There was a time when we threw huge elaborate birthdays for our children. We spent more money than we could afford and usually spent the day before the party extremely stressed out and the day after the party exhausted from all the clean-up. One day we realized that over the top parties were not a necessity for our family. This does not mean that if a child wants to have some friends over to celebrate their birthday we say no, we just keep it simple.
For our younger kids we celebrate with family only. The birthday child chooses their birthday breakfast and dinner.
This year our birthday girl asked for cinnamon rolls.
Then birthday child gets the day off of school and we do little things throughout the day to make sure they know we are celebrating their arrival into our family. Our other children are encouraged to make gifts for their siblings rather than buying cheap toys (that are in their budget) which will break 4 minutes after they are opened. Sometimes our children will wrap a toy that they have outgrown but they know their younger sibling will really enjoy.
Enjoying a photo notebook made by her older brother.
We give gifts, but once again keep them simple. One or two treasured items is plenty. We wrap in brown paper bags or fabric and add nice ribbons and bows to dress up the gifts. We also reuse gift bags, but doesn’t everyone?
The birthday child also picks their birthday cake. For years I spent $30 or more on bakery cakes for my kids. Then I discovered that making my own wasn’t so difficult. I spent less than $5 on this cake for my daughter and she loved it.
I used the 2 Pillsbury cake mixes and the icing recipe posted below. You can watch the video of the cake making here.
Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- 2 tsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Beat the butter until it is light and fluffy.
2. Mix in the sugar, milk, and vanilla (and food coloring, if using). Beat well until light and smooth. Add a little more liquid or sugar, as needed, to adjust the consistency.
*If it is too thick, it won’t go on nicely – you want it a bit thicker in consistency than butter.
Thanks to Andrea for providing me with this recipe.
When Dad comes home from work the birthday child opens their gifts and then we have dinner. After dinner we celebrate some more with cake, ice cream and a few other birthday traditions. Then it is off to bed. The house isn’t a wreck, and our savings account is untouched.
Here are a few birthday traditions we have with our kids.
- Looking at baby books or scrapbooks with the birthday child.
- Creating a photo slide show on the computer and add their favorite song.
- Telling the story of the day they were born.
- Having everyone tell one favorite story about the birthday child.
- Letting them sleep in ( this works well with the older kids).
- Giving them an extra special privilege on their birthday such as computer time, extra helping of ice cream, or a treat at lunch.
After asking around it seems that the average birthday party hosted at a party place costs around $200 and that usually does not include the cake or food. If you have 2 children that adds up to $7,200 over 18 years. I would rather keep birthdays simple and invest that money into a college fund for my child. Children, especially in the early years don’t remember their parties anyway. Better to keep it simple and save.
If your child asks for a party here are some links to inexpensive, yet awesome birthdays tips!
- Frugal Birthdays ~ The Happy Housewife
- Ultimate Lego Party ~ Like Merchant Ships
- Simple Happy Birthdays ~ 4 Reluctant Entertainers
- Birthday Gifts under $2 ~ Frugal Granola
- Celebrate Without Spending Big ~ The Finer Things
- No Toy Solution to Present Giving ~ Our Life Upstate
- Princess Party for $50 ~ Frugal Upstate
- Attend a Party and Don’t Spend a Dime ~ Mom Advice
- Inexpensive Party Ideas for Kids and for Grown Ups ~ Almost Frugal
Organizing Mommy says
Very sweet idea!!
Michelle says
I love your ideas! My daughter just saw the Barbie cake and she wants it for her 7th birthday!
Lawanda says
Are you serious? $200!!! I have never spent that on a birthday in my life. And that is even considering I paid $100 on the skating parties just for the rink. (But we invite everyone we know, so it is fun for ALL, and usually a packed rink :))
I have been buying the cake lately, because I have been lazy. But we make them more often than not…
Angel says
Our family is soooo huge I have to do it at home cause I can’t afford to take everyone out. My daughter has her 10th party coming up next weekend and there are 10 ppl coming that are non family members and not counting my DH & me & 2 kids there are 47 other ppl coming. Just saying that out loud is amazing. Luckily there are a few members that are willing to bring a dish. I do buy my cake at Sams though to save time. Also I am soooo not artistic. LOL
FrugalWorld says
My daughter would LOVE that cake! Her birthday is at the beginning of September (she was 4 this last year), so we’re usually fortunate enough that she can have a few friends over to play outside. We have a large yard and a swing set, playhouse, etc., so we can usually get away with keeping it pretty cheap, so far. You have some great ideas birthday-wise though. I’ll definitely keep them in mind for next year!
Amanda from Faith, Food and Family says
I love this post! I will check out all of those sites as well. I have three children. They are 3, 5 and 8. All of their birthdays are the first week of may. We live on a tight budget so I need all the frugal ideas for birthdays that I can get. 🙂 Thanks!
God bless,
Amanda
Amanda from Faith, Food and Family says
Meant to add that the Barbie cake is beautiful! You did an awesome job!
Raise Them Up says
Wonderful ideas! Beautiful Cake! I can almost bet your daughter had a hard choice between cutting the cake and taking it upstairs to play with!! You did such an awesome job!
Upstatemomof3 says
Oh my goodness! That is an awesome looking cake! I could never make anything that cool. I love your birthday suggestions. Thanks for taking the time to find the link to my post. 🙂
Michele @ Frugal Granola says
Thanks for the link! 🙂
It looks like such a wonderful birthday! And those cinnamon rolls look so good.
Blessings,
Michele 🙂
Laura Lee says
Thanks so much for these grand ideas!! I too jumped off the over-the-top birthday party train a few years back. It was hard at first, but we enjoy the day so much more now that it’s a focused celebration of a life in lieu of a show of what Mom’s capable of juggling and/or pulling off.
Lori says
Hi, I am stopping by because your site came highly recommended by Carrie at http://www.moneysavingmethods.com
I hope that your daughter had an awesome birthday and great job on the cake!
Dana says
i’ve had to wean myself out of the big parties. it’s tough, but it’s worth it.
Lianne says
Officially, I think you are my newest favorite blog! I love that cake! I am now a follower.
🙂
Judy says
We use to have big birthday parties for each child..in fact there was a time that we did 2 parties in a day for each child, one for the kids during the day and then on at night for the adults. Crazy huh? Then I wised up.
Like you, we have birthday traditions now instead (like the birthday child picking out breakfast and lunch and everyone takes the day off from school). Most birthdays are spent just us as a family. If grandparents or aunts want to stop by they are always welcome but I do not put on a huge spread for them. They are welcome to eat what we are eating (which is usually something kid friendly like tacos).
We have decided that milestone birthdays will be when they can have huge birthday party. In December we did have a party for my 10 year old at a laser place. Since he is the only one having a party this year (or the next 2 years) I didn’t feel so bad spending the $200 for it. And believe it or not, compared to when we were doing the 2 parties each deal this was cheap!
Mozi Esme's Mommy says
I love this post! We’re coming up on my girl’s 2nd birthday, and I’ve been wondering what to do. Last year’s party was in Mozambique and “easy” to figure out – we fed all 75 workers in my husband’s shop and had games, etc, but we may be in the US this year, and I’m not sure what would compare.
Amy Walton says
You need to write a book on creating family memories. How I wish your blog had been around during my chid-rearing years! recently referred my daughter in law to your site. She’s an army wife and mother and is always looking for new creative outlets and ways to save $$. I told her I had the answer: The Happy Housewife! Thanks, Toni!
Christi says
Great ideas! And the cake is lovely!
Jodi says
I love it! We are currently slowly moving through the Dave Ramsey with a lot of birthdays coming up. This helped a lot! Thank you for sharing!
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Your barbie cake came out so well! I’m glad you dove in and made your own. .. .Glad you thought that my Princess Party for $50 article was worth sharing with your readers. Keep up the good work!
Tracey - Girls to Grow says
Enjoyed reading your ideas and hope to be able to incorporate some of them into our birthday celebrations. Like you, we strive to keep things simple and inexpensive.
Jennifer says
This is so awesome (and for my family/friends) this is such perfect timing as plenty of us our also wanting to relieve the stress emotionally and financially from the kids parties. Thanks for the great ideas, also please share the cinnamon roll recipe.
AmyG says
That cake looks like it was done in a bakery. Great job! We’ve starte incorporating this idea with our girls, as well.
(congrats on your commenter award from 5minutesformom.)
Somebody's Mimi says
Wish we could have shared the day with you. Everything looks so wonderful and full of LOVE!!!
Sherry says
Great ideas! It is amazing how much people spend on birthday parties. Birthday parties can be TONS of fun without spending a LOT. I’ve done several themed parties for them along with making their cakes, decorations on computer, etc.
Hi, it's me Jen says
We have lots of spring b-days around here, thanks for sharing. I especially love the way you wrap the gifts and hand special ones down as gifts, awesome!
Susan says
Wonderful ideas thanks for sharing…It is wonderful that young mom’s like yourself are so creative! I am an empty nester now, and my semi-launched young adult children say that they remember those frugal birthday parties as being the best! They rarely speak of the Birthday parties that we had for them at the “more expensive” places. They remember the ones that were “at home”. At one party, we invited kids from the neighborhood for a good old fashioned sprinkler party complete with Kool-Aid and make your own party hats! (And of course a Dinosaur Cake!) Where did the time go? Seems like yesterday! Find time to enjoy these days they go so very fast!
sandy says
Oh yes, I’ve written about simple parties on my blog for a couple of years (my sidebar). Btw, I was the one that gave Meredith the idea for Andrew to design his own Lego cake! Didn’t it turn out great? Fun seeing you on Twitter. Sandy
Shannon says
I can imagine making them cinnamon rolls (or sticky buns, seen Bobby Flay do ’em) but the Barbie cake just looks far out. Seriously this is just $5? You got some skills!
It’s birthdays like these that count. Lets face it, when they grow up, the next time you’re gonna have this kind of fun is probably on your grandchild’s birthday. Children grow up so fast!
Adventures In Babywearing says
Wow- how nice! I want cinnamon rolls for my next birthday, too! These are all great ideas!
Steph
NancyP says
We make our own cakes, too. Older birthday children can help make their own. (We have a cool new teddy/panda/dog/cat cake pan if you want to borrow it.) We make our own invitations or just invite by phone. Past party themes include Star Wars, Star Wars Lego, Safari, Princess…very fun!
Courtney @ Sister To Sister says
I LOVED this post!
This is very similar to what we are doing in our house and I LOVE it!
We did the big birthday bashes the first few years and it just wasn’t us.
momstheword says
We paid for each kid to have a Mcdonald’s birthday party once. After that, we would meet at Mcdonald’s (I’d bring cupcakes and juice) and the kids would play and then open presents. Since we didn’t rent the place all I had to pay for was the cupcakes, juice and treat bags. My friends did the same thing.
Tiffany @ NOH says
WOW are you talented! I didn’t even realize that was a cake at first.
Loving the way your family keeps birthdays low key and special!
Deanna says
I just found you from 5M4M site.
Birthday traditions are great for all in the family and they are fun.
Love the Barbie cake.
I have a 2 year old who loves princess – the cake will be a great idea for her 3 year old birthday.
Denise says
I Love your cake idea. A couple of years ago we were having a “beach theme” party. I made that cake and decorated it with polly pockets. If I had brought it out in a box no one would have even know I made it. Not that I cared, I am not crafty so I was very proud. 🙂
Ginny says
We stopped doing the expansive cakes as well. The last cake I made was an ice cream sandwich cake, so easy to do!
I love that Barbie cake, amazing!
Jennifer says
Thanks for participating in my Weekly Wrap Up. We prefer small home parties too, so much more relaxing and easy.
Niki says
I love this!
I try to go somewhere in between over the top and simple at home. But I only have one child now…I know that will all change when our family grows.
🙂
Heidi @ GGIP says
Cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a barbie cake for dessert! Who can ask for anything more!
Megan says
Great ideas and that Barbie cake is awesome.
BlapherMJ says
I love these ideas. Thanks!
Anne-Marie says
The cake turned out beautifully!
The Lazy Organizer says
Great ideas. I especially think it would be fun to make a slide show for the birthday child. Thanks!
Amy says
What great ideas and I love how cute your cake turned out. That is so beautiful. I am sure we will have a few Barbie cakes in our future too! Thank you so much for linking up to me- it means a lot! ((Hugs))