penny pincher's party

Well, Little Man turned one on Sunday, and of course, there was a par-tay!

I wouldn't say it was completely budget conscious, but there were definitely some bargains to share.

Firstly, bunting. So easy to make and so effective as a decorating tool. These ones are "no sew" ones that some day I'll put up a tutorial for. All you need is fabric, rope, an iron and some iron on binding. The great thing about them is they can be used for more parties, or as room decoration - these ones are going into  Little Man's room very soon! (Don't you just love this paparazzi moment of Little Man eating his first piece of birthday cake!)

How great is Etsy! I ordered a printable party set from Dimple Prints for only $10 and it came with over 100 pages of great things to print out. From paper bunting to cupcake toppers (as seen here on the right) there was so much to choose from. Amazing value for money and while I probably only used about a third of it, I still think I got my money's worth.

Glass bottles - $2 - Reject shop.

Not much more to say about that! Such and affordable way to add a special touch to something that normally gets shoved in a corner in a laundry bucket with some ice.

Matching outfit. Ok yes, you need a bit of sewing skills to whip these overalls (there are straps, they just kept falling off!) up, but the little tee is very easy to make, and just another way to personalise your little one's party. I picked up the white tee for $5 and used fabric scraps and some iron on binding to make this matching top.

Bubbles! So cheap and so much fun for kids of all ages (clearly!)

Containers for food. So I bought a LOT of stuff from the Reject Shop here in Sydney for this party. It's one of those places that if you can look past the cheap and nasty stuff there are a lot of great buys to be found. I got the red and white tin buckets for $3 each and the big glass jars for only $5 each! They are my favourite bargain! A quote from a friend when I told her the price "No WAY! Get out! I thought they would have been at LEAST $20 - $30!" Ahhhh the satisfaction of a bargain buy!

Much like the bunting, the great thing about all these containers as they can be used again and around the house. I'm thinking crayons and pencils for the tins and cookies or craft supplies for the jars.

And finally here are just a few more of my fav pics from the day.

(the candle was a little bit scary for our poor little muffin!)