How to keep a Man's birthday simple and do it on a budget but still make them feel special.
I LOVE planning parties. I have a hard time not overdoing! But I have learned that men really don't care to have a huge table display and party favors, they are not 5 years old. They are men. They want simple but also enough to feel appreciated and that you care about them. (like how I am pretending to know what all men want.. I speak in be half of my husband's wants and assume 85% of men in general are like this).
To start off the day I made him one of his favorite breakfast meals,
I made him lunch and brought it to him at work. We were going to have a picnic but because of the weather we ended up having a picnic in the car which was still fun.
Here is the little display I put together for him:
-For the sign I downloaded
THIS font for free! I used Pixelmator on my mac to create the sign but you can use the font in what ever program you have. I then printed it off at
Alphagraphics. Which only cost me $2 in black & white.
-For the balloons I took a paint brush and stroked them with gold paint.
-My husband hates cake and told me to make anything but cake. So I got real creative (wink, wink) and made ice cream cake (I will be real here, I took a carton of Oreo ice cream, smashed oreos and sprinkled them on top, to be extra naughty you can drizzle hot fudge on top). He also LOVES drinking root-beer from the bottle so I made sure to have those on display.
Most of the stuff I already had but if you are interested this is where they are from:
Lights- Target
Glass red hand- Home Goods
Cake plate - Home Goods
Straws - Walmart
Simple but I was shocked to see he really LOVED it. I really didn't think he would even think much of it but he really seemed to appreciate it! Yay for the little things!
When you are planning a party remember to keep it simple and just find little things that you know (who ever the person you are planning for) will appreciate!
I was going to plan this big elaborate dinner but ran out time and my husband really wanted to go try out Sea Salt located in SLC. We were in LOVE, the portions were perfect, the food was so fresh & delicious. I highly recommend it if you are in the SLC area.
Side note..
(Notice the little person in Tay's arms. He is always a joy to bring to dinner. I love this stage but my goodness this kid knows how to make a statement at dinner. I heard a mom next to us say, "look at that sweet little boy (referring to Owen) holding still, why don't you hold still like him?" she spoke TOO soon. She did not see the water that he dumped all over the table, the crayons he used to draw on the table cloth, the silverware that he just couldn't help but touch and use to bang on the plates, the loud voice that he used to say, "BYE!" to people that would exit out of the restaurant. I read a book about lady that lived in France and just seemed appalled by how Americans raise kids, she said that kids in France will seat quietly through meals and hold still. I didn't know those two things could coexist. HOW!? I told Tay WE WILL figure out the french ways and make our child seat STILL:)
The design of the restaurant was extremely pleasing to the eye: white subway tile with marble countertops paired with the cadence dinning chairs/barstools! My eyes were happy;)
So it is possible to keep it simple but fun on a budget to!
