Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Graduations, Weddings and Birthdays, Oh My!

 
Our summer calendar is filling up with celebrations for our family and friends. We have seven weddings, a handful of graduation parties and many birthdays to attend and host. 

That's a lot of gifts to buy! One way I save on the cost of birthday presents is shopping the clearance aisle right after Christmas. It's a great time to buy reduced priced toys. I have a general idea of who I need to buy for - all my nieces and nephews and a handful of close family friends. I know my girls will get invited to classmates parties, as well, and so I grab some age appropriate gifts for them. By stocking up on gifts when they are on sale, I'm able to save a little and I'm not as stressed out trying to get to the store at the last minute before a party.
I also save the good quality gift bags my kiddos get their presents in and reuse them when we give to others. Those bags can get spendy, so this is a great savings.

Today we celebrated my daughter's sixth birthday. There were thirteen little girls at my house and we had so much fun!  We started our celebration with face painting. I picked up a kit at a craft store with a step by step guide. It was an easy activity that all the girls loved! Then we went outside and broke open a pinata and everyone filled their treat bags. Next we decorated cupcakes - this is another fun activity that the girls enjoyed. After that my little charmer opened her gifts and was in seventh heaven with all her friends circled around her. Before the moms came to pick up their kiddos, I had my daughter take a picture with each little girl, which we'll send out in the thank you cards.

What about you? Any celebrations planned this summer? Do you have good money saving tips for gift buying? What do you do for birthday parties in your home?

29 comments:

  1. Awwww, looks like a ton of fun! (and work!) My kids are all older, so we just have a family dinner. I cook whatever they want and we feast!

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    1. It wasn't too much work because I had my mom and mom-in-law there to help, not to mention my three older nieces. Everyone pitches in! It was fun and we'll be doing it all over again in a couple of weeks for my older daughter who turns 8!

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  2. Happy birthday to your daughter! What a wonderful, fun summer you have ahead. Spending time with family & friend enriches life beyond measure.

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    1. Both my husband and I come from large extended families and most of them live in or near our hometown, so we have lots of events with all of them. It does enrich our lives and we wouldn't want it any other way. :)

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  3. We just had my son's birthday party! We live by Dave Ramsey, so naturally we have an envelope! However, we were really blessed this year because my DH's dad does a lot of work and knows a guy (it's always I know a guy) Anyway, we got to have his party at an Incredible Pizza for free. It would have cost hundreds of dollars! :)

    Love your pics! Lots of fun!

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    1. It always pays to know a guy. :) And I love Dave Ramsey - we just went through his Financial Peace University this spring! Envelopes are a good thing.

      Happy birthday to your son! I love Pizza parties.

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  4. Oh how sweet! Six is such a great age!

    I love at home b-day parties. I tend to create scavenger hunts, do the whole face painting bit and all kinds of other stuff to keep the kiddos entertained.
    ~ Wendy

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    1. She is such a fun six year old. I was just thinking what a great age it is yesterday. She's old enough to know boundaries and limitations (to keep her safe), but young enough to still be a sweetheart and crawl up on my lap to snuggle. Your birthday parties sound fun! My girls love scavenger hunts (and I must confess, I love them too).

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  5. Using the clearance aisle after Christmas is a great idea! My son is almost four. We usually do smaller parties at home with the extended family. This year, we'll be out of state visiting my inlaws during his birthday. All the cousins will be there and my mother-in-law loves to host a party, so it should be fun.

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    1. That sounds like a good time, Julie! We live in our hometown and so both of our extended families live close by. Birthdays are a lot of fun with cousins and grandmas there. I hope your little guy has a memorable birthday party! Thanks for stopping by my blog today. :)

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  6. Love your ideas for saving! We have tried in the past to do service gifts, like babysitting (for my sister-in-law) or lawn mowing (for my father in law). It's something that's free money-wise; just costs time.

    There will be some birthday celebrations next month for my in-laws, but not a whole lot else going on. I guess my cruise will be celebrating life, though! ;P

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    1. Great ideas for service gifts! My cousin offered us free babysitting as a Christmas present and I loved it! I'm looking forward to your cruise for you! That is something to celebrate. And now you've got all sorts of goodies to bring with after winning Beth's & Melissa's giveaways!

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  7. SEVEN weddings! lol That's a lot of gifts! I didn't know you could buy face painting kits. What a greate idea!! We have a few weddings and birthdays, but not like you. Have fun!

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    1. Yes - and the funny thing is there is a wedding on each side of our families. My dad's nephew, my mom's nephew, my father-in-law's niece and three on my mother-in-law's side - plus a family friend! Most of the weddings will be with different people so hopefully I can get away with buying only one dress for all seven weddings! :) And, face painting kits are the best investment ever. We paint faces at our house all the time - not just for parties!

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  8. Our boys have their birthdays close together:
    Jan 29
    Feb 2
    Feb 11
    Feb 11
    Cake cake cake. Hot dogs. Hockey in the gym.
    I miss girl parties!!!

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    1. My sister and I have birthdays on April 25th and 26th and my dad's is a week later on May 2nd. I always loved sharing a birthday with my sister. And girl parties are the best!!! :)

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  9. My mom is turning 50 this summer, so I'm pretty sure we need to have a sweet celebration for her. Hmm...and now I'm pondering party ideas! :)

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    1. HUGE party. BIG gifts. CASH. Cruise tickets.


      Guess who's almost the same age as your mom?

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    2. That sounds like a lot of fun, Melissa! Does she like parties or is she dreading it?

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    3. Jennifer - I still don't believe you're almost 50. ;)

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  10. Seven weddings? Wow! My second son has a birthday coming up, which he's been waiting forever for. :)

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    1. Seven weddings - I know! Crazy. Most of them are cousins that are younger than my husband and I, but one is my hubby's brother - so that's a pretty big deal for our family. My hubby is the best man and our girls are in the wedding party, too. Should be fun! Happy birthday to your son!

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  11. Love your ideas for saving on gifts. Wish I'd been that wise when I still had kids at home. And the face painting looked like great fun!

    Our biggest celebration this summer will be when all our grown children and their children (our grandkids) descend upon our home in late July. We do this once a year, and trust me, it's a celebration - the only time we're all together in one place as we're scattered from Washington D.C. to Huntsville, Alabama, to D'Lo, Mississippi, to Wichita, Kansas. In our 1900 sq. foot bungalow, it's a little crowded with 7 adults and 4 children, but we always have a great time!

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    1. I bet you love having all your family home at one time! Our kids are little, but as we're remodeling our house we keep in mind all those years of family gatherings and grandkids (I hope we still live here, if not, oh well - it's fun to dream)!

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  12. Great ideas for that age group. Glad it turned out so well. When my kids were small their favorite way to celebrate their birthdays was at the local swimming pool and/or natatorium for the winter birthdays. We would meet there and move to our house for cake, ice cream and presents. If they still had any energy I was ready with scavenger hunts and team party games. Very cheap but memorable fun.

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    1. That does sound like fun, Ava! I'm happy my girls birthdays are in the summer - it makes it easier to host parties when the kids can be outside. My twins' birthday is March 29th - which is a hit or miss date in Minnesota. Last year it was still freezing and we had the party at church and this year it was like summer out, so we had it at our home. I'm sure each year will be different.

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  13. Aww, happy birthday to your daughter! It looks like her party was a blast! Micah's second birthday is coming up next month, and i'm so thrilled that we will be able to celebrate with my family. And Micah will get to see fireworks for the first time! Yep, its going to be a great summer. :-)

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    1. Yay for having family at birthday parties! My mom and mother-in-law came to help me with my little girl's party. She loved having her grandmas there and I loved having their help! And fireworks are such a magical experience for kids. We are able to watch the annual fireworks in our town right out our back door. We had a campfire with s'mores and we didn't have to fight the crowds at the park!

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