It’s time to confess…how many pins do you have on your Pinterest boards? Hundreds? Thousands? How many of those recipes or crafts have you actually tried? Just a few?

If you’re looking for a fun girls night, why don’t you plan a Pinterest Party? (For those of you that have no idea what Pinterest is, go to the bottom of this article for a brief explanation.)

So, what exactly is a Pinterest Party? The possibilities are about as endless as the thousands of pins!

• Invite everyone to a Pinterest Potluck, and each guests brings a dish that they made from Pinterest.
• Host a craft night featuring a project or two from Pinterest.
• Instead of having a Bunco group, start a Pinterest group that gets together once a month…the host picks the theme of the night and all food and activities are ideas from Pinterest. This group will never get boring with all the fresh ideas we keep pinning!
• Get together with your girlfriends once a month to share your favorite frugal living tips from Pinterest! By the way, I have an Frugal Living Board with over 200 ideas!
• Plan a Christmas craft making party with ideas from Pinterest.
• Try a Pinterest Club instead of a book club and choose a different topic to discuss each month.
• I’d love to go to a Pinterest dessert party! Anybody want to invite me?

 
Stop letting all those great pins just sit there, have a Pinterest Party and have some fun!

Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board where you can browse thousands of pictures and “pin” them on your boards. I have a board called “Recipes to Try”, and each week I prepare at least one meal from Pinterest. If you’re planning a wedding, decorating your home or trying to find ideas for your daughter’s birthday party…you’ll discover more ideas than you could ever want, and you’ll simply “pin” them to your boards, so you can refer to them for future use.

Snow is falling and friends are calling. The holidays have arrived!

You always put on a great Christmas party, and everyone is looking for your invitation in the mailbox. Unfortunately, your new budget doesn’t allow room for your annual celebration.

Don’t cancel the party. Simply adjust the usual plans to a more thrifty approach. Follow these easy steps to save money on your Christmas party this year.

Bring it Home
Finding a cheap venue to host your Christmas party can prove to be a sad venture. Forget the cheap diner and host the party at your home. The money you save on renting a venue can add up to thousands of dollars. Plus, you’ve already decorated your home for the holidays, so there are no decorations to purchase.

Go Virtual
Ditch the expensive paper invitations and email everyone an invite this year. With all the money you save, you can afford to expand the guest list and get your colleagues out of their cramped cubicles and over to your party this year. You can create fun and interactive invitations with different online services like Evite for free. Most services offer many background and theme choices, and each invitation can be personalized so that you don’t lose that special individual touch.

Make it a Contest
Your usual caterer can be put on hold this year. Rather than telling everyone the party is a potluck, tell them it is a recipe contest. Invite everyone to bring a special side dish, finger food, or dessert with the recipe. Some may decide to opt out and just bring chips and dip, but that’s okay—this party is all about everyone having a great time. Make up cards so everyone can cast their vote for their favorite dish. Make sure to announce the winner before the party ends. You can purchase a prize for the winner with the money you saved.

Show Off Their Talents
Give your guests a chance to show off their talents. Host a talent show instead of hiring a DJ for entertainment. You need to make sure you have a CD player with speakers and at least one microphone. Someone may have one you can borrow, or you can rent one for a low price from a local party store. Karaoke machines make for great entertainment, too. Don’t forget to offer fabulous prizes and incentives.

Make it Easy
Buying sets of matching dishes really adds to the overall costs of your party, and clean-up can take forever. Don’t be left with the mess. Buy plastic utensils, paper plates, and paper napkins at a local dollar store or party store. These throw-away dishes don’t have to look cheap. Many stores now carry inexpensive plastic and paperware that looks very stylish and trendy.

Once you start cutting corners on costs, you will probably find even more ways to save money on your Christmas party this year. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, so spread some cheer and host a party everyone will always remember.

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written by: Kim Wade

Kim Wade is a freelance writer who writes about motherhood, trends, and popular culture.

Whatever the celebration, make it festive and frugal with a food bar!

Think of the benefits…

Minimal cooking required.

No more worries about what to serve your vegetarian sister, the gluten-free neighbor or your nephew that’s allergic to peanuts because everyone creates their own.

The food bar can be the focal point of your party with all sorts of festive serving options.

An entertaining way to feed your guests.

Food Bar Ideas for Children’s Parties

Hot Dog Bar – hot dogs, buns, ketchup, mustard, relish, cheese, onions, chili

Pizza Bar – use frozen pizza dough and cut off pieces, so each child can make a personal pizza. Toppings: red sauce, alfredo sauce, mozzerella cheese, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, Canadian bacon, pineapple tidbits, onions, bell pepper.

Ice Cream Sundae or Banana Split Bar – chocolate and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, strawberries, bananas, brownies, crumbled Oreos, sprinkles and all sorts of candy.

Cupcake Bar – various frostings, sprinkles, candies and cookies.

Trail Mix Bar – cereal, pretzels, goldfish, teddy grahams, m&m’s, peanuts.

Food Bar Ideas for Grown-Up Events

Baked Potato Bar – potatoes, butter, sour cream, chives, bacon, cheese, chili, bbq.

Nacho Bar – tortilla chips, cheese or queso, chili, beans, lettuce, tomato, jalapeños, black olives, sour cream, guacamole.

Chili Bar – keep the chili warm in a crock pot and set-out assorted toppings: cheese, jalapeños, onions, sour cream.

Hamburger Bar – hamburgers, buns, cheese, bacon, chili, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, guacamole, onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles.

Sub Sandwich Bar- submarine rolls, assorted cold cuts, assorted cheese, mustard, mayonnaise, guacamole, onions, pickles, black olives, bell pepper, cucumbers, jalapeños, spinach, lettuce, tomato.

Chocolate Bar – everything chocolate…cookies, cakes, pies, candy, white chocolate, dark chocolate, all chocolate! Sounds like my kind of girls night out!

Dessert Bar – anything sweet! A dessert bar works great for a pot luck.

Need more inspiration? Feast your eyes on this yummy Pinterest Food Bar Board with fabulous photos of over 100 food bar ideas.

Take advantage of the beautiful weather and enjoy a Great Outdoors Birthday Party.

It’s all the fun of a campout without the commitment of an overnight, without the hassle of setting up tents and without the clean-up! Mother Nature provides the setting and the fun!

Who doesn’t love…

a roaring campfire

a weinie roast

s’mores

a nature hike

and the great outdoors!

Let’s get started with a diy birthday party plan that you can easily customize to your location.

Ages

Best for boys and girls ages 7 – 10

Location

If you have a State Park or National Park nearby, take advantage of it! Inquire if they have any free programs that you might be able to incorporate in your party plans. Skidaway Island State Park was the perfect setting for my son’s 8th birthday party, and the Park Ranger treated the boys to a free snake show…this was a huge hit! The park also offered a guided nature hike, but it was geared to older children.

Invitations

If you can cut out a triangle, you can make the cute invitation pictured above. Simply glue the edges of the tent to blue paper, use a silver sharpie to add stars and the party details. Another option is to print the party details and hide the under the tent flaps.

Not feeling that ambitious? Print your party details and hand deliver the invitations with a bag of trail mix!

Activities

Bug Hunt – It’s like an Easter Egg hunt with rubber insects instead of pretty pastel plastic eggs! Give each child a brown lunch bag with their name on it, and the critters become party favors! Set a limit of how many they can find, so each child goes home with at least a few.

Tin Can Lanterns – Start collecting your tin cans, fill them with water and freeze. At the party, the children will use a hammer and a nail to make a design. When the ice melts, add a votive candle and the children have another party favor to take home.

Ghost Stories – Even if it’s not dark, ghost stories or tall tales around the campfire are a tradition!

Nature Hike – Give them some plastic magnifying glasses and bring along a big net to look for fish, frogs and other fun water creatures!

Food

Trail Mix – Put out bowls of cereal, pretzels, goldfish, m&m’s, chocolate chips, raisins and mini-marshmallows. Let each child make their own trail mix in a small zip top baggie to snack on during the party.

Hot Dogs – If the children are older, let them roast their hot dogs in the fire, otherwise…fire up the grill and let dad handle this!

S’More’s – Let them roast their own marshmallows! You really don’t need the entire S’more since you’ve gotta have a birthday cake…oh my, sugar high!

Dirt Cake – There are all sorts of variations of dirt cake, but the easiest is to make your child’s favorite cake and frost with chocolate frosting. Next, crush Oreos until they resemble “dirt” and sprinkle on top. The final touch…gummy worms! It’s an easy homemade birthday cake that the kids will love!

Party Favors

We covered those along the way with the rubber insects and magnifying glasses, so just add some gummy worms and the party’s complete!

Cost

Less than $50 unless you rent a picnic shelter from the park.

Looking for a festive theme to jazz up your next cookout or happy hour?

Need a great idea for a fun adult birthday party?

Two words…Jimmy Buffett! His lyrics dictate the perfect adult party. A Pirate looks at 40 would be a great theme for a 40th birthday or how about Cheeseburgers in Paradise for a summer get together? You could even host a Margaritaville Happy Hour!

Invitations – so many clever and inexpensive options!

• Print the party details on colorful paper, use scissors to “fringe” the edges and add flip flop foam stickers.
• Hand deliver Dollar Store flip flops with the party details attached.
• Tuck a pirate’s eye patch in the envelope for A Pirate looks at 40 Party.
• Take a trip to the Dollar Store and look for an inexpensive trinket to include with your invitation. They’ve been known to have $1 margarita glasses that would be fun to hand deliver with the invitation tucked inside.

 
Food

• Cheeseburgers in Paradise with a fixins bar (ketchup, mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions and jalapeños)
• French Fried Potatoes
• Key Lime Pie or Key Lime Cookies

 
Drinks – remember, it’s 5:00 somewhere!

• Margaritas
• Beer iced down in a large galvanized tub

 
Music – do you even need to ask?

Decorations – start by looking around your house for anything tropical or be achy. Don’t forget to grab a few stands of colorful Christmas lights to hang on your party patio! If you live near a beach, take advantage of this ideal free party setting.

 
Party Favors

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Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

At some point, most boys want a baseball themed party complete with tickets to a major league game. If you’ve been to a major league baseball game lately…cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching! Don’t spoil your son’s birthday party idea, just offer a great alternative like a budget friendly baseball party!

The Budget Diet’s Take Me Out to the Ballgame Party

Ages: 8 – 12

Invitation: Cut out white circles, mark like baseballs and hand write the party details. No artistic skills are required, and these invitations will cost about $1 for 10.

The Baseball Game: This is the main event for the party! Minor League baseball or College baseball offers all the fun at a great price. Even better, most ballparks offer general admission, so you might even score front row seats. Call your local teams and find out if they have any special party packages, group rates or promotions. A few years ago, my son had his birthday party at a Rice Owl’s baseball game, and they even wished him Happy Birthday on the scoreboard!

Food: Many ballparks have picnic areas where you can bring your own food to enjoy before the game. Save a little money for snacks inside the ballpark, and plan to return home for cake.

Party Favors: Try to plan ahead and schedule your party on the same day as a special promotion. If it’s free baseball cap night, guess what…there’s your party favor!

“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” – another budget friendly party idea from The Budget Diet girl!

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Image(s) courtesy of: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If your daughter is looking for a fun and festive birthday party, it’s time for a FIESTA!

Ages: This party is ideal for girls ages 8-11

Invitiation: Roll up a colorful piece of paper that’s printed with the party details and tie with colorful curling ribbons.

Decorations: Think colorful and think about using items you have around the house. Do you have any Mexican decorations tucked away in a cabinet or a bright Mexican blanket that could be used as a tablecloth? How about twinkling Christmas lights hanging in the party room? Could you pick up a couple rolls of crepe paper (about $1 each), and hang crepe paper streamers like a curtain in a doorway? Why don’t you use a piñata for both an activity and decoration; likewise for tissue paper flowers that I’ll teach you to make below!

Activities:

• Make Tissue Paper Flowers
• Precut 4″ squares of tissue paper in a variety of colors.
• Let each child choose 6 squares in a variety of colors.
• Stack the squares on top of each other
• Fold the tissue paper like a fan into 1″ folds.
• Twist a pipe cleaner around the middle of the “fan” and continue twisting the pipe cleaner together to make a stem.
• Gently separate the pieces of tissue paper to make a flower.
• Tissue paper flowers are cute in their hair, in a vase, etc.
• You can always make these flowers bigger or smaller by starting with different sized squares of tissue paper.

• Make Bracelets using Colorful Beads


 

• Piñata – A Fiesta wouldn’t be complete without a Piñata filled with candy! Make it extra special by adding Pesos (or pennies) that the girls will use for the final activity…a Mexican Market. Pick up some colorful gift bags from the Dollar Store for the girls to collect their candy and pesos in.

 

• Mexican Market – a fun way to do party favors! – Let the girls shop for their party favors with the pesos from the Piñata. My daughter was 9 when we did this party, and she loved picking out all the goodies for the market…of course, I gave her a budget!

 
Food – Make Your Own Nacho Bar – a “make your own” is a great way to please everyone!

• Tortilla Chips
• Taco Meat Recipe – 1 lb. ground beef, 1 cup picante sauce, 1 can chili beans (do not drain)…brown beef, add picante sauce & beans. Simmer 10 minutes.
• Grated Mexi-Cheese
• Shredded Lettuce
• Chopped Tomato or Pico de Gallo
• Sour Cream
• Guacamole
• Salsa
• Jalapenos
• Black Olives

 
Birthday Cake – I don’t have a special Mexican birthday cake, but The Budget Diet girl’s motto is: Bake It, Don’t Buy It. You can bake a cake for a fraction of the cost, and it will taste so much better than a bakery cake. Try my frugalicious and fast recipes for Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake and Pretty Pink Cake…they’re always a hit!

Why don’t you host a FIESTA? It’s frugal, festive and I’ve put together a collection of my favorite quick and easy Tex-Mex recipes. Don’t forget Cinco deMayo tomorrow!