Thursday, September 26, 2013

A Peppa Pig Birthday Party on a budget!

My daughter LOVES Peppa Pig.  If you haven't seen Peppa, check out Nick jr in the afternoons.  She's there with Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig, and her little brother George.  Peppa is a little british pig who has a huge imagination and is a lot of fun. My daughter fell in love with Peppa when she was 3 and the fascination hasn't stopped yet.  So when she was turning 5, she asked for a Peppa party.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find any Peppa items in stores (recently Toys R us has started selling Peppa toys, but we still cannot find party items anywhere), and the items I found online were super expensive.  So I got a little crafty and imaginative..... on a budget.  

Our first plan of action was to figure out where were going to have this party.  The local play zones, movie theaters, bowling/arcade center, etc were running about $250-$300 atleast for the party, and that didn't include the cake.  Some included the paper goods, but no one had a Peppa Pig themed party.  Plus, I really couldnt swing that PLUS a pig cake.  So I had a chat with my girl, who decided that an at home party could be just as fun.  (And Mommy's wallet was much happier with this decision!)

Then we started to look for pig paper goods.  Since Peppa wasn't an option, I was open to any pig items.  I did find a few Olivia things, but my daughter didn't want Olivia.  I couldn't find any other pig paper items, plates, bowls, napkins, etc, so I took a trip to my local dollar store.  I got plain pink everything.  The table cloth, bowls, spoons, etc were all plain pink.  The total was $7 and change. 


For decorations, I went very basic.  I bought one enormous mylar pig balloon at a party store (that went along with their "farm" party supplies) and hung it up.  I have a small fear of other balloons, so I saved myself a lot of aggravation and skipped the helium tank and latex balloons.  The total was $7 and change.

We always do an activity during my kids parties.  My daughter has a winter birthday, so playing outdoors usually is not an option.  So I bought a dozen ceramic piggie banks at Oriental Trading and set them up for the kids to paint.  I put their names on the bottom and let them paint with acrylics and glitter paint.  This kept the kiddos busy for over 30 minutes, and they all got to go home with a new bank. The total was $19 and change. 

For food, we went a real easy route.  I ordered 4 pizzas, bought 2 different types of ice cream, and had a pizza party and ice cream social. And we had all the cheesy pizza, ice cream, pink sprinkles and ice cream toppings that a 5 year old girl and her friends could ever want!!!  With coupons and sales, the total for all food included was $32 and change. 
 

I priced cakes.  Man, what an expensive item!!!!  I really couldn't swing the huge pricetag for a pig shaped cake.  Plus, my daughter suggested we order cupcakes instead of a cake..... the price locally is $3-$7 per cupcake!  I had 10 kids to feed, plus grownups.  So we compromised.  I could provide cupcakes for her party... if she allowed me to make them. Then I made pig cupcakes.  My daughter picked pink cake, pink frosting but I wanted to make it more themed for Peppa Pig.  For valentines day, I found large pink swirl marshmallows.  I added one to the top of each cupcake to make it a pig's snout.  I used black frosting gel to make the two dots.  The photo in the middle has Peppa and her parents on it.  The cake and frostings, $2 (bought on sale and with coupons.) The marshmallows another $2.
 
Now each year on my kids' birthdays, I try to get them an outfit to go with their party theme.  This year it was nearly impossible.  The only places I could find Peppa Pig outfits were either Ebay, or british clothing and toy stores.  Either way, I was going to have to spend a fortune.  So I got a bit creative.  I'm not very crafty, but I can make my kids pretty happy with what I've got.  I went to Michael's and bought a plain pink tee for my girl.  Then I came home and with a pencil and some fabric paint, I made her her very own Peppa Pig t-shirt. 
It is hard to see in this photo, but Peppa is bright pink, wearing a red dress, and holding a balloon that has the number 5 inside.  I even drew Peppa's shoes, which you can't see.  The shirt was a hit.  The total.... $2 for the shirt, and I already had the paints. 
 
The pinata was bought on clearance for $6.99.  It was a plain purple flower but it had a "Happy 1st birthday" picture in the middle.  I took a Peppa Pig picture that I found online, printed it out and glued it onto the center of the pinata. I had candy that I had bought with coupons inside.  Total.....  $9 and change.
For the goody bags, I bought plain colored bags at the dollar store above and stuffed it with leftover princess stuff, plus pig pencil toppers, pig activity sheets, a 3 little pigs book, a pig stuffed animal for each child (bought at the dollar store!).  The total was $ 17. 
 
For $98, I had a Peppa Pig party that kept 10 children happy for 2 hours.  They all had full bellies, a lot of fun, and went home with a piggie bank and a bag full of candy and piggie activities and toys.  It was a price I could afford, and everyone had a good time.