Construction Party - Happy 2nd Birthday Von!

The Birthday Boy

Sugar and spice and everything nice is the perfect way to sum up all the wonderful parties I've planned for my three daughters over the past six years. While, I thoroughly enjoy pink, sparkles, ruffles, princess crowns and tutus, I can't tell you how excited I was to plan my son's 2nd birthday.

I was tossing around theme idea's for Von's 2nd birthday, and I asked my husband what he thought about a puppy party. Rick quickly responded, "Enough with the cute!" So, what is the opposite of cute?

DIRT

Von's 2nd Birthday Party was a Digger Party / Construction Party. Since I am extremely budget conscious, I spent a lot of time looking for the lowest price party items and cheap, resourceful ideas.

Construction Party Decor:

I have to have a centerpiece at every party I throw. I don't know why. I love to find creative ways to showcase flowers, and my go to flower store is Kroger. Kroger has quite a variety and really good deals. I have also found that if you actually talk to the Kroger florist, you can usually work out a deal or a discount. 

For Von's 2nd Construction Party, I know I wanted a hardy flower in yellow or orange. I was in luck that Kroger had these potted Gerber daisies on sale for $2. I had previously bought the silver flower vase from Goodwill for $1, so I just re-potted the plant in my Goodwill buy. 

To give the center piece more of a "construction party" feel, I had my husband break an Old Time Yard Stick from Home Depot into pieces to stick among the flowers.

Construction Party Center Piece Total Cost: $3.86

What is a construction party without caution tape?

I did a lot of searching for caution tape on the Internet, and I found the best deal at Birthday Express. The caution tape came in 10 feet rolls, so I bought 3 at $2.50 a piece. I then found caution tape streamers at WalMart and bought 3 rolls at $1. The caution tape and streamers set off the black plastic tablecloths - 3 at $2 a piece at WalMart.

I also bought 3 silver cardboard cake platters at $1 a piece from WalMart to set off the dirt pudding and cups at the drink station. I also used orange ribbon I had on hand to help decorate the drink dispenser, and I can't forget the orange cones, which I already had because I coach soccer. I also used my son's dump truck to hold the silverware.

I also bought 2 sets of construction signs (4 in a pack) and one set of 8 construction cookie cutters, both from Birthday Express, to use as decoration. The signs were $3 a set, and the cookie cutters were $2.

Total Construction Birthday Decorations Cost: $37.31 (includes $5.95 shipping and handling and center piece costs)

Construction Party Food:

For some reason I also feel the need to feed people at every party. I think I can chalk up my desire to force feed my guests to my amazing grandmother, Alice. It didn't matter if you arrived at grandma's house at 11 p.m., 3 a.m., or 2 p.m., grandma ALWAYS had a hot meal or an amazing dessert ready for you to eat. So at Von's party I made sure to have a spread.

Construction Party Menu:

• Build Your Own Sandwich Bar with Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
• Jack Hammers (celery, carrots and ranch dressing)
• Sprocket Mac'n'Cheese (I made ahead in the crock pot.  I used this crock pot mac'n'cheese recipe, but just substitute wheel macaroni)
• Beams (fruit kabobs)
• Wrecking Balls (cheese balls)
• Spare Parts Mix (Boulders - raisins, Reese Building Pieces - Reese's Pieces, Nuts and Bolts - pretzels)
• Motor Oil (sweet tea) and Fuel (lemonade)
• Fill Dirt (dirt pudding)
• Spare Tires (mini chocolate doughnuts)
• Cupcakes

I bought these awesome tool cupcake toppers off of Ebay. They were $1.79 for a set of 12 cupcake toppers. I bought 4 sets for the 48 cupcakes I was making.

Total Cupcake Topper Cost: $10.65 (paid $3.49 for shipping and handling)

Construction Party Activities:

While the birthday boy was only turning 2, we had a lot of kids ranging from 1 to 8-years-old. So, I wanted an activity everyone would have fun with. We already had a sandbox, so we brought all Von's digger toys for the kids to make a mess. It was a huge success; we just warned parents not to bring their kiddos in their good clothes.

We were also going to bring in potting soil on a tarp for the kids to play in, but it had rained a week straight before the party - leaving standing water in most of our yard. Our thought was that we could reuse the potting soil in our flower beds, so it was going to be a resourceful activity.

Construction Party Favors:

I get really excited about putting together party favors. I know I wanted the kids to each have construction hats (I got 24 construction hat from Oriental Trading for $12), but I didn't know what else. Then I remembered the neat tool aprons Home Depot gives to the kids during their kids workshops. So, I contacted our local Home Depot and offered to pay for 15 kids workshop aprons. Much to my delight, Home Depot not only donated the aprons to Von's 2nd birthday party, but they also donated enough of their latest workshop projects for every kid. Thanks to the Home Depot in Madison, Tenn., every kid at the party was ecstatic to take home a Despicable Me 2 car to make with their parents.

I also decided to fill the pockets of the apron with even more goodies. So, I bought tool erasers for the big kids (2 sets of 24 for $5.25 each) and tool box bath squirts for the little kids (3 sets of 12 for $6 each). 

Total Construction Party Favor Cost: $45.49 (I paid $4.99 in shipping and handling)


TOTAL COSTS

So for under $100 (not including food - I would say $150 including all food), I put on a fantastic Construction Birthday Party that made my 2-year-old son, who refuses to speak, say WOW when he saw the final product. 

I would argue with anyone if they said we didn't accomplish a white collar party on a blue collar budget! The trick is doing everything yourself and having tons of help!

The birthday boy playing with his gifts!

Construction Party TOTAL: $93.45 (not including food)