My hubby celebrated his 40th birthday this weekend. I surprised him with a party. We don't have a lot of money to spend, so I came up with some thrifty decorating ideas, and I thought I'd share.
I knew I needed to keep the party low-key. My hubby isn't a show-y kind of fella. So I just used a few decorations and had the party at church after Sunday evening service.
We attend a small church and have wonderful friends there, so I couldn't think of a better place- or group of people with which- to celebrate.
My hubby has several hobbies - one of them being reloading (bullets). So I bought a pack of shooting targets at Walmart for $3, picked up a few pieces of glassware at my local Dollar Tree, and borrowed some empty brass from my hubby's supply. I was able to keep the price of my decorations right at $20.
I cut a couple of the targets in half and used Mod Podge to attach them to pillar candles.
Then I used some of his brass and shotgun shells to sprinkle on the glass plate around the candle.
For a couple of the shorter glass candle holders, I cut up old gun ads (from a reproduction Sears Roebuck catalog) and used Mod Podge to attach them to the front and back of the candle holders. Then I filled them with empty brass bullets (not loaded).
Here are the other two pillar candles covered with targets.
I used a few of the targets and some more old gun ads to make bunting.
A bunting is so easy to make- all you need to do is make a triangle pattern out of thick paper (like a piece of junk mail or an empty cereal box), then trace around it on your paper. After you cut several out, stack them, use a hole punch to punch holes in the top two corners. Then all you have to do is string them on some twine! So cheap, but adds so much!
My friend used several of the targets like doilies throughout the food area.
Too cute!
My hubby loves nachos, so I decided to go with a nacho bar. This was pretty easy because you just need chips, nacho cheese, and several toppings. Everybody got to build their own plate of nachos, so it was a big hit.
Planning for a party doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. You could individualize the theme by choosing a hobby that the birthday person enjoys.
- If he golfs, fill candle holders with tees or golf balls. You don't even have to buy new ones, just dig into his collection! Use score cards to make a bunting. Get a piece of AstroTurf to use as a table runner.
- If you have somebody who's an artist, fill glass jars with pencils or paintbrushes. Paint a few pieces of paper with abstract watercolors and trim it into a bunting.
- A baseball fan would love jars filled with baseballs and a bunting made up of bases.
- For a fisherman, you could make a bunting out of lures! Just borrow a few from his collection and hang them off of some fishing line. Have the silverware sitting in a tackle box.
Once you get going, I'm sure you could come up with lots of cute ideas!
I want to show you one more idea that would work with any theme.
Cut out the age of the birthday person and fill it with pictures.
Everybody loves to look at photographs.
I got two pieces of foam core board from the dollar store. Poster board would work as well, although it isn't as thick.
Then I drew the numbers and cut them out with a box cutter. If you do this, your numbers do not have to be perfect because they're going to be covered with pictures.
I hung mine to display them, so before I covered them, I punched out two holes on the top of both numbers and threaded some twine through them. Then photos ended up covering the holes.
Here's my handsome hubby. I am so grateful that I've been able to spend the last eighteen years with him. He is my best friend and a great dad to our boys. I couldn't ask for a better husband.
Happy Birthday, Baby. I love you.
Thanks for stopping by and God bless.
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him,
and He shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:5
