Just A Frugal Mom: Chinese Birthday Party

This year for Bear's birthday she wanted to have a Chinese Party. She loves Chinese food and so we came up with the idea of a Chinese Luncheon.

Here was the invitation.

I wasn't sure what to do about the banner but then I thought about maybe some Chinese lanterns.

Here are a few more decorations

I forgot to mention it was kind of a "Christian" Chinese Luncheon. Instead of words like tranquility, prosperity and so forth I decided to do the fruits of the spirit. These were hung up everywhere.

The lanterns I actually bought online. The pom poms I made with fabric and dollar store balls.

The table scape.

All I did was decorate the table with the favors that the girls were going home with.

The Cake.

Bear wore a qaipo dress on that we got in Chinatown. Actually we got a few things from Chinatown. It was super cheap.

Now for the outside

This was the most exciting part. Let me break it down. Looks expensive but was really cheap to put this together. The tent is just a tent that we borrowed and hung a bunch of fabric that was also borrowed.

The pillows were all pillows I had around the house but I sewed slipcovers for them from a sheet I got at the thrift store for $1.50. I did buy Bear's pillow fabric and then made some roses to go around it.

Luckily Joann's was having a big sale on their spring flowers for 75% off so those were all super duper cheap. Again I hung the fruits of the spirits up on the branches.

The place settings were just paper plates and paper napkins from the party store. The chopsticks and tea cups were from Chinatown. I think all of them totalled $5. The "bamboo" place mats were just one of those beach mats I got from the thrift store for $1. It made just the right amount to. I lined the back of it with some fabric I had and then cut them to the size I wanted.