Tuesday, July 23, 2013

A Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party, Thrifty-Style



Having just returned from my sister's wedding, I've got parties on the brain again.  And I realized I still hadn't shared the Strawberry Shortcake Party from my daughter's last birthday (almost a year ago).  Yes, I am super slow getting this out, but I promise it's worth the wait! So, come on in and get the full tour:


As I've mentioned before, I've got major love for the old school Strawberry Shortcake of my youth.   The Strawberry Shortcake party I had when I turned 5 was one of my favorites. Now that my Little Miss has fallen in love with the now-vintage berry girl too, it seemed a natural choice for her party.  



Gorgeous, styled parties are something I really love, but I've got a real world budget to work with, so keeping costs minimal is a must.  I started with basic solid color paper products, glass mason jars & plates and some old baskets.  Thanks to my lovely friend Bird, of Bird's Party, I also had some fabulous custom printables with a strawberry theme to spruce things up.  It really helped tie everything together and she made me the cutest matching invitations:



I printed & cut out the personalized bunting, signage and shaped decorations.  There were printables in the set to wrap my water bottles, use as candy envelopes and tag our favor bags too: 




To make a nice platform centerpiece I simply wrapped a few cardboard boxes in red wrapping paper and then taped a strip of strawberry print grosgrain ribbon around each one. This gave me the perfect stand for cupcakes, as well as a place to display the Strawberry Shortcake hat I made (my tutorial for making it can be found here):


My old standby $20 glass drink dispenser, that I've used for every one of Little Miss's birthdays, held some berry lemonade and was easily decorated with some more berry ribbon and a printable berry cutout.  I even used a leftover strip of some berry print laminate fabric as my drip guard:

  
I got some mini gumball machines to give as favors and stuck some of the extra printables on them to tie-them into the party theme:


 To eat we had some little cream cheese and homemade strawberry jam sandwiches:


Yummy homemade cupcakes accented with a few printables on toothpicks:



Some red candies and, of course, some fresh berries:


For a few berry-themed activities, I used our Ikea art easel and freehanded a Strawberry Shortcake hat on paper and used some strawberry shaped sticky notes (from the $1 section at Target) to do a little "Pin the Berry On The Hat":



Finding a strawberry shaped piñata for a cheap price was nearly impossible (I mean who wants to pay $20 for something you plan to destroy?), so I created my own.  I'll be sharing my ultra thrifty how-to for it later this week:



It was a total hit with the kids - check out my party girl giving it her all:



I also created these strawberry surprise balls.  Besides being a cute decorative accent, they also are a great activity & favor for the guests.  Nestled within their many layers are little treats and toys.  As they are unwrapped, each surprise item is revealed.  These were as fun for the adults as they were for the kids.  I'll also be sharing how I did these later this week too:)



The birthday girl was also kitted out in all her Strawberry Shortcake glory:



It was a lot of fun and felt so good to share a bit of my childhood with my daughter and make a new memory too.  Now I just need to think about the next birthday that's nearly here!  

For tutorials on making my strawberry piñata & surprise ball favors, just click HERE:)



I'm also sharing this project with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.
Click HERE to check them out!

33 comments:

  1. this is so sweet! you outdid yourself momma!!! I love the little gumball machines as favors!
    Lauren

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  2. Oh my goodness! Everything about this is so adorable! :)

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  3. What a super cute party! I just love it and pinned it to my party ideas board. You are so creative! :)
    I'm stopping by from the Create & Inspire link party today.
    Happy Tuesday!
    Ang, Juggling Act Mama

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    1. Thanks so "berry" much - the pin is very appreciated too!

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  4. That looks so lovely & summery! I'm sure you daughter had a lovely time. You set the bar really high, so what are you planning this year?

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    1. Still working on that one and running short on time. LOL.

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  5. This is so adorable you did such a beautiful job I can see you had an image of what you wanted and followed through with it perfectly! The gumball machines are so cute!!!

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    1. Thanks so much Jennifer. I fell in love with those gumball machines too - the kid in me thought they were too cool not to have.

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  6. I love theme parties and everything is really cute:@)

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  7. This is such a cute party!! If the hubby and I are having a girl I will have to keep this in mind! Thank you for linking up at Well Crafted Wednesdays!

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    1. You can never be too early to start planning Lauren;)

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  8. A super great party! All of the details are so darling. It was definitely worth the wait! (Although, I just found your site, so for me it was just a fun surprise!)

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    1. Thanks so much Karen - hope you enjoy my other projects and what's to come!

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  9. My first thought when I saw this was "holy crap that's cute"

    And seriously, the cutest thing ever! I would LOVE if you shared this on our weekly link up on my blog!

    http://wwhttp://www.sowderingabout.com/2013/07/on-display-monday-11.html

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    1. Aw thanks Randi - that makes me so very (or should I say berry) proud!

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  10. And if my son wasn't allergic to strawberries, I would totally do one of these parties myself! I could even bring out my ORIGINAL strawberry shortcake stuff for decoration! lol

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  11. I just reverted back to being 6 yro! This is "berry" awesome!

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    1. I hear you Stacey - I wish my parents had gone this far back in the day...maybe I can throw one for myself next year;)

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  12. Love this party theme! I had a Strawberry shortcake doll when I was a kid in the eighties (mum didn't like Cabbage patch dolls!!!) and my daughter has one now too and would love this theme!

    Looking forward to the pinata tutorial!
    Found you on Look what I made at Creations by Kara.

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    1. It's so nice to share it through the generations - I love hearing other little girls are into Strawberry Shortcake too.

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  13. Oh my goodness, this has to be the sweetest Strawberry Shortcake party ever - like EVER!

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    1. Wow, hearing that from you, the creator of some serious party magic, is the ultimate compliment!!

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  14. This is awesome! What memories it brings back of the early days of Strawberry Shortcake! I love every last detail - job well done!

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    1. Thanks Jill. I think that's what made me go a little overboard - it brought back so many happy memories for me:)

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  15. Thanks so much Amy. I've got the tutorials up now:)

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  16. seriously ADORABLE!!! WOW! I'm so impressed, the colors are gorgeous! thanks for linking up to the Tasteful Tuesday party... You are being featured today. I'd love for you to tweet, share or +1 your feature :o)
    Emily @ Nap-Time Creations.com

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  17. This is such an adorable party! I think the surprise balls are my favorite! Thanks for sharing with us this week at Monday Funday!

    Take care,

    Trish

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  18. I love all the details in this party! Awesome job!

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  19. What a darling party! I loved Strawberry Shortcake. And yes, the vintage are so much cuter than the ones they came out with a few years ago. Birthday parties are so fun.
    You did an awesome job!

    I love your daughter's name. Her name even fits with a Strawberry Shoirtcake theme. :)

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  20. SO darn cute!!! You are so much fun! Featuring you tomorrow. XO

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  21. CRAZY amazing job!!!! I love it! It's being featured today at my link party! - http://atozebracelebrations.com/2013/07/link-party-tuesday-july-30-2013.html

    Thank you for sharing!!

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  22. What an adorable party! And I love that you went with the "Classic" Strawberry Shortcake! Thanks for linking up at Friday Favorites. I'm featuring you this week!

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Getting your comments brightens my day. I'd love if you left one:)

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