A Cars -themed birthday party

I love crafts. So when my friend asked me to help organize the first birthday party of her kiddo, I obliged myself to be in-charge for the loot bags and décor. It was a simple party held in a hotel room only for family and close friends, and the goal was to spend as less as possible.

Home-cooked meals brought to the hotel is more practical than catered food.

Fast foods actually make great birthday cakes. Just look at this Cars-themed cake complete with banners and a race track. Every little boy would love to have a cake as cool as this.

Theme:“cars.”
Budget for decoration, loot bags, and balloons: Php1,500 (loot bags for 15 kids)

First up – the loot bags. I normally head to Divisoria to score cheap goodies for loot bags but given the weather and time constraints, it was not an option. I headed to the Gift Market section at Market Market instead. There’s a party place at the far-end corner, selling wholesale party goodies like invitations, loot bags, balloons, party poppers, etc. My goal was to spend only P1000 for the 15 loot bags which meant that I had to spend only P66 per head. Here’s what I was able to buy:

Left: Inside the loot bag: - bubbles, finger puppet, magic spring, notebook, pencils. All for P69.

Right: I used recyclable boxes instead of plastic/fabric bags. It actually turned out to be less expensive. I covered the transparent box with red paper and printed checkered banners.

I also bought 20 balloons – 15 for the kids and the rest for decoration. I chose a combination of red and silver to follow the Cars theme. Instead of buying ready-made balloons, which is more expensive, we blew up the balloons ourselves using a manual balloon blower. We bought balloon packs (P46/dozen) and sticks (P3/stick). I didn't have to buy a balloon blower because I already had one. The cheap ones cost P250.

The kids had fun drawing faces on their balloons. 

We also hung checkered banners on the hotel door. And a simple "Welcome to Radiator Springs" greeting which I wrote on bond paper, decorated with Cars stickers and checkered banners.

The decorations were simple and inexpensive too. I drew one black and white checkered banner using a black pentel pen and had it photocopied and hung them as banners all around the room. 

Instead of a tarpaulin (which becomes useless after the party, anyway), I made the greeting by cutting out letters and pasting colorful Cars stickers on them.

I also made this food label printed on bond paper. I asked some of the bigger kids to write the labels themselves using a crayon. Turned out that they actually loved the "activity."

Good thing I had brought coloring books and crayons. Just buy 1 or 2 coloring books, and distribute by page. 

The little guests enjoyed the party. Many were too engrossed with their loot bag goodies. The bubbles were a huge hit.

Everyone had a blast. But the happiest was none other than the birthday boy. Happy 1st birthday Cassy!