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Thursday, May 26, 2011

A Dozen Frugal and Green Birthday Party Ideas

Family Pictures - 11-09 013
We have a lot of spring birthdays here at the Granola Catholic House. So I have been in full swing of party planning for the last 2 months.  Two kids parties, down one to go.
So how do we keep it frugal and green at the same time? Well it is not hard. Often the two go hand in hand. Here are some tried and tested ways to make your next birthday party a green one without spending a lot of green.



Twelve Great Frugal and Green Birthday Tips 
  1. Have an experience day birthday. Take the birthday child out for lunch a movie or concert. No packaging no wrapping paper.
  2. Give the attendees refillable water bottles. I recently found BPA free aluminum water bottles at a dollar store. I let the kids decorate their water bottles with stickers so they could tell who’s was who’s.
  3. Avoid the individual serving juice boxes and water bottles. For a recent party at the park I used one gallon water bottles and made the lemonade in the bottle
  4. Have the kids make their own favors. No plastic crap to take home that will break in a day.
  5. Wrap any gifts in newspaper, bandannas or cloth. The cloth and bandana can be reused several times.
  6. If you must use disposable plates and cups have the kids write their names on the cups so they can reuse the same cup. (Sharpies work real well for this) Or better yet use compostable plates and utensils Just be sure to throw in the compost pile afterwards and not regular trash. 
  7. Use online invitations Evite  is a great source. Or make your own at home
  8. If having an at home party vs. at the park use real plates, cups and silverware. You save money while reducing your environmental footprint
  9. Cloth tables are a nicer and classier alternative to paper or plastic ones. If you can’t find one you like can buy cloth to coordinate or a bed sheet. Twin size sheets work well on most table sizes.
  10. Have a smaller birthday party, If you school permits it you don’t have to invite every kid in the class. This will cut down on the waste you produce
  11. Bake your own cake at home, you can really customize the cake, from ingredients to frosting to decorations.
  12. Don’t fuss over theme parties, most kids are just happy to have a cake, play a couple of games and open presents.  (Summer Parties are made easy with the addition of water- Pumpkin lucks out with a pool party most years- easy entertaining for me too.)

12 comments:

SondraMama said...

new follower from Bee Friendly Friday!
http://mamaspassions.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-hop-bee-friendly-friday.html

Lisa - the Granola Catholic said...

Thanks for following - I can't wait to get over to see your blog.

kalea_kane said...

Love the tips on green birthdays. We did a cowboy party and wrapped our gifts in bandannas and the kids just loved them too.

I dropped by from the Follow Friday from 40 and Over. I hope you can drop by too.

http://enroutetolife.blogspot.com/

Lisa - the Granola Catholic said...

Love the bandanna idea. That could be used for soo many more birthday party themes than just cowboy. Bandannas come in all sorts of patterns and designs these days and can be bought for about $1. I think I am going to find a way to make that work for our next party in June.

Anonymous said...

I'm a new stalker from super stalking! I had to visit when I saw your blog title! Love it!
New follower for sure. Would love a follow back!

laura@imnotatrophywife.com

http://imnotatrophywife.com

Lisa - the Granola Catholic said...

Thanks for stopping by ladies,
I can't wait to check out your blogs Laura

MommyDigger.com said...

Great tips, thank you for sharing!

I'm a new follower from the Super Sunday Stalker Blog Hop! Please stop on by and follow me at http://www.mommydigger.com and say hello :)

Laurie said...

Following you from the hop, I hope you can follow me back.
http://granitestatesavers.blogspot.com

doreen said...

Hi Lisa it is very nice to meet you. I am visiting and following via Java's. I love all of your ideas. I also happen to be Catholic; tough job lately, I get so frustrated with the media.
I hope your holiday was nice and your short week is off to a good start.

Laura Lowe said...

These are great party ideas! Happily following from the Almost Friday hop. Hope you'll visit me at http://EverythingBeautifulInItsTime.com!

Amanda Starr said...

New follower and new blogger! Please check out my page!


http://starrsavings.blogspot.com

Halloween Scavenger Hunt said...

my vote for you..fantastic idea for celebrating birthday party.

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