used a gallon pitcher) — the wider the mouth the better for younger children
• A chair

To Play:

Chair is placed with Mason jar behind it. Child sits on her knees facing the chair back and drops clothespins over the back of the chair into the jar. Prizes for the person who gets the most clothespins in the jar.

3. Beanbag Toss (Total cost: FREE)

I threw together a makeshift beanbag toss for my kids in about five minutes. The older kids and adults enjoyed the challenge of throwing the beanbags through the holes. The baby liked crawling up to the box and putting beanbags in the holes. We just used what we had on hand to do this activity.

Supplies you need:

• A medium-sized cardboard box (I used one of those open-faced fruit boxes from Costco)
• Markers
• Utility scissors or utility knife
• 1-3 Beanbags

Draw three 5-7? diameter circles on the bottom of the box. Put a number from 1-3 next to each circle. The numbers are the point values for each hole. Cut each circle out with utility knife or scissors. The bigger the holes, the easier it is to get the beanbag through them. If children are older, vary the sizes of the holes, with smaller holes being worth more points.

To Play:

Set box upright or leaning against the wall, and have child throw beanbags — aiming to get them through the holes. Throw the beanbag three times and the person with the highest number of total points wins.

Optional: you might want to mark a line on the floor with tape so kids know where to stand to toss the beanbag. If there’s a wide range of ages at your party, make several lines (closer for younger children, farther away for older children).

Party Decorations (total cost: $13)

In my party supply post, I told you that I decided to skip typical balloons altogether this year, so I got these paper lanterns. They were a fun and festive alternative to balloons. I bought 7 packages of lanterns for $7, and a total of 14 lanterns. Total cost: $7

I also got punch balls instead of traditional balloons. They’re yellow, and they have smiles on them (even though I was definitely NOT going to do a lot of smiley face things for the party decor). The punch balls were the best part of the party! I blew up about 12 of them (they’re much bigger than regular party balloons) and just put them out on the floor, and my boys played with them for about an hour. And, it’s been almost a month since the party, and we still have most of them and they get played with regularly. They came 2 in a package for $1. Total cost: $6

I had to take a few breaks while I was blowing the balloons up before the party, though!! Whew, that took a lot of hot air!

Party Food

My mom brought homemade lasagna, I provided bake and serve sourdough baguettes from Costco, a salad, and veggies. I made a Duncan Hines yellow cake (this is my FAVORITE cake mix – and I tested them all out when I was pregnant with my first son – ha ha!) with an added can of cherry pie filling. I didn’t have time to frost the cake because everyone had been under the weather that day, so I served the cake to the boys topped with ice cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles.

We used those red dollar store plates that I purchased NOT to use at the party (it was easier than using real plates), and I discovered they weren’t very sturdy (see how they are kind of bendy in the photo), so if you buy party plates at the dollar store, choose the plastic ones or be prepared to double up on your party plates when serving.

I used a leftover candle I had on hand because I think these rainbow candles are cool!

Gideon enjoyed his cake and ice cream, and had fun at his party.

And then it was bedtime.

To see my other sons’ first birthday parties:

• Dress Up Pirate Birthday Party
• Panda Birthday Party
• And more dollar store party ideas

The post Our $30 Birthday Party appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I’m in awe of those who can plan a truly fabulous party. If party-planning doesn’t come naturally to you, I’ve collected some quick tips to help you plan amazing parties (and save money doing it). But first, the inspiration for this post, Shelley’s Sweet Shoppe party over at How Does She – her adorable twins had the best.first.birthday.ever with this amazing sugary pink party. All photos by Kara Jo Photography. [check out this adorable pink party at How Does She?]

Quick Tip: Make ruffled streamers and hang them in sweet stripes as a background for your party

Choose a theme… and stick to it

One thing I’ve noticed in the party posts we all drool over is that the planners choose a theme and do not deviate. In order to make maximum impact, every detail of the party must serve the theme.

Saving Money: a theme helps you save money because it eliminates excess components that don’t fit in your theme. It gives you direction for where to spend your money, and what items to include in the party.

Now, being the social/squishy person I am, I have to remind you that the MAIN theme of any party is the person it’s being planned for. In your quest to create the perfect party, please don’t forget the guest of honor (and the rest of your guests). Make sure the experience is great for everyone by focusing on the guests, including yourself, on the day of the party. Nobody likes a partyzilla. Which brings us to my next point:

See Page 2 for more –>

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I was super-busy last week so I didn’t get a chance to post about these summer paper lanterns I made for my guest post at Salty Pineapple. Did you make these in school when you were a kid? I updated the traditional paper lantern craft just a bit, and I think they’re charming and would make a fabulous decoration for any summer soiree (including a wedding). Also, here’s a great way to use up some of your excess scrapbooking paper (have you noticed how it starts looking dated after awhile?). [make paper lanterns tutorial]

Project Estimate:

• 2 pieces of scrapbooking paper, $1 or on hand
• Scrap of ribbon, on hand
• Scissors and clear tape, on hand

Total: FREE and up

The post Make Paper Lanterns appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Bandannas have been showing up at my dollar store lately, in two-packs, but they’ve always been cheap even when they weren’t available at the dollar store. You can usually find them for a dollar per bandanna at your local big-box retailer, and the blue store carries traditional bandannas as well as some in fashion prints and colors. Anneliese at Aesthetic Nest has a great bandanna tablecloth tutorial (and a great cheap source for bandannas, too). She made a really cute tablecloth for a party – I’m sure her tablecloth will get lots of use for many summer activities to come! [click here for the bandanna tablecloth tutorial]

Project Estimate:

• 15 bandannas, buy 8 2-packs, $8
• Sewing stuff, on hand

Total: $8

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