My daughter turned 5! and she has wanted a flamingo birthday party for months! I really thought it would be one of those ideas she'd change her mind around and toss around other ideas, but she really stuck to her guns! So when January rolled around (I like to plan early...) and I asked her what she wanted and it was the same, I rolled with it. Flamingos are so trendy and fun right now, I couldn't be happier! I mean, she's 5! She should be wanting character parties! but I got lucky. This was so fun.
We had the party in our basement apartment in my in-laws home, who we currently live with while my husband is going to school. My daughter and I had planned simple games which didn't require much space so we could stay indoors and in our little living quarters. Because the games were so simple, the spotlight was on the snack table. How do you dress up a table background without spending a small fortune? The answer is balloons and yarn, my friends. I'm going to break the cost down to you so you can see how I'm able to decorate and throw a party on a budget!

I grabbed a few bags of pink balloons for $1 each and two different colors of pink regular yarn at $2.50 each. I blew up the balloons to different sizes to create variety and taped onto the wall with masking tape or painters tape. Then I used this tutorial from Crafts Unleashed for the yarn tassel garland. I did my own small twist to the tassels by using different twines to tie off the middle part. I feel it gives more variety to the monochromatic pink scheme. I bought a spool of hot pink bakers twine from Target for $3 and a pink pom-pom spool at Target also for $3.

I will post a tutorial on how to make the feather garland because it was of my own invention. ;)

I used a plastic table cloth ($1) for the backdrop and folded it in half so it wouldn't be transparent. Those plastic table cloths are pretty see-through! I taped it to the wall so it would hold and then I added the balloons, then the garlands, "Happy Birthday," palm leaves, and paper "lanterns." The Happy Birthday banner was from Target. It was in their dollar spot for $3 that I had previous bought for a different party. I bought just 1 bunch of palm leaves from Hobby Lobby. It was on sale for $16, which is pricy for me considering they're just fake leaves, but I'm so glad I got them because they seriously made the finishing touch! I cut each leaf from the bunch and taped them behind balloons to hide the tape. The paper lanterns were from Target in a pack of 5 for $5 that I already had.

Total money spent so far is: $30
(notice I didn't take into account the Happy Birthday banner and paper lanterns)
The party was in the afternoon after school, so I knew the kids would probably be hungry for snacks.

Now it's onto the party favors! These party favors cost more than I anticipated, but they turned out super cute so I'm not too upset over it. ;) I found these pink mini gift bags in the Target dollar spot (wow, aren't you surprised??!) where there were 6 for $3. I needed 12, so the bags were $6. This was where I wasn't anticipating spending so much on favor bags, but one of the games my daughter really wanted to play was the "Go Fish" game where you fish for prizes. I wanted the kids to be able to put their prizes into their favor bags so they wouldn't get lost. So we got the bags!

Inside the bags I had pink crinkle filler (which I made because I wanted to save money... and Target didn't have any in their dollar spot!) with two pieces of candy and a mini plastic flamingo figurine. I got a Valentine's candy mixed bag with 3 different types of candy on sale after Valentine's day (because it would've been pink! and cheaper) which was $2.50 and the mini flamingos were $0.59 cents each. I bought 20 and it was $17. I bought them online from The Big Zoo and had to pay a ridiculous amount of shipping... But it was the only place I could find that sold mini plastic flamingos in larger quantities! It's just crazy when the internet fails you, amiright???

On the outside of the favor bags I already had the pink feathers and the pink bakers twine was already mentioned. I designed the tags and printed them myself. I'm feeling like I should do a tutorial for these bags because the assembly of the feathers wasn't just a one step process.

Ok, so now our total is up to: $81.50


Her party invitations were a hit! Everyone loved them and thought they were super cute. She loved them as well and it was actually the sole reason why she wanted a flamingo party! I already had the card stock and feathers, and I printed them myself. We didn't do envelopes.
The final party decorations are these pom-poms and tassel garlands I hung from the ceiling. The yarn was already mentioned and I got 2 different types of pink tulle ($2 each) to make the pom-poms out of. (Just Google it and there's a bazillion tutorials out there on how to make tulle pom-poms. I didn't need to add my version of it!) I hung them on the ceiling using masking tape because painter's tape would've been too distracting!

These two elements are so simple, yet, they really transformed the room into a magical party room! Every kid who stepped in had their eyes lit up from how fun they were. They do take time to make, but for someone on a budget, it was very pocket friendly.

Total so far: $90.50

I did need to buy extra orange paper for the footprints (I know, I should've done pink or black. What flamingo has orange feet??) so that cost me an extra $4 because I had to buy a huge pack of paper because I live in a small town with very limited options.


So here I will leave you with my grand party total: $94.50.

Some of you may think that's a lot and some of you may feel it's a steal! But I hope by breaking it down you were able to see what goes into a party like this. None of it was catered or I didn't rent out tables and chairs or a venue, but I also didn't just throw up crepe paper and call it good (which is totally fine if you do this!! You do you - it's about balance and I'm not about to mom-shame anyone who throws parties like that! ;). I just did what I felt was important and made it into a themed party.

Each party is different and has different needs, but I am confident I can plan a party for under $100. I've done it every time I've thrown a party except for the times I had an actual meal. (Real food requires more money, but it was still done as cheaply as possible.) I hope this served you as some quality party inspiration for your next birthday party and if you need an extra hand, please don't hesitate to ask me! I would love to help you plan your party and if you need a quote, just e-mail me and I'll be able to let you know what I can do for you!