Birthday Bash on a Budget

Last year my second son was born on this day, January 24th. Coincidently, it's also my husband's birthday! What does that mean for me? A double-whammy on January 24th! I wanted to do something special for my son's 1st birthday and have a little celebration for my husband too. So, what I came up with were two small celebrations. We celebrated my son's birthday during our Friday playgroup. I used minimal decorations which I bought from the dollar store. For those of you who have never shopped in a dollar store (and I hadn't before I began to stay home with my kids and lived on a single income) it is a MUST for party supplies and holiday items! I bought the tablecloth, banner, napkins, candles, a serving platter, utensils, and cups all for $7.

Food that I served for the party: crackers and hummus, homemade cookies in the shapes of the Number 1 (I borrowed a number 1 shaped cookie cutter), a quiche, homemade banana muffins, juice, and water. Most items I already had on hand so I didn't buy much food for the party.

I am lucky to have a friend in the birthday/special occassion sign business and she was nice enough to provide my son with a beautiful lawn sign for his birthday, which was up for the party and will come down tonight.

For today's birthday celebration, I baked banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting from scratch. They were DELICIOUS! I found a recipe online and added some food coloring and sprinkles to make them more festive. It was a fun little family celebration where we sang happy birthday and watched as our son opened presents, with the help of his older brother.

So, my mom to mom advice on making a birthday celebration special...it's not all about the fancy decorations, pre-bought or catered food, but about the fun you have putting together the special touches for the party and enjoying the time you're spending with your family. I was able to really get my 3 year old son involved in celebrating his baby brother and father's birthdays by having him help me with all the baking. He helped me bake and ice the Number 1 cookies and also helped me bake and decorate the cupcakes. He had a sense of pride in that he was a part of making his brother and father's birthday a special day. This was a fun birthday, the first of many years that my husband and son will share their special day together, and it was one to remember.

As you can probably tell, my week was pretty busy. But, I was able to stay on top of some pretty sweet deals over the last few days. Here are some that you should check out:

Freebies:

1 Free Photo Book every month for 12 months! Sign up at www.hotprints.com
I signed up last month and just got my first photo book in the mail yesterday. They are paperback photo books, almost like a mini-magazine, so not for a formal photo book, but for something fun, it's a great deal! I made one of our Christmas and I think it turned out nice. The only catch to getting one free each month is that your photo book will have an advertisement in it...all you have to do is rip it out, no big deal. Like those little subscription cards in magazines.

Become a Fan of ArtsCow Coupons on Facebook!
They are constantly sending out freebies! This week alone I got one free photo mousepad and a free 2-sided dog tag necklace....COMPLETELY FREE, no shipping charges either! I turned both of these into gifts for family members.

Free Kashi Sample


Rewards:


I found a new search engine that makes your internet searches work for you by earning rewards for your searches! The search engine is called Swag Bucks. I signed up a couple days ago and am excited about earning rewards (gift cards, electronics, etc...) just for searches I perform on the internet! If you're interested in finding out more, please go to http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/smemery02 Make sure you use that link so I can get rewarded if you sign up...and once you sign up then anyone you refer will earn you rewards too!