the crunchy mama blog

This year for Charley’s birthday we gave her the choice of a friend sleeping over or a party..she choose a sleep over. This worked out great for a number of reasons:

*Saving money ( having a birthday the day after tax day , having a new baby on the way..)

*Not getting way too many toys ( she will be sharing a room and I am pretty proud of how much she has donated recently to make room for her brother)

*It was what she wanted- and I wanted her to have some sleep overs before the baby arrived since that will put them on hold for a little bit

*Less stress and work for me!

So, all though some people might think a sleep over would be more work than a couple hour party I beg to differ !  Originally I was going to have a couple kids sleep over, then I remembered that I was trying to be stress free and thought that one would be best.  Jillian, (Charley’s cousin) has a similar sleep schedule as her and would have no problem staying at our house so I wasn’t worried at all.  I was also determined to make this sleep over fun without spending lots of money.  I am gonna pat my self on the back for this one, I did way better than I thought I could have!  I had games and crafts for the night and the next morning that I only spent (less than) $2 on. With that, a thank you gift for Jillian, food, cake, and a movie rental I didn’t even spend $30!  Don’t worry I will share my wonderful tips (lol, no I am really not that excited I swear)

Jillian came over around 3 on Saturday with her mom who stayed until 5ish so we got to visit too-bonus- During this time the girls played at their will. I also had two punching ballons ready ($1.00 for 5)

First I had them decorate their party glasses ( glasses $0.50 from Target, stickers free from home craft bin. I had Charley pick out the same types and amount of stickers and put them in a sandwich bag that morning)

Next we played a game incorporating the Lorax movie.  I made bears (free from craft supplies at home and pots from Charley’s 1st birthday garden them party) and Lorax mustaches (again used at home craft supplies).  Each girl was given the same amount of marshmallows in a bowl and had to see how many they could throw in the bears mouth, while holding their mustache on.

(Don’t make fun of my craft skills, thanks! lol)

Before Jillian’s mom left her and I enjoyed some dessert -before dinner- shh don’t tell the girls!  I made a low calorie, fat free, super yummy dessert with raspberry sorbet, meringues, and fresh fruit. (All from Trader Joe’s)

After dinner (Hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, rice and broccoli- Trader Joes equals out to about $9 for the 4 of us-$2.25 a person) We of course had cake, but first I set them up for one more craft to give their bellies some time to digest their food. Lorax trees!! (made from craft sticks I had at home and feathers from a Boa- thanks Mishelle!)

Every year Charley picks out what kind of cake she wants… this year it was a pink horse with a brown mane.  Normally I would do this the night before, but I didn’t so it isn’t as perfect as it should be but hey it is the first year I didn’t want to cry or drink a shot because of a cake stressing me out!!

After getting washed up we watched the movie “Tin Tin”

The girls went to sleep no problem after I read them a “Pinkalicious” book that Jillian bought for Charley.  The next morning I made cinnamon rolls, bacon, and eggs for them and had one more craft.  A spring scene.   I gave them an even amount ( I had it all prepped on friday) of tissue paper, craft paper, “clouds”(cotton balls), stems (more craft paper) and flowers ( from wrapping paper I had).

The rest of their time was spent just being a carefree kid, lots of running, laughing, hide and seek, sneaking up on, and running away from the monster..A.K.A. Dave…

Sunday afternoon Charley’s grandma, and other cousins came by to visit and bring a gift.  This was really nice because then all the kids got to play together!  We let them go crazy, well because they can!

Thanks to my hubby for getting them to time out to take a super cute pic!

It was a success!!  Everyone had a blast !!

Later on Sunday night Charley’s other Grandma, Papa, and Aunt came by to give her their birthday gifts and wish her well.  True she did end up celebrating the whole weekend but it was nice and relaxed and everyone got to spend quality time with her .  Thank you to everyone who wished Charley a happy birthday- she truly did have an amazing birthday this year~!!!