Diy Elmo Decoration (Sesame Street Party) On A Budget!

   Hello everyone, hope all is well! For my daughter's first birthday i did a Minnie Mouse party since she loved the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show. Now my daughter LOVES Elmo, she goes crazy when she sees Elmo. So for her birthday i decided to do a Sesame street party but mostly Elmo. Since my husband has left for Air Force Training (he missed her birthday :/ ) we have to save as much money as possible to buy everything for our new place. I am a Huge DIY (do it yourself) person, so why not make it instead of buying it?. so my plan for this party was to not go as crazy as the first party lol. So i set myself a budget and tried sticking to it! my goal was to stay below budget for decorations, games, goody bags and etc. My budget was $100.00 because i was expecting about 25 kids so if you have less kids your budget should be way less. i know many people would love to save as much as they can for their child's birthday party so i wanted to share how my daughter an Elmo party turned out!


   First, i was lucky enough to find a party store going out of business! i scored these really cute hanging ceiling decoration's and more. i started extremely early since the store was going out of business i grabbed everything Elmo. Around October i was able to find an Elmo Halloween bucket that i used for both Halloween and her party at the same store.( picture below)

     

    I want to be completely honest on the prices so here is how much i found these decorations for..

• Jumbo letter banner - $4.00  (reg. price $7.50)
• Swirl ceiling decorations - $3.00 (reg. price $6.00)
• Table cloth $2.50 (reg. $5.00) still too much, not sure why i bought it lol
• Elmo and friends napkins 50 cents x3 ( reg. price $1.00)
• streamers 50 cents x2 (reg. $1.00)
• Elmo Halloween bucket $4.00 (reg. price $7.50)

Total $15.00 + tax

Next, i found these cool sticker books, coloring book and snack containers at one of my FAVORITE stores Target! i found them in the dollar section that is usually in the front of the store. the sticker books and coloring books were a dollar each and the container was $3.00 each. i bought a sticker book for each kid (20 kids), 3 coloring books (two for prizes and 1 for arts and crafts) and two containers for prizes. i plan on playing about 4 games so i finished with prizes. 

Total $29.00 +tax

So i spent about $44.00 on all the Elmo stuff above. Now time for creating! last year i did a HUGE goody bag for each child filled with snacks, toys and candy this year i wanted to do something different. So i decided to make these cool party poppers. i got the idea on Pinterest from birthday express. really is to do and the kids will love it! i saved a bunch of rolls for a two months. This project cost me $3.00. all you need is tissue paper OR gift wrap , ribbon and tape. Here's how my poppers came out :)

                                   

Now we are at $47.00, so excited and still under my budget!!

Next i decided i didn't want to hire a clown and i needed to keep the kids occupied and entertained so i came out with an Arts and Craft table. When the kids entered they needed to find their name card and in front of their cards each kid had sesame street coloring books. I made the name cards with my Cricut and the coloring books were made at a friends job :) The name tags are availble at kayliemp

Total

FREE

Yummy Cookie Monster Bar

 My daughter had a cookie monster balloon in the house from when she went to a Sesame street show so i used it to decorate the table. I then cut out "cookies" and a "cookie bar" sign out of brown paper. To store the cookies in i used cookie jars, glass vases and any glass jars that i found around the house. i purchased different types of cookies so everyone had many options to choose from. i waited for the cookies to go on sale and spent about $20.00 

For Centerpieces i used my cricut to make the characters and used Styrofoam to hold it up. i found these red pail at Walmart for 60 cents! i already had Styrofoam but if you don't you can find a long sheet for maybe $4.00. this project cost me about $3.00

              These party centerpiece characters are available for sale at

                                               kayliemp

for the cake table i used party streamers available at any party store or most discount stores for about $1.00. i twisted the streamers to give it a nice look and used a "happy birthday" sign i purchased a while back ( as described above) then i created these Medallion sesame street hangers which are available at my shop kayliemp 

TOTAL

$5.00

Pinata time

the pinata cost me FOUR dollars. I purchased 2 tissue papers ( yellow and pink), two Elmo ballons and i used old boxes

Total Cost $80.00 +tax

I did not have this party at my home but have i done so i'm pretty sure i would have spent wayyyyy less. to spend even less money on other things such as food i had a few family and friends cook something and went to my local Kmart and found juices and soda for less then $2.00

Cute BMT letter ideas

Hello everyone! My husband and i have been together for 5 years now on the 25th of January and married for 7 months so i wanted to make him an Anniversary card using my favorite gadget my CRICUT! Oh and Valentines day is right around the corner so i figured why not send both?! I didn't want to send two separate letters so i made them tiny. They came out so cute, i'm in LOVE. 

check my previous post for another cute BMT letter idea!

Hubby left for Air Force Basic Training week 1

Hello everyone! as i mentioned in previous post my husband joined the Air Force. My husband was suppose to leave January 7th but in NYC their was a arctic Freeze and flights were getting canceled all day when it was his turn to board the plane was delayed for three hours. He must have been in the airport for five hours, i could only imagine how tiring that is. He however did not get to fly that night because it was way to late and he would have arrived at San Antonio about 1 am so his group canceled their flights and couldn't get shipped out till the 9th so its been about 2 weeks since i last seen him which sucks. We have a 22 month old daughter so it was even harder on us, i cried the first two days lol. My daughter asks for him every now and then, shes still too small to understand. I have pictures of all three of us all over so she won't forget what he looks like (even though i doubt that would happen). Since he's been gone i got to speak to three times, the first day he got there, that Sunday which is when i received his address and just recently but only because there was a Bat accident on base so they allowed everyone to call their love ones to reassure everyone that they are okay. It definitely gets harder each day but i keep myself busy so the time flies by. I wrote to him the second i received his address and thought it would be so cute for me and my daughter to kiss the paper so he could have a little piece of home :)

Curious George Circus party ideas :)

Hello everyone! I was lucky enough to help my cousin decorate her sons first birthday, The theme was Curious George Circus. i currently have an Etsy shop kaylieMP and in the future i plan to start a party planning business (Can't WAIT) so this was exciting for me. I made these adorable curious George goody bags that go with these perfect center pieces! 

 
These party bags are available at my Etsy shop Kayliemp 

These centerpiece went perfect with the circus theme. i used my Curious George Center peices cut outs (also available at my Etsy shop) and filled a popcorn container with circus theme candy. 

SALE!

HELLO EVERYONE! NEXT WEEK I WILL BE HAVING A FEW SALES GOING ON FOR THANKSGIVING !


On November 28th to the 29th you will be able to receive FREE SHIPPING when you enter the promo code THANKYOU5 

On Cyber Monday i will be having a buy one get one half off! In order to receive this deal you must first request a custom order if not it will not come off at check out!

DIY Mickey Mouse Party

Hello Everyone, I did my daughter's first birthday Minnie mouse ( click here to view) and it was super easy so i decided to put together a easy DIY mickey mouse list that would be perfect for your little ones party.

   Mickey Mouse Cupcake Toppers

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 - Here are two different cute designs that you can make or buy for your child's birthday party. they are available in almost every color. You can buy these at kaylieMP shop 

Party Picks!

These party picks can be used for anything and everything!

you can even use them as cupcake toppers for mini cupcakes

Place Cards

These can be used for Table's, food label's or name cards

Confetti

What's a party without some confetti?!

All these Items are available at KaylieMp

Mickey Mouse Cupcake Toppers

I made these cute cupcake toppers using paper punchers (closer look on the bottom). It was the easiest thing to make to make this you will need to purchase tooth picks, circle paper puncher, scallop paper puncher and mickey puncher.
If you don't have time or want to make your own and rather purchase it, you can visit my etsy shop :) Click here or scroll down to my etsy mini

Easy To make Personalized Mini Favor Boxes!

These mini party favors are perfect for a party! you can fill it up with treats and give them away as goody bags. I personalized it by putting my daughters first birthday picture and then the theme of the party. I haven't posted this item on my Etsy but if your interested you can email me. check my about me section for my info!

VISIT MY ETSY SHOP

www.etsy.com/shop/kayliemp

Finally Opened My Etsy Shop :)

Hello everyone, I've been DYING to start my business and open my Etsy shop, so i finally did! yay me! I also have a Facebook page since i want to be a party decorator, you can visit my Facebook by just clicking the link https://www.facebook.com/KaylieMP. Etsy has this cool way of allowing you to promote your shop as you can see down below. Since i just opened my shop i don't have many listings so check back weekly for new items. Also, i will be posting the Cupcake Toppers I made for my daughters birthday soon! Hope you enjoy!

Full time mommy. Full time student.

I was lucky enough to be able to see my daughters first moments, her first smile, laugh, crawl, walk and talk and i loved every moment of it. Its about that time to go out into the world and do something with my life so i decided to go back to school as a full time student. Boy, Is it stressful! Having papers due the next day and running around with chasing your loud or sick baby is no fun at all. My husband is in the process of joing the A.F so he is always out during the day either at the office or working out so im alone with her. I loved the idea of finally getting out of the house but i definitatly didnt think it would be this hard, even tho it can be stressful i still want to continue my schooling. When my husband and i finally get shipped off i dont want to be a housewife (not that there is anything wrong with housewives) but i want my own career. Ive heard being a military wife and having a career can be difficult also since you would have to move at any moment but thats the chance im willing to take. I would love to know how is having a career while being a military wife is, hopefully someone reading this blog can email me and let me know what i amgetting my  self  into lol.

DIY Candy Buffet

I love the idea of a candy buffet but thought it was going to be sooooo expensive, I was wrong! for my baby shower (which was a year ago) i decided to do a candy buffet. My baby shower was a little after valentine's day so I stocked up on some candies the day after V-Day which were 50% off and if you wait long enough they can go up to 70% off but your chances of getting the good stuff is slim, If you buy candy in bulk from a factory or warehouse it comes out pretty cheap too. Then i found plastic containers at the discount store for like $3.00 or less and I used glass vases for some of the candies which made it look more elegant that were less than $5.00 for a candy buffet you need something for your guest to fill with all the goodies so I bought these Chinese take out boxes and i also used regular clear goody bags. The table was a huge hit at my party everything went so fast so make sure you have enough candy to refill those containers. To top off the table i gave it a name (as shown above) i made a huge sign which is also inexpensive to do, it makes the table look that much better!

Check out some items i sell on Etsy > Click Here <

Hope you liked my ideas, if you need any advice as to where to find these things at i would be happy to help! just email at craftyairforcewife@gmail.com 

Just married !

                                        

On June 14th 2013, We got married ! I knew my husband and I couldn't afford the wedding of MY dreams right now so we decided to go to city hall and save up money so we can have a huge wedding in a year or so. I didn't expect much being that we were going to city hall I figured it was going to be blah but it was actually a great experience I wouldn't change our decision to get married at city hall for nothing! Everyone in the place was so excited and the chapel was actually beautiful Even though we were in and out in about an hour it was great. I was glad I was able to share this special moment with my daughter and family, it was really emotional. Once we got out of the chapel we were greeted with "congratulations" by a room full of strangers waiting for their turn, it was cute lol. After telling everyone how our experience was i made everyone want to get married at city hall lol. My husband will be 21 and I am 22 but we look like we are 16 so we got sooo many stares and someone even had the guts to come up to us and ask, when we told them our age they still didn't believe us. When I was pregnant with our daughter I would get stared at, talked about and people would come up to me to give me nasty comments because I looked 15 and pregnant ( some people can be so judgmental) but when I told them I was 21 no one believed me and if they did I would still get judged. Whatever. Anyways back to the topic, we were so happy and excited to officially be a family. Next step, Air Force! My husband begins his process into the Air Force, he can not wait. We can't wait to see what else life will bring us.

Ready or Not, The Day Will Come.

Hello everyone! I need to get this off my chest already, ever since my soon to be husband told me that he is going to join the Air Force as well as how long he would have to be away I've been doing a lot of research. The process of moving, housing and etc. seems so stressful, its stressful just to think about it! I am little scared of moving away from home but I also really love traveling so i am excited as well. i don't know if it's just me but i love watching homecomings on TV and YouTube, it also makes me really sad knowing that day will come for me. My daughter and i are so used to always having him with us so BMT will be the hardest thing for us since we have a child, having no contact for weeks is really going to suck but we have a strong support system and I'm sure we will get through it. In the mean time I will be going back to college in September majoring in Physical Education and coaching, i can not wait to go back to school surprisingly but it will definitely keep me occupied and so will my one year old lol. I would love to hear how other Military wives dealt with this first separation and their moving process.

Baby. Engaged. Air Force

Lets go back in time a little. In 2009 i started dating this amazing guy that i knew my whole life, my mother and his aunt were best friends so my siblings and i were always at their family parties, i don't remember ever really speaking to him at all i just knew who he was. One day i received a friend request on Myspace (back when Myspace was popular). So i accepted his request and long story short we started dating a year later. Three and a half years later we found out i was pregnant! Definitely wasn't  planned, we were careless young adults (20 years old) who swore it wouldn't happen to us. Anyways 9 months later our daughter Kaylie Marie was born. We both were determined to finish college, he wanted to become a New York Police Officer and i wanted to be a Physical education teacher.

    Now lets fast forward a little till few weeks ago. Jason and i are now engaged, He will be joining the AIR FORCE :) scary right? When he first told me he wanted to join i wanted to cry lol. After a lot of researching and making sure this is really want he wants i was okay with it. Don't get me wrong I'm  still scared! Ive heard stories and have had family in the military who i barely got to see because of the traveling that comes along with being in the military but i also saw what a great life and experience they had. I love the idea of traveling but scared of how hard it will be on our daughter when she gets a little older. I am a HUGE family person so being away from my family will be a tough one but i think we will be fine. I hope i find wives who are in my situation or newbies in the Air Force who can fill me in on what to expect! Ahh so anxious and scared!


Oh and by the way I'm new to blogging if you couldn't tell lol ( please excuse my horrible grammar)

DIY Minnie Mouse decorations

    Minnie mouse Birthday DIY decorations!

 

On my previous post i explained how to make a Minnie mouse or Mickey favor out of a baby food jar and now i will show you the other decorations i made and some of the ones i bought from Etsy. If you need any more info on how to make any of these you can contact me.

 Enjoy! 

YUMMY CUPCAKES!

I made these cute cupcake toppers using paper punchers. It was the easiest thing to make to make this you will need to purchase tooth picks, rhinestones (for Minnie's bow) , circle paper puncher, scallop paper puncher and mickey a mickey one. If you need a step by step instructions you can contact me. I sell some cupcake toppers at my etsy shop >Click Here<

MINNIE MOUSE CUPCAKE TOPPERS AVAILABLE AT MY ETSY SHOP! CLICK LINK ABOVE!

 PIN THE BOW ON MINNIE!
                         
Another easy project that will save you $$! i drew Minnie's face on a huge construction paper and painted it. Then i cut out some bows and numbered them.
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                                                    Minnie Mouse ears

 This was the hardest and most time consuming project but it made the party that much better! the girls and even the women loved it, since it was very hard to make i only made them for the girls. I got this idea from Pinterest. want to make them for your party you can look it up on pinterest or message me and I'll send you a link to the one i used.


Hope i helped you guys out with some ideas for your kid's birthday party. I would love to hear what you think so comment or email me. I have a few more decorations i didn't show so if you are doing a Minnie party and needs some more ideas let me know.

Complete your party with these Minnie Mouse Goods 

Available at kaylieMP