un-Halloween part: how we’re super cheap/the crafts

for our Mad Hatter Halloween, we had lots of big decoration plans but very little money
so we ended up borrowing, thrifting, and crafting most of them.
even though they were just little details we really felt like they brought it all together
and in the end, the whole party cost us
less than $50!

yep.
you read that right!

so i wanted to share with you some of the crafts we made
{with little tutorials if applicable}
that helped make this party amazing
and hopefully show you that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a great party.

 

invitations:
i designed our invitation using Paint.Net.
i really like this program and it’s free to download and simple to use.
my husband has Photoshop on his computer but i always get lost using it.
i feel like this program isn’t nearly as daunting.

 

i then printed the invitations off on white cardstock and backed it with some black cardstock (both already had). i also included little tea bags in the envelopes that said “drink me!” on them.
i know. cute! 

 

picture wall: 

we found these cute Alice in Wonderland silhouette downloads that we wanted to hang on the back fence. instead of buying frames, we cut out frames from cardboard we got from the recycling plant (Kelsey’s husband works there) and then painted them.
i thought they turned out nice and it was an easy and free project!

 

the arrows:

 

again, we cut the arrows out of cardboard and then painted them bright colors. i then took a permanent marker and made a border around the edge and wrote the different “directions” on them. i also think we found the sticks at the recycling plant too and nailed the arrows to them.

 

card garland:
this project was kind of frustrating at first but then turned out awesome!

 

Kelsey and i each had some packs of face cards at home and used them to make this card garland.
(you can also get them from the dollar store)
all we did was run the cards through a sewing machine and sewed them all together.
at first my sewing machine kept jamming though so that was frustrating…. but all of a sudden it started cooperating and we were able to attach them all together.
i absolutely love how it turned out!!

 

yarn and tissue balls:

  

we really wanted whimsical and eclectic flairs of color around the party and so we decided to make these yarn and tissue balls to hang on the porch. both were super easy and free to make since we already had all the materials.

to make the yarn balls, all you need to do is dip some yarn in a glue/water mixture and wrap it around some small balloons. let it dry overnight (or longer) and then pop the balloons.
easy and so cute!

the tissue balls are also really easy and so fun to make! i’m pretty sure i’ve made them for every party i’ve hosted lately cause i love them so much!
you can find a great tutorial here or i’d be happy to post my own version as well
(i use pipe cleaners instead of string)

 

Kelsey’s Mad Hatter hat:

Kelsey took all this stuff that she just had around the house….

 

and turned it into this!

pretty amazing and completely free!

 

my costume:

believe it or not, my costume cost a whopping
$3!

the red dress is actually a prom dress that my mom made for me in high school
(go Mom!)
then, Kelsey and i had some extra felt hanging around so we cut out some hearts and pinned it to the dress. easy peasy!
to top off the ensemble, i purchased the gloves and heart wand from the dollar store and the crown is from Michaels. [each $1]
and the necklace was a gift from my sister of Rhi’s Designs.
and voila!
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS!

 

i think that’s about all the crafty things we did.
i was really proud of ourselves and how we were able to take simple items around the house and make them into awesome party elements!

some other things that we did to help ease the cost of our party were:
-ask around for things to borrow! we borrowed lots of tables, chairs, decorations, tablecloths, etc. helped A LOT!
-potluck. we had a dinner party which could essentially be really expensive. but we asked everyone to bring a dish and they were happy to do it. it might seem tacky but everyone were really great about helping out!
-and be creative! more often than not you probably have really great things around your house that you can turn into the perfect design element. all it takes is some creativity {& lots of pinterest!} and you can do amazing things!

i know this is kind of a long post {sorry}
but i hope it shows that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to have the party you imagined!

that pretty much concluded my posts about our Halloween party
i hope you enjoyed it all and aren’t totally bored with it
:)

[other parts: instagram pictures, decorations, & characters]