Happy Monday! It was mentioned last week that some more affordable  party ideas should hit the blog from time to time. Each party we throw is with an eye on affordability but in these hard economic times you may not have the ability to afford even what we call an "affordable" party plan. So we are Back to Basics this week with a Birthday Boy Party Plan!

As always, we start out with the invitations! These from Celebrateexpress.com are $3.49 for 8. They are SO cute and unusual because they are round! That makes them a lot more fun for the guests to open and hang on the fridge till party time!

For about the same price you can get these cute party plates from the same place! How you save money is then coordinating solid colored napkins and cake plates to the colors of the printed plates. We use the dollar store whenever possible for our solid paper plates and napkins. A great way to save money!

And here is an adorable way to presenting the plastic flatware and solid napkins! Just use strips of scrapbook paper and make them into napkin rings with a bit of double stick tape. Stick them in a sand bucket and you have a really cute way to offer up your flatware sets!

Another cost saver is using the dump truck toys as serving bowls! Especially if the Birthday Boy is under 5, you can then clean these up after the party and make them your birthday gift to your son! Just remember to line the bed of the truck with parchement paper, a napkin or even foil if you are using one for dip or hot foods. What a cute way to serve up the party food!

If this is your Birthday Boy's First Birthday, how about a banner over the food table that marks each month of his first 12 months of life? Just use rope, scrapbook paper, sticker numbers and photos of your little boy to make this cute banner!

A great way to get the older Birthday Boy involved is to print out line drawings of trucks and have him color them in! You end up with his precious artwork as an extra touch to your decor. You can find them online at places like this:  http://printablecolouringpages.co.uk/?s=big%20truck . You can see on this food table how they used many trucks as serving bowls, solid plates and cups and printed napkins along with plastic tablecloths and a few ballons. SO cute! In fact, you can give the balloons out as favors at the end of the party!

Ok, so we have covered how to get people there, what to serve the food upon, how to decorate up the space so that just leaves cake, right?! Not everyone is a cake decorator or can even afford the dreaded Costco cake (or, as we refer to them...the cardboard cakes). But for just a few bucks you CAN make up cupcakes. Brightly colored liners are about $3, about another $5 to make the cupcakes and frost them. Then you can add these totally cute cupcake picks! The easiest way would be to punch out circles of colored paper, layer on a white circle on top and stick a sticker in the middle. Tape or glue a coffee stir stick on a toothpick on to the back, or in between the layers of paper, and then stick it into the cupcake! Or you can print out clipart, like they did above, and then punch that out with a circle punch and place that on the colored rounds of paper! SO cute and so easy. Best yet, they only cost about $2 to make. 

So instead of a couple hundred dollars for a party for your friends and family you end up with a great party for under $50, including the gift for the Birthday Boy! Hope we gave you some great Back to Basics ideas for your little ones party this week!

See you next week with more party ideas!

Cat