Simple and Inexpensive Birthday Party Decor Tips and Tricks

We celebrated Baby Bumblebee's 3rd birthday this weekend with friends, family, and Mickey Mouse!  He is a huge Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan, so this was the perfect party theme for him.  My goal for this party was to keep things low stress and simple so I could just enjoy spending time with my Baby Bee, so I found some generic Mickey Mouse Party supplies at Wal-Mart and used a few tricks to create a fun display.  A great way to create a fast, simple and inexpensive party display is to use your wrapped gifts.  Just a few wrapped gifts with brightly colored bows create a huge impact and become a key piece in your decor. I fell in love with this polka dot paper I found at Home Goods, and knew it was the perfect thing for our party.  

Another simple and functional way to decorate is using glass jars full of candy.  Not only can your party guests enjoy munching on their favorite candy throughout the party, it looks great too.

The bundt cake below is my favorite element of our party decor.  Queen Bee had a terrific idea to  add Mickey Mouse shoes, hands and ears to the cake (from a play-set that we already had) to make a Mickey bundt cake!  I love how it turned out, she is so creative! I used my version of a Nothing Bundt Cake copy-cat recipe and it tastes exactly like the original.  I will share this recipe with you all on Wednesday.  Trust me, you will want to try this cake!  It is so moist and the cream cheese frosting is to die for!  

S'mores Bar

Summer time is in full swing and that means it's time to break out the s'mores.  We recently celebrated Queen Bee's graduation with a party for our family and friends and since her very favorite treat is a s'more, we knew a s'mores bar would be the perfect dessert for the party.  

For roasting the marshmallows, we had Sterno pots set along the table in aqua colored pails that we found at Target for $1.00.  In the middle of the pots, a larger pail held our roasting sticks, which were metal skewers embellished with ribbons.  

We had a sign posted with s'mores recipe suggestions based on the party theme of travel and adventure.

Want "s'more" details on our graduation party? (Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)  Click below for all of the little things that make a party special.

Soda Pop Tower Cake For Dad

Soda Pop Tower Cake For Dad

What do a glue gun, soda pop, candy and a crazy cool Thor Pez dispenser equal?  Father's Day awesomeness!  Here's the perfect cake for Father's Day, no baking required.  Wondering how to begin?  Start with your dad's favorite beverage (28 cans), some candy he likes (preferably it color coordinates with his beverage of choice, but I realize not all dads color coordinate their favorite treats), and a Pez dispenser that you think represents your dad.  You'll need a glue gun, clear packing tape, and a sturdy base to build it on.  To start, you place one can in the center, then six cans circled around it.  I then used the clear packing tape to tape all of these cans sturdily together and glued them to the center of the base.  Then I glued another twelve cans around those base cans (these I only glued and didn't tape, because the tape would show).  I glued together another six cans around a center can, just like my initial group, and stacked them centered on top of my first layer.  The circles on the tops and bottoms of these cans will line up exactly on top of the layer underneath.  For the next layer, I glue on three cans but these cans will not line up exactly on top of the ones underneath because there are fewer cans in this layer.  The you finish with one can glued on top.

Then you can get creative with your candy embellishments.  I glued most of these directly to the cans.  On the row of Werther's Originals on the middle layer, I used foam double sided tape to stick them all across and then wrapped it tightly around.  This worked really well. On top of my first layer of cans to make candles, I cut some paper straws and glued a Werther's Originals on the top, then glued them onto the tops of the cans. Worker Bee actually suggested that I use Slim Jims as candles, but these were cuter.  Finally on top, glue your Pez dispenser (Worker Bee was Thor).  

It's fairly simple and your kids could even help with glue gun supervision and it would make a fun gift for many occasions.  The next time your wondering what to make with your glue gun, some soda pop, and a bunch of candy, you'll be prepared.