budget birthday

Today is my mother-in-law's 86th birthday.  We wanted to do something special for her, but going out to eat with an octogenarian and two toddlers is really more of a fiasco than a treat.  Instead, we decided to throw her a little family party here at home.  Now for me, the word "party" usually translates in my brain as "an excuse to shop."  (There are many words in my vocabulary that mean the same thing.)  But that was the old me.  The new, super-practical-creative-thrifty-and-budget-conscious me found a way to throw a fabulous dinner party for less than $10.

Seriously!

And I'm probably biased, but I think it turned out very cute:

Here is what I spent on items specifically for the party.  Other than the carrots, I was able to get everything else on BOGO sale, & had coupons for both the potatoes and the salad mix:

1 bag Fresh Express salad mix-$0.85
1 bag carrots-$0.88
1 package Simply Potatoes mashed sweet potatoes-$0.79
2 packages Sea Best coconut & popcorn shrimp-$5.99

Total spent:  $8.51

Everything else I used were staples I already had in my kitchen or craft supplies I already had in my craft closet.  That's it.  Our menu was based on 3 of my MIL's favorite things-salad, shrimp, and sweet potatoes, and was topped off by homemade carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting (mmmmm!)  For the decorations, I cheated and used some of the ideas I have been working on for Maggie's upcoming birthday party--the happy birthday banner and party hats--with some random scrapbook paper I had lying around the house, (I don't scrapbook, but I love that paper--so useful!), which meant that it cost me nothing but time.