Sesame Street Birthday Party on a Budget

Bubby is a HUGE sesame street fan. Elmo, Cookie Monster, Oscar, Big Bird, the whole PBS crew, she absolutely adores. So when her 2nd birthday came around, I knew I just had to throw a Sesame Street themed party. However, I am a frugal person. I coupon and stockpile, and there was no way I was going to spend $100 on Sesame Street themed party supplies. So I went to the best DIY place there is, Pinterest! I came across some awesome blogs that really helped me with throwing together a party with a limited budget.
My goal was to spend $20 (NOT including food). And then $30 for food (including the cake!) I found some really great resources to make this happen. One of my favorite stores to do this was The Dollar Tree, where everything really is only $1. I was surprised to find out that The Dollar Tree had more Sesame Street things than places like Target, Walmart, and even major craft stores. Board books, activity books, stickers, wrapping paper, and even Elmo balloons just to name a few!

It's very important to set a budget for yourself. It's easy to get carried away when doing a themed party because there are so many great things out there to go with it. But I've been there... in the aftermath of a party and it doesn't feel good for you or for your wallet.

The Dollar Tree is awesome for getting balloons, they will fill them with helium for you.
Elmo Balloon

Other things purchased from the Dollar Tree were plates, utensils, napkins, balloons, wrapping paper, small paper gift bags (in yellow, red, and blue), and a poster board.
Other things I purchased that I couldn't find at the Dollar Tree, or were cheaper, I got from Walmart. These table covers were a few pennies cheaper at Walmart. These party invitations were cheap and also followed along with the colorful theme.

Of course another awesome resource was myself! I tried to use things I already had on hand, my printer and card stock were great in bringing the Sesame Street characters to the party.

Happy and Blessed Home --- This blog was HUGE in my quest for a DIY party. She provides a bunch of free printables. The sesame street sign, welcome signs, characters, and decor just to list a few. If you scroll down toward the bottom of her post there's a "Download Now!" button that will load the PDF into your browser.

On page 14 of the PDF there's character faces, which I printed out and glued one character on the inside of each party invite.
On pages 12 & 13 the character faces are larger, I used these to print, cut, and glue on to the small paper gift bags.

DECOR:
I used Sesame Street wrapping paper to make a banner over my living room curtains and added some assorted balloons.

I had two focal points at the party, the entertainment center was one, which I covered up with a rainbow polka dot sheet I had lying in my closet. Added Bubby's Elmo and Cookie Monster to the top, and then made a poster with a "pin the nose on Elmo" game.

Haath Se is the second blog I visited for Elmo party ideas. The pin the nose on Elmo game and other ideas came from this blog.

The other focal point at the party was the snack table in the dining room. I made a balloon banner using assorted dollar store balloons and some curling ribbon. I attached the balloons by poking a hole in the tie and threading it through the ribbon. Then I printed a nice photo of some characters on card stock and brought the theme together!

Other things I did were add a sign to the front door and a bathroom sign.

Behind the sheet hanging over the entertainment center, I played Sesame Street music off of this CD that a friend let me borrow for the party.
Now for the really fun stuff:

GOODIE BAGS:

I put three chocolate chip cookies in a zip baggie and put a mini cookie monster character face on each bag. Added four different colored crayons in a small baggie (crayons I had couponed for back in September during school supplies sales. Paid .15 per box). One mini play dough (8 packs available at Dollar Tree), then a mini bag of GoldFish crackers with a note attached.

GAMES:

I had to pick games that were suitable for a young age group, 1 1/2 year olds to 3 year olds. After looking around online and Pinterest for ideas I found a few that were perfect. A craft area with stickers, crayons, and coloring pages with G and 2 on them; Pin the Nose on Elmo, Ernie's Duck Toss, and Oscar's Garbage Can Knockdown.

I collected different sizes of cans through the weeks leading up to the party. Then made a bean bag with left over fabric from another project. The can knockdown game was a huge hit with the toddlers! After they were bored with knocking them down, stacking them and fitting smaller ones into bigger ones occupied their time for another 15 minutes!

FOOD:

Another way I cut costs for birthday parties is that I bake my own cakes. Just a basic mix from the grocery store topped with a favorite frosting (I make my own!), and some candles. This saves me about $20 per birthday party. Which leaves my party food budget open for more treats and snacks.
The party was set for a Saturday morning in between meals so I didn't need to worry about providing lunch for everyone. I got a large veggie tray, chips & salsa, pretzels, and my favorite: Oscar's Trash Cans! Filled with gummy worms, crushed oreos, and pudding.

 

I cut food costs by buying generic wherever possible, Walmart has really good generic cookies and since I crushed them or putting them in zip bags for the gift bags no one would ever know the difference!

AFTERMATH:

The party was a HUGE hit! It was just the right amount of Sesame Street theme without going overboard. It wasn't too crazy or hectic, games, crafts, food, cake, then presents. Everyone had a great time and best of all, I was under budget by $1.39!

Nally

April 14, 2014

Jim and I met the fifth addition to our family, our third baby girl, at 5:49am. She weighed 8lbs. 5oz. and was 20 inches long. I was sceduled to go to the hospital for yet another scheduled cesarean at 7:30am on April 14. However, the night before the surgery, I began to have contractions at 10pm. At first I thought they were braxton hicks (false labor) so I went to bed and tried to sleep until we needed to leave. At 1:30am I woke with a start, having severe cramping and contractions every 3 minutes. I tried to go back to sleep and within another 30 minutes things were progressing rather quickly. I woke up Jim who was really excited and started getting ready to go right away. However, I was still in denial of the whole thing and wanted to shower before we left. Jim insisted we go, so I followed his advice and off we went. When we arrived at the hospital I was 3-4 cm and the nurses insisted I wait until my scheduled time. Nally had other plans, within two hours of getting there I was already at 8cm! I was in so much pain and every minute was another contraction. They asked me if I wanted to try for a natural birth or a ceserean. In a moment of fear I opted for the ceserean. If I had the choice again I would have tried for the natural birth, considering how close I was!

Fish

For Sissy's 4th Birthday we took her to the Yo-Gabba-Gabba show Live in Chicago. She was so excited and happy to see all her favorite characters right in front of her. And after we got home, her present was waiting for her~ a fish! It is an elephant ear Betta fish with blue/purple/redish hues.

 His name : Nemo.

Our Eternal Family

March 8, 2013

Jim and I were sealed in the Nauvoo Illinois temple on this day. He in a tux and I in a wedding gown, we took pictures on and around the temple grounds before we went in. Sissy and Bubby were with family, making preparations to come into the temple with us. I had permission from Sissy's biological father to have her sealed to us. It was a very strong spiritual experience, being accross the alter from my companion, and then to have the girls come in to be sealed to us. It is a day I will never forget!

Bubby

November 5, 2012

Jim and I welcomed a precious baby girl into our lives at 7:56am. She weighed 8lbs, 12oz. and was 21 inches long. She was born via scheduled cesarean.

Bubby's newborn photos

Our Private Ceremony

Jim & I got engaged in January 2012, a month after we met and started dating. We ultimately want to get sealed in the LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois. We decided to first make our marriage legal by getting married civilly by our church Bishop, and then together work towards our goal of a temple marriage. We believe that our temple marriage is the one that would be the most important, so we're saving the big reception and celebration for 2013. On February 25, 2012 we had a private ceremony at our bishops home. We only had 6 people in attendance. It was a very sweet ceremony, and afterwards we invited all the adult family members in the area to dinner at JMK Nippon.

Jim

In December 2011, about a month after moving from Washington to Illinois, I met Jim C. W. in church. We were in the same adult Sunday school class and we sat a seat away from each other. We started to have a casual conversation. Two weeks later (and a week before Christmas) we went on our first date. We started going out on regular dates after that.

I quickly learned about all of his wonderful personality traits. He is very helpful and considerate of others . I learned that unless he is comfortable with you, he can be very quiet, shy, and reserved. Which I thought was funny because the moment I met him, he wasn't quiet or shy at all. Jim was born and raised in Illinois, and has a lot of family that lives locally. He is also an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and he has strong family values.
When we started dating, my mom was very happy for me, as well as all of my friends and family.
 I knew without a doubt he was worth getting to know, and my gut feelings were right!

December 2012, our 4th date