Let me just start by saying that I love themed parties. I really do. However, I don’t like paying for all of the licensed materials for a party. Yes, it may all match and be easy, but it looks cheap and like you went to Wal-mart on your way to the party location. Not cool. I want people to know I put some effort into a party, but not spend a ton of money or time! So I think I’ve found a happy medium between buying those licensed products (so everyone can recognize the theme easily) and adding in my own handmade touches.
The Location
- A local county park. County parks are a lot cheaper than city parks and have a lot of the same amenities. The park was a great money-saving option because the entertainment was built in – the playground!
The Decor
- Tablecloths: I mixed licensed Paw Patrol tablecloths from Target and plain red ones from Dollar Tree. This does three things: 1)it saves you money because you spend less money on the plain red ones, 2)it’s not as visually overwhelming as a sea of Paw Patrol tablecloths would be, and 3) because they’re plastic and cheap, you can just roll up the whole table at the end and throw it all away. I’m all for easy clean-up!
- Plates: Plastic red dinner plates from Oriental Trading
- Forks: These yellow ones from Oriental Trading needed a little love, so I cut out bone-shaped construction paper and had my son weave the forks in them. Easy, cute, and it kept my son occupied for 15 minutes. Plus, he loved showing the bones to his friends at his party that he “made”.
- Napkins: Licensed Paw Patrol napkins from Oriental Trading
- Cups: Hard plastic, licensed Paw Patrol cups that doubled as a favor. I love anything that can be reused again!
- Crazy Straws: These swirly straws (similar to this) were on clearance at Target, so I bought them all! I love Target’s dollar spot; there always is a good deal hiding in there if you dig.
- Paw Patrol masks: Each kid got their own mask to wear, play with, and go home with. The kids loved pretending to be Marshall, Chase, and Rubble.
- Signage: The white standing frames I got from Ikea for my son’s 1st birthday and I’ve reused these puppies for almost every party since! They’re super easy to insert photos or custom made signs. I made corny, puppy-themed signs on my computer, printed them out, and slipped them in. Super simple!
- Balloons: These giant ‘4’ balloons were purchased from my friend Kameela over at Tutus and Bowties. They were awesome for showing how old he was and adding height to the food table. They were held onto the table by these little aluminum cans that I spray painted red and filled with white rocks.
The Food
- Drink dispensers: These cute fire hydrant drink dispensers were the hit of the party! Everyone loved the look of them and they were surprisingly sturdy and held alot of liquid. I was going to put labels on them like “toilet water” and stuff like that, but I didn’t want people to think that’s what it really was. Ha!
- Hot dogs: I lucked out on this one. The week of the party, Kroger had a sale on both hot dogs and hot dog buns. Score!
- ‘Pup’corn: Yep, I bought pre-made skinny pop corn. I needed something that was remotely healthy with all of this sugar.
- Puppy Chow: The reason I needed the skinny pop corn. This stuff is dangerous, it’s so good. Here’s the recipe for the birthday cake puppy chow if you’d like it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
- Marshmallow Pops: These are a fun way to add color to a party! I took large marshmallows and put them on colorful straws (that I cut in half), dipped them in different colors of melting candy, and topped them with sprinkles.
- Rice Krispy Treats: Confession. I did not make the actual rice krispy treat. There was no time. So I bought pre-made ones, dipped them in different color melting candy, and gave my son the job of dipping them in the sprinkles. Easy peasy.
- ‘Paw’tato Chips: I chose to buy individual chip bags so that I didn’t have a bunch of half-eaten chip bags left over. Plus, whatever chips were left went to school in my son’s lunch.
The Favors
- Doggy Bag Boxes: As a parent, I hate getting junk at birthday parties that I know is going in the trash as soon as he goes to bed. Since my son’s favorite character is the fire dog Marshall, I knew I had to work that in there, so I found these cute little boxes on Oriental Trading. They’re big, sturdy, and added to the decor – which is always a plus. The boxes had stackable crayons and a PP coloring page in them – this was more for necessity than an actual favor because I wanted something that could keep the kids occupied for at least a minute if for some reason the weather wasn’t cooperating. The boxes were also big enough to hold their masks, cups, and silly straws.
Having a party is easy, if you think outside the box!
