DIY St. Patrick's Day Party On a Budget! :)

 I had no idea this time last week that I was going to be tackling a mini dessert table in celebration on St. Patrick's Day. As a matter of fact, it's of no really significance in our household other than I'll use ANY excuse to throw a party and I basically love all holidays! I also wanted to see if I could put together something on a very limited budget as some of my local blog readers had requested. My lovely vendors really came thru for me on this little set up. It all started with adorable printables from Lauren Haddox Designs. Soon after How Sweet It Is and Tunky Monkey Sweet Treats joined for the ride and on extremely short notice they absolutely showed out! I was beyond elated to have Danielle McCann Photography capture all the Irish fun! She always captured everything so beautifully!
 Now for the details! When I said I wanted to stay on budget I wasn't kidding..at all. Most of the items used were recycled materials from past and future parties. I spent a total of...drum roll here......$17! I was thrilled with that number. Shocked myself even. I wanted to stay under $50 so I definitely achieved my goal! Here are some of my favorite cost effective tips!

- Alternate store bought desserts and custom sweets. I had one of our talented local bakers, Heather of Gourmet Gal's Bakery, whip me up some little fondant shamrocks. I used a grocey store bakery and ask that they make a very simple round cake with no details. You could even do this part yourself but I was short on time. I simply added the fondant details to the store bought cake!

- For the very simple backdrop I used a piece of the 20x30 foam board and simply spray painted it green. I used circular motions and it made a neat although very subtle swirl pattern that added a bit of texture. I had planned on doing my own handmade shamrock and adding glitter to match the adorable cookie that How Sweet It Is sent however when I spyed one at Hobby Lobby for $5 that was exactly what I needed I fought 3 people for it. Ok not really but it was a major score ;)

- The cookies, cakepops, and cakeups were custom (I have friends in party places, lucky me lol) however what I would recommend, for the sake of budget, choosing one item that you want to be the specialty and either make the rest yourself or purchase from a local bakery. The store bought goodies can always be color coordinated and then dressed up with printables! Tunky Monkey makes out of this world cake pops!

- For drinks, I love using recycled Crush brand bottled sodas. They are not exactly kid friendly however so bottled water or juice is a great alternate that can be dressed up as well!

- Most printables sets come with an 8x10 image. Lauren Haddox's set was too adorable. I love putting that size picture in a frame and displaying on the dessert table. Just paint an old frame your color of choice and you are ready to go!

- For smaller events I love to keep favors very simple. Bag toppers and mini zip locks are perfect! Lucky Charms were an easy pairing for this set up. I'm also serving the little Graham cracker scooby bones for my sons Scooby Doo party along the same concept!

 Concept & Styling : Capes and Crowns
Photography: Danielle McCann Photography
Printables: Lauren Haddox Designs
Cookies : How Sweet It Is
Cake Pops & Cake Ups : Tunky Monkey's Sweet Treats
Fondant Shamrocks : Gourmet Gal Bakery