how to happy birthday last minute and not expensive

I love me a little pretty party...

And while I still have girls at home I love throwing me a pretty pink party.

This is my oldest daughter Avery...

She is really oldest now because she is 17...

And she never met arms that didn't want hugged. In her mind anyway. Yep. She's all that. God brought her into our life 17 years ago during a very difficult and foggy time. She lit it up. And seriously, she continues to light it up today. I love that girl.

We had a little impromptu birthday for her last Friday as she was going to be gone this week serving at middle school camp. Pray for her.
And I know what you are going to say, 'Impromptu?'. Yeah. Really it was. I had like a day to pull this together. But it was super easy once the process began.

It all began with balloons.

Avery was inspired by this image from The House That Lars Built.

Balloon Arch Tutorial | The House That Lars Built

I was all gah-gah about that table cloth and those cakes. She only saw balloons.

And you know what...balloons are inexpensive. I grabbed a couple of packs from Walmart, put daughter number two to blow them up (she actually volunteered).

She blew up about 4, almost 5 packs of balloons. I sort of kind of followed The House That Lars Built instructions for their balloon arch. Only I may or may not have had fishing line. But I did have elastic jewelry string. I do NOT recommend that for future balloon arches...but hey...I had to do with what I had. And I am scrappy like that.

Anyway, our balloon arch was actually a balloon banner which everyone just loved. It was an obvious star attraction to this table.

Balloon Banner: super not expensive, easy to make, very festive, can customize to any colors.

Now let's set the table.

I just so happened to have grabbed this bloom at Michaels. I love how natural it looks. I just placed it in a vase to give some floral softness to the table. Floral bloom: not expensive, keep on hand, add to table for some pretty.

Seriously now, this You Are Loved Minc Gallery Print was literally just laying around. I propped it up on a mini cake plate and said, 'that's beautiful'. And it's funny, Avery's friends reacted to this piece of all the pieces on the table. You never know what is going to catch someones attention and make an impact. It's a simple piece. A simple touch.
Mini Minc Gallery print: keep them handy, place on a cake plate, add a sentiment to your table.

These banner tassels are from Heidi Swapp's Gallery Wall collection found at Michaels. I just added a touch of Gold Color Shine to the bottom edges. These hung just under the balloon banner. It added a subtle touch to the overall table. Plus I just like how it looks under the balloons.
Muslin Tassels: reusable, great with a touch of gold, adds a subtle touch to any occassion, not expenseive.

Remember how I loved that striped table cloth by The House That Lars Built? Yes. It's very lovely. Perhaps I will have to diy someday.  My go to table cloth is a 9.97 drop cloth found in the paint department at Walmart. Yep. That's me. Big spender. I use the cloth all. the. time. It's got subtle texture and a great neutral hue. Try it. You'll like it.
Paint Drop Cloth: makes for a great table cloth, can be used for any occasion, not expensive, could even be altered.

The Heidi Swapp Lightbox is always a party pleaser plus makes for a great focal point. You really can't go wrong adding this to a party table. Dress it up with backgrounds or keep it plain. Just add words and give your table a center. I love this addition to my party stash and use it over and over again.
Heidi Swapp Light Box: great center piece, says it in lights, interchangeable parts, crowd pleaser, totally reusable making it totally affordable.

I also added to the table some gifts. Wrapped gifts make great table decor.  I knew others were coming to the party and their prezzies would not match this color theme, I have no control over those. But I have control over these. Dressing them up to compliment the table allows them to be part of the decoration and it's super not expensive, because I already had them.
Wrapped prezzies: easy decorating opportunity, can be customized, fills space, adds to the ambiance of the birthday.

Notice, too, I have a gold Marquee Star on the table. That thing has been through more events. I just keep it around in gold and it is amazing how often it gets used. It's always a good idea to have a Marquee Love hanging around. It can always be altered to fit any occasion.
Marquee Love Star: more lights is never a bad thing, reusable, on trend, great addition to any party table.

The rest of the table is cake plates I already had. Fill one with the cupcakes (cupcake bar, baby...more on that in a minute). One of the cake plates held the Minc Gallery Print.

And then another plate was used to hold the birthday girls special cupcake. This here plate is actually a thrift store find with a tall glass candle stick attached to the bottom. Again, super not expensive. Super cute.
Cake Plates: an excuse to collect them.

The main reason this little birthday gathering came together in the short amount of time that it did was because we did a cupcake bar. We made several batches of cupcake, chocolate and vanilla. We made butter cream and whipped up cream for toppings. Then we set out a bunch of extras to top the topping. Homemade chocolate sauce, homemade caramel, mini M&M's, coconut shreds, colorful jimmies, sliced strawberries, Creme d'Menthe pieces. It was so awesome.

This was a huge hit with the party attenders. They took to splitting open those cupcakes, or not, and piling them with all kinds of toppings and extras. This really was a successful way to birthday party.

Pretty sure we will do this again. Just when is that next birthday party?

And that's how to throw a last minute party. Gather the supplies you already have on hand. Stick with a few colors. Add plenty of balloons...not expensive and oh so festive. Throw down some food and party away. And most of all, enjoy!

This here post includes material content and compensation from American Crafts But seriously, the love and editorial content is all me. All the time. Thank you for stopping by.