Eye Patch Party Favors

The Frugal Party Planner

With two birthdays within two weeks of each other, it’s officially "birthday season" in the Holtzhafer household. That means getting creative to save money!

This year’s theme for our 4-year-old son was “Dr. Seuss."

Naturally, I could hop online and Google “Seuss birthday party” to generate a list of resources offering everything from customized Dr. Seuss paper plates with my child’s face printed on them to adult-sized “Cat in the Hat” costumes.

But that’s just not the frugal way to do things. I don’t want to spend that kind of money, nor do I want to pay shipping fees.

Instead, I planned this party using some of the resources already mentioned in our previous Patch Frugal Family columns. Put them all together and save some big bucks.

1.  Yard Sales:  The theme was Dr. Seuss, so we wanted to find as many Dr. Seuss items as possible to set the scene.

The first thought was to scope out some gently used Dr. Seuss hardcover books. These can be used as decoration as well as take-home favors. Who doesn’t love a ‘new’ book to add to their home library?

After searching yard sales for a couple of weekends, I was able to obtain a small collection of hard cover books such as “Green Eggs and Ham,” “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,” and “ Dr. Seuss’s ABC” book. Most were purchased for 25 cents or less. Some were as little as dime. A couple were even donated for the good cause.

Not only did these add color and dimension to the party, they also generated unique ideas for food (“green” hard-boiled eggs, ham for the entrée, red and blue Swedish fish as cupcake toppers, and “Hop on Pop-corn.”)

We lucked out by finding a couple of stuffed Dr. Seuss characters to set around the house. Simple, but cute!

I also stumbled upon a colorful striped tablecloth that was a perfect fit for our theme. It was $2 and added just the right burst of Seuss-color to our kitchen.

2.  Dollar Stores : Naturally, paper goods are essential to any party. “Dollar stores” are a great resource for inexpensive supplies. I stocked up on paper plates and napkins in a variety of red, blue and yellow colors.

The great thing about dollar stores is that you never know what you might find to add that little “extra something” to your party. They’re constantly rotating their stock.

Pirate Party Games for Kids | Pirate Party Supplies & Accessories

There are many fun-filled, classic games that children play at birthday parties. Everyone knows the rules of these games and they are easily adapted to a wide variety of themes. If your child has his or her heart set on a pirate themed gig, take a minute to think how these games can be adapted into pirate party games.

For warm weather parties, it’s not unusual to have some sort of water balloon toss. For this high seas theme, declare the water balloons to be cannon balls, and each guest is his own ship. The only way to prevent being ‘sunk’ is to catch the balloon without it breaking. When the “cannon ball” explodes with a splash, have everyone join in with a mighty “thar she blows!” to boast the exciting mood. As usual, have contestants take one step back after each successful throw. Award a prize to the last ‘ship’ standing; possibly a colorful rag knotted to fit the head or a three-cornered hat with a brightly colored feather.

A classic relay race is also a very adaptable activity. When you are shopping for pirate birthday party supplies, be sure to stock up on some extra gold coins. These can be plastic or chocolate foil wrapped coins. For each team, have a pile of coins at one side of the room. These can be resting on a chair or on a towel on the floor. Back at the starting position have an empty ‘treasure chest’. Give each team a spoon, and have one player at a time run across to the coins, put one on the spoon, then run back and deposit it in the chest. The first team to retrieve all their booty is the winning team. Relays lend themselves to lots of creativity. If you have a couple of costumes left over from Halloween, have the first player from each team run across the room to the pile of swashbuckling clothes. Include a shirt, hat, pants, and maybe even a stuffed parrot to hold. Once dressed, the player must return to start and remove the costume then run back to set the clothing across the room. Each player must complete their dress-up run in order for their team to win. Again, take this idea and adapt it to work with items you have on hand, or shop for your pirate party accessories with this game in mind.

For some outdoor fun, convert the game of ‘horse’ into a game of ‘scalliwag’. This game requires a basketball and a hoop. The first player stands anywhere on the court and tries to make a basket. If he is successful, the next player must make the same shot. If that player misses, he gains the first letter of scalliwag. Once a player has missed enough shots to collect all the letters, he or she is out of the game. The last one standing is the winner. Make this one more challenging by requiring all contestants to wear an eye patch. When shopping for pirate party supplies, you can either buy enough eye patches for each guest, or have them use one and share.

The ultimate birthday party book, 50 complete and creative themes to make your kid's special day funtastic!

Time Out London's Best Shops, The Essential London Sourcebook

Lithgow Party Paloozas!, 52 Unexpected Ways to Make a Birthday, Holiday, Or Any Day a Celebration for Kids

Treasure Trouble

Cupcakes from the cake mix doctor