THE INVITATIONS
Kaia turns 5 on March 11th. She loves other kids, so I figured we'd throw a party for her and invite a few other kids. Easy-peasie, right?
I started making her invitations in Photoshop-Elements. I added my favorite picture of her and put in all the party details. They were so cute!
And then I realized that if this invitation fell into the wrong hands (read: random pervert), he would have my baby's picture, name and address. The horror! So I went to Party City the next day and found some invitations. They were only $1 for 8, so I bought 3 packs. Score! Kaia even got to help me by putting on the present sticker thing on them. I tried to hold my tongue and keep my hands to myself as I watched her put some of them on crooked.
Walgreens was having a special. Free 20 prints. So I printed her photo invitations there. I figured I could give those to family and close friends. And that's where the savings stopped.
ENTERTAINMENT
The jumper rental was $179. I have been agonizing over these past few weeks because we've been getting a lot of rain. If I couldn't rent a jumper, I'd have to entertain all these kids myself. Gasp! I checked the weather forecasts every day. Most of them had called for rain on the day of the party. Thankfully, earlier this week it changed to sunny for that day. Now all I have to worry about is all the muddy feet we're going to have. I did buy a cheap game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey just in case.
I also got a pull-string pinata.
I know I'm probably wussifying my kids, but I just don't like the idea of little kids weilding a bat and swinging around other kids.
DECORATIONS
I bought a ton of crap from Party City. It's just so convenient. There's one close to my work and I've been going there almost every day during my lunch. I've found a $10 coupon online and have used it 3 different times. I've been too embarrassed to use it again. It's always the same girl there. And when I went today to buy a candle for the cake she said, "Oh, you're back." Thank goodness, I didn't load up on more crap today to try to use the coupon yet again.
I also got this hat from ebay.
It's the cutest thing. It cracks me up seeing my daughter wear it around the house because she will put on one of her princess night gowns and her fancy pink glittery shoes. And then after 10 minutes she'll ask me to put something over the strap because it makes her ears itch.
LOOT BAGS
I saw Disney Princess loot bag kits at Party City. I figured I'd get those for the girls and then Hot Wheels loot bags for the boys. But then I saw the toys inside and they were so lame. There was a "watch" that was actally a crappy game where you had to put two little balls into separate holes. I saw a non-Disney princess loot bag kit that had little play wands and rings and necklaces and got that instead. And then I got the Backyardigans loot bag kit because those came with a magnifying glass and a cool compass ring.
I also saw these adorable little play flutes (the daughter keeps telling me they look more like recorders). And I bought these Disney Princess lip gloss necklaces that were on sale at Target a few weeks ago. Hmm, maybe I do spend too much money.
I've also got a bunch of random stuff that I was going to give away as prizes if we were stuck inside and had to play games - parachute men, maracas, bracelets. I haven't decided what to do with those things yet.
THE CAKE
I took my daughter to a coworker's birthday party last year and she had that cake. Kaia loved it at the time and asked me if we could have a cake like that for her birthday. My coworker told me she bought it at Lucky's, so I went there this week to order it. I gave a kid who was flipping through the cake binder the evil eye so he would go away. He caught on and left. Well, I flipped through the binder and didn't see the cake. I was so disappointed. They had a couple of other princess cakes, but I didn't really like them. I figured Safeway might have better ones so as I turned to make my way there, I saw the cake on display. Joy! And then I saw the price tag. $49.99. Sigh. I stood there staring at it for 5 minutes wondering what to do. Do I buy this expensive awesome looking cake? Or do I just pay half of that and get a mediocre cake? I bought the cake. I have yet to tell the husband how much it costs though.
The food and the guest list is still up in the air. Currently I have about 20 kids who I know will be there. That's a lot. At least for me. Yikes. And then about another ten that are maybe's. The husband just wanted to buy a bunch of $5 Little Caesar pizzas. He tried to sway me by saying that they came with breadsticks. At this point, I just might have to go with him.
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