How to Have a Ballerina Birthday Party for Under $60!

With my daughter’s birthday falling between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, we usually end up having her party in January. This means we get to take advantage of all the cute and girly Valentine’s day items in stores as well as the Christmas clearance!

No matter what time of year your child’s birthday is, look for holiday clearance year ’round to find items for their party. Not all holiday clearance will necessarily be themed. Think star napkins after the 4th of July, pink plates after Valentine’s day, and so on. If you plan ahead of time, you can get all your party supplies for 50 – 90% off!

This year my daughter asked for a snow princess party…but only if it snowed. Once I convinced her that first, we live in TEXAS, and second, I don’t control the weather, she decided she would enjoy a ballerina party. I was relieved because I had begun to picture fake snow and the mess it would make…!

I’ll share how we pulled off her party for under $60 and hopefully you can find some ideas for your own child’s party!

Decor

I made these tissue paper pom poms to hang over the table and I absolutely love how they turned out. I was able to make 4 pom poms out of 3 packages of tissue paper that I picked up at Hobby Lobby for $0.99 each. I used pipe cleaners and ribbon that I already had to tie and hang them.

I bought a white table cloth (that I had to cut and tape to fit our square table) from Target for $3.50. It was a nice cover, so I’m hanging on to it for future parties.

For the snacks, I tied some pink ribbon around some mason jars and sundae dishes – all items I already owned! I used some pink polka dot napkins I bought on clearance for $0.86 and some pink plates that were $2. I used clear plastic cups that I had leftover from another event.

I also borrowed a cupcake stand from a very nice friend which made the table look so nice.

Food

It is hard to estimate the cost of the cupcakes since they were homemade, but it was definitely far less expensive than a bakery cake – even though I made them gluten-free. My daughter wanted chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing, so I made these gluten-free chocolate cupcakes. I highly recommend the homemade route whenever possible!

I topped the cupcakes with heart sprinkles and heart cupcake toppers and used heart cupcake liners that I got from the Target Dollar Spot for $1 per package.

In addition to the cupcakes, I served chocolate peppermint pretzel rods and white chocolate raspberry almonds that I bought from the Christmas clearance at Target for $6.36 total.

I also served lemon water from a glass pitcher that surprisingly received a lot of positive comments from the girls. I love when they love the simple things!

Goody Bags

For the goody bags, I raided the Target Dollar Spot. Each girl got a heart-themed pencil, notebook, and hair bow, as well as a few pieces of candy from the Christmas clearance. I used heart decorated cello bags from the dollar spot. I spent $17.49 total on the goody bags ($2.50 per bag).

We also used heart-decorated note cards from the dollar spot to send invitations and thank you notes.

Games and Craft

I really loved the craft we made for the party. I saw the cutest idea to make a handprint tutu craft and decided we HAD to do it. I purchased cardstock in pastel colors from Target for $4.14, 3 bottles of paint in pink, dark pink, and purple as well as some glitter (that I mixed into the paint for a sparkly effect) from Hobby Lobby for $7.10. I used white cardstock and rhinestones that I already had on hand.

I loved my daughter’s print so much that I put it in an old frame and hung it in her room!

While the girls took turns making their crafts, they played with my daughter’s Bella Dancerella game/DVD. It kept them all occupied and made using paint with 5-8 year olds much less stressful for me.

I also set up a reading corner with a blanket and some ballerina library books for any girls who got tired or overwhelmed by all the activity. I thought it would go unused, but I was surprised to see a girl or two sitting there reading every so often!

In the invitations I asked the girls to wear a tutu if they had one, but I also had a box by the door full of my daughter’s tutus that the girls were free to borrow for the afternoon. This ended up being fun game of dress up for them.

For our game, we played Ballerina Copycat. I played music from the Nutcracker Ballet on my computer and the girls took turns being the leader. When it was their turn to be the leader, they would perform a ballet dance and the other girls would copy them. It was absolutely adorable watching them dance and giggle. I took tons of video of this part and my face hurt from smiling so much!

Final Results

The party was a huge success. The kids from ages 5 – 8 all had a blast and my daughter absolutely loved it. I loved seeing her have so much fun and I was thrilled that the party came in under budget. Win-win.

Total cost:
Decor – $9.33
Food – $19.36
Goody Bags – $19.49
Games & Craft – $11.24
= $59.42 (under my $60 budget!)

There are so many cute ideas for ballerina parties, so I created a Ballerina Birthday Party Pinterest Board with the great ideas I found. There are lots of great ideas for games, cake decorating, decor, and more! You’ll definitely want to check it out for more ideas.

See related post: How to Have a Star Wars Birthday Party for Under $60!