Carnival Birthday Party - Part 2: The Decorations & Games

I love decorations. Streamers, balloons and a pretty table go a long way toward setting the stage for a theme party. I'm lucky that both of my girls have November birthdays so my decorations can often do double duty for both parties.

Kids have great imaginations. My goal is to give them a jumping off point to make their own fun, rather than to orchestrate every minute of the party. My starting point for the carnival decorations is a fabric circus tent from Discount School Supply that we already had in the play room.

I've had a great time making decorations. I grew up with my Mom covering the living room floor with signs that she was painting for various political campaigns. Painting signs for the game stations seemed like a no brainer to me. I started with 10 sheets of foam board from Dollar Tree. The first few signs were pretty pathetic - until I discovered the paint was not my friend. As soon as I switched Danielle's colored markers my signs improved dramatically. Of course I've had to live with hearing,"Mommy, why do you keep taking my markers without asking?"

I handmade a sign for each of the games as well as one for prizes and one for treats. I tried to copy signs that I found online. I also printed out coloring pages and used them for graphic elements on the signs. I admit that I see the irony in making a bunch of signs for kids that are too young to read. I hope the pictures will help...

Some of the blogs I read actually hired graphic artists to design custom signs, invitations, water bottle wrappers and favors! I received a $20 Shutterfly certificate when I ordered Amanda's school pictures from Lifetouch so I was able to create custom photo invitations and several poster sized prints (I lucked into a half price sale)  for free!

I used Microsoft Publisher to create a really cool sign welcoming party guests.  I used a Fourth of July template and added my own photo and text. I'm thrilled with how it came out - it took less than 5 minutes and I printed it through Shutterfly. Buy the supplies, print, cut and paste and you look like one of the parents on TLC's "Outrageous Kid Parties."

Since I've been told this whole idea is "delightfully retro" I've decided to embrace the old school party games I grew up on. None of these are unique - or difficult to find or assemble... but they are all fun!

 Horseshoes (had on hand)
 Bowling
 Penny Pitch (made)
 Fishing Game
 Bean Bag Toss (made)
 Photo Booth or Board (made)
 Temporary Tattoos

The things I've made:
I made the Penny Pitch by gluing a 4 by 3 grid of decorative shapes to sheet of foam board and painting a border around the edges. The object is for the kids to toss pennies on to the shapes to earn a prize or ticket.

The Bean Bag Toss we made

We made a Bean Bag Toss from a sheet of foam board with three large holes cut into it. Danielle and I had fun decorating the surface with paper leaves. I used a dowel to prop it up at an angle, but the holes were  small for the kids when we practiced. We added three brightly colored plastic trash baskets from Dollar Tree - everyone's a winner when you have a big target!

We made colorful beanbags from felt and fabric scraps. I don't have a sewing machine. In fact, I typically rely on the dry cleaners to replace buttons on Kevin's shirts. So hand sewing anything - even something as small as a bean bag was a big deal for me. Danielle helped cut the fabric, fill them with beans and sew them closed. She did a great job! Two are shaped like fall leaves, in case you couldn't tell. I love that we're having so much fun getting ready for her party together.

My friend's father very kindly offered to make a wooden Photo Op board that the kids can peek through for pictures. If I get it in time I'll paint it to look like a scarecrow. I will use some straw and fabric leaves to make it a little 3D.

To decorate the table I cut triangles from brightly colored felt we had on hand and glued them along a piece of twine around various glass containers so that they looked like circus pennants. I used washable school glue so that after the party these can go back to being plain glass dishes.

I'll use red, yellow and blue solid colored plastic table cloths. They came from (you guessed it) Dollar Tree. Various fabric remnants will dress up the tables. The games and decorations that I've made myself cost about $25.

Now for the things that I've had to buy:
I bought temporary Tattoos from Dollar Tree.The Duck Fishing game came from Party City. I ordered a Candy Corn Bowling set from Oriental Trading. I found a $5 Ferris wheel center piece at Hobby Lobby. Dollar Tree was great for streamers, plastic pennants, foam board, prizes and tickets.  You can download tickets at http://images.birthdayinabox.com/partyplanning/carnival_ticket.pdf. 

I hit Michael's when they were having a 30 cent clearance sale. My biggest score was a penny item - a Circus cake topper. How cool! I got beach balls, more party favors, plates and napkins for less than $10. Always check Hobby Lobby and Michaels websites for coupons before shopping. You can normally get 40-50% off one item - sometimes Michaels has 25% off your entire purchase including sale items!

Instead of traditional goodie bags I've made the radical decision to create a Prize Table where the children can trade tickets for prizes. Honestly I did this because when I invited 9 children to the party I expected 9 children... not the 9 children and 8 siblings who responded. However, is also means that Danielle is eligible for prizes - leaving me with a total of 18 kids needing prizes.

Having a birthday right after Halloween means that I can't fall back on candy as a party favor. Most of the kids still have leftover candy at home. Instead I picked little flashlights, fairy wands, helicopter fliers, tops, whistles, rings and tiny telescopes.  I'll give each child 5 tickets to trade for prizes. Any left overs I'll use for pinata fillers in the future.

Tragically I'm nearly at my $100 budget despite my hard work and I haven't purchased any carnival themed food yet. I'm not quite sure where I went wrong... I probably shouldn't have bothered with a theme at all and just let them run around the yard and play.

For more budget party planning ideas please go to http://www.birthdayinabox.com/parties-under-100.asp