Scooby-Dooby-Doo Double Birthday Parties for Two

Scooby-Dooby-Doo, Where Are You?
We got some work to do now.
Scooby-Dooby-Doo, Where Are You?
We need some help from you now.

My longtime friend Jamie Lyn sent these photos of her recent Scooby-Doo themed double birthday party to me a few weeks ago. Her two children, a boy and a girl, celebrate their birthdays close together in April, and she always has a separate party for friends and family, so this year she hosted TWO parties for TWO kids within a few days. Way to go! She's graciously allowed me to share her advice here. Hopefully, some of you with children close in age and birthday will be able to benefit from her creativity!



On this amazing Scooby-Doo cookie cake for her son:

Scooby was a free coloring sheet that I found online, then blew up on my scanner. I used that to make a template out of wax paper, then cut out the cookie with a knife before I baked it. I decorated it using my coloring sheet as a guide, but there was some element of freehand to it.

On the small daisy cakes, pictured above, for her daughter (I love how the flowers keep the groovy Scooby Doo theme, yet make it girly!):

The daisies are obviously just seven mini cupcakes arranged together. This size was ideal for the 2-4 set, who get a little crazy on even the smallest amounts of sugar! You could use the same idea for other, more "sophisticated" events, though...petit fours or cheesecake bites would be cute for a shower or tea party.

On the table decorations and being frugal:

I did spend more this year on "themed" goods than I have in the past, but considering we served 42 people over the two parties (and the second included a meal), it was still very reasonable. I only bought a few "high-impact" items in the pricier themed versions (tablecloth, invitations, one small package of cups for the kids, one package of napkins), then interspersed them with less expensive solid colored goods (plates, cups for everyone else, more napkins). That crazy centerpiece thing was there only because I found it on clearance at the party store for less than $2; I would NOT have paid the $12 that it cost normally. I also skipped Party City's Scooby Doo themed goodie bag items, except for one thing that I found on super clearance. That kind of stuff is just so much cheaper elsewhere, and half the stuff doesn't survive the trip home anyway.

We already had the special Scooby Doo plate and cup that Will used. I've discovered that if you're doing a theme because your child is into something, you usually have a lot of that stuff around your house.

It's true! Before you go all-out for a kid's themed birthday, think of all the character toys, plates, cups and other items that you might already own.

As an added bonus, JL dispenses some all-around good advice on cake toppers:

A friend of mine taught me that you can be creative and frugal even if you don't make your own cake. A couple of years ago her little boy was into tractors, but the bakery was going to charge her an extra $5 just to add a couple of cheap, plastic tractors (that looked like they came from the quarter machine) to the farm cake she'd ordered. She told them to skip it, and instead added a couple of small tractors they'd planned to give their son as gifts once they got the cake home. The cake was very cute, and her little boy was super excited to actually get real toys to play with, rather than those cheap things with plastic sticks on the bottom. You could do the same thing with cars, Polly Pockets, Little People, etc.

This just popped into my brain: how fun and simple would it be to spell out "Happy Birthday" using Legos on an elementary-aged kid's sheet cake!? (Of course, you'd have to wash them or any toy before AND after using them on a cake, but that could be easily done by putting them in one of those baby-stuff baskets or a mesh bag in the dishwasher.) I might even enjoy something like that on my birthday cake, to make me feel like a kid again! I think I still have a box of Legos in my parents' house I might just have to go recover. :) And I know a grown-up friend who would probably love a Transformer on his June birthday cake.

If you have a good idea, please share with us! You can e-mail me or leave a comment on any post. Thanks, all! And thanks Jamie Lyn for sharing your inspired birthday ideas! More birthday ideas coming soon!

Sports-Themed Birthday Party on a Budget

My friend Jamie Lyn is one talented mom, and she definitely knows how to throw a fantastic themed birthday party for her little guy, all while being thrifty. For her son's second birthday, she used her son's love of sports as her starting piece. Here are some of her pictures with the explanations in her own words. She writes:

At his second [birthday], Will was seriously into balls of any kind. This is when I first discovered that having a spring baby worked to my advantage in party planning. I found a TON of inexpensive sports stuff in the Easter goodies section at Walmart, and some of the paper goods came from the dollar spot at Target. (I think they were actually meant for March Madness, but they were perfect for me!)

The goody bags were little Easter basketball baskets; the football rattle (above) was for my friend's baby because she was too small for a goody bag.

I love these goody bags and think they would also make great prizes for a March Madness party. I'm sure Target/Walmart might have something similar next year.

Holiday Target Tip: Shop for holiday items a year in advance. The lowest markdown on holiday-themed items is always on the seventh day after the holiday. Also, markdowns on Kids' Clothing items and stationery usually happen on Mondays. (HT to Wisebread for the Target Shopping Article.)



Below is a picture of her piece d'resistance: a basketball-shaped cake using her son's name as the logo! I could see the nams-as-logo idea working well with a tennis ball or golf ball, too.



Here is her explanation. You've got to love those Wilton cake pans!

A friend of mine suggested making the basketball read "William" instead of "Wilson." Only a handful of people picked up on that, but it was really cute.

The Wilton cake pan came with instructions for making the round cake into all sorts of balls, so I took my basketball pattern from that, but had to freehand the "William" logo from a picture of a Wilson basketball I found online. I got the pan at Michael's for around $10, but they have them at Hobby Lobby for the same price, and the HL website has 40% off coupons regularly. I figure I can use the same pan for other things later...a Christmas ornament, Cinderalla's coach, a pumpkin, you get the idea.

Just so you know, Jamie Lyn actually made TWO basketball cakes, because she divides up her celebrations into two parties -- one for family, and one for friends. Now that she has two kids with birthdays close together, she still throws two parties but integrates both themes in each. In our next installment, we'll see how she combined a Scooby Doo theme for her son with flowers for her daughter!

I love seeing this kind of creativity on a budget! Often, I think it is the restraint of having to do it ourselves or find the best deals that actually brings out our imagination at its best. I hope this inspires some of you in your efforts to create a cost-effective birthday for your kids. If you have some pictures of your frugal party ideas that you would like to share, but you don't have a blog, e-mail me and I'll include them in future posts. Thanks again to Jamie Lyn for letting me show off her handiwork here on the blog.

Jamie Lyn's First Birthday Balloon Cake

My longtime friend Jamie Lyn sent me a series of amazing pictures from her children's birthday parties. She is especially talented at making her own cakes! I'll start with the first and include more pictures and ideas in subsequent posts. Believe me, you are going to love her latest frugal kids' party ideas! She reminds me that the first birthday is easy, but by the second, the kids usually want to have some say in their theme!

This balloon cake was for her son Will's first birthday three years ago:



Simple, cute, but also very creative! The balloon "strings" are actually licorice strands. She tells me she found affordable balloon napkins and plates at the Dollar Store. I could even imagine making a small balloon cake just for the birthday boy or girl...though they would probably have too much fun with the licorice to even get started on the cake! And wouldn't this be cute for triplets or other multiples?