Not really sure where to post this thread as I saw about three forums it would potentially fit in, so please move it if I got the wrong one!

My daughter's 6th birthday is next month, a week before Christmas. We have always tried really hard to not have her get "jipped" because it's so close to Christmas. It's been a rough year and I'm just wanting to make it through at this point.

Does anyone have any ideas for birthday parties? She's definately a girly-girl, so I was thinking princess, however a friend of mine did that for her daughter and said she spent a ton of money on it. That's just something I don't have.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

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If it wasn't on a clearance rack, it's not in my house!

I think you can still do a princess party on the cheap. Maybe you can do a craft involving Dollar Store finds, maybe paint small boxes and you can add in those cheap beads girls love that you can get at the DS and have it be the activity and the goody bag. Or maybe buy some cheap polish and paint their nails? Or limit the number of girls you have and take them to a (matinee) movie to see Enchanted followed by a cake at home? HTH.

A lot of kids who have odd birth dates have HALF birthday parties. My DD was born the first week of September - an odd time because it is always the first party of the school year or it lands on Labor Day so we end up having her party weeks after her actual day. See how you DD feels about having just a quiet family b-day for her birthday then a bigger half-birthday party later. She might go for it especially if that means the weather will be better and they can do something outside.

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My birthday is on Christmas day, so I can relate to the holiday birthday thing. A lot of times I had a half birthday. If that fits your schedule - why not? Or, maybe your dd wants a party now. Here are my ideas for that:

Have a "glamour girl" party. Invite the girls to your house, and do makeup, hair, and nails. Play games. For party favors, check Claire's if you have one in your area. Mine frequently has a 10 for $5 sale where they have kids' accessories, lip gloss, etc.

Have fun!

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check Target dollar spot for makeup and nail polish to use at the party. If u are lucky u can catch there clearance and get them cheaper than $1.
Have party midafternoon so u don't have to supply food. I had the girls wear there own dress up or pick from what I had on hand. then had their makeup/nails/hair done. U do not have to do all 3. We just did makeup. while the girls were waiting for their turn they made a princess crown out of grocery bags. I used the BK crown as a template. I used 2 jewels per crown and then decorate w/stickers(dollar store) and markers. Then we took 1 group pic. The "tea" was the cake. I had them put on adult tshirt to try and mimimize the spill factor. The goody bag I gave was a little purse with 2-3 items in it, pretty hair pony, nail polish, braclet, mirror, lip balm. all the items were purchased in the dollar spot on clearance. we also only invited 6 kids per bday child.
my biggest cost was the cake, I brought one from sams. I also did have matching anything. I just started with what colors I had from previous bday parties. so my colors were pink, pale blue and lavender and yellow. I even got invite from Dollar store. while the kids were opening and playing with the presents my dh printed the photo we took and added the caption: Thank You for coming to my party and printed them right then. As each girls left we handed her a picture.
I really did this party for less than $20. I had most items on hand. there are still many ways to bring this cost down. You can do it. Please do it YOUR way and not what someone expects you to do.

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

What about a tea party. You could serve bite size sandwiches, a cupcake, apple juice (for the tea). the girls could decorate a straw hat (I have found them at the dollar store), could paint nails, have long strings of beads or have them make a necklace and/or braclet.
Have the guest come dressed up, or when they arrive have a box of dress up clothes for them to put on.
My niece loved her Tea party birthday, her guest came dressed up, we made the hats, had a hat parade, played games (pretty pretty princess, musical chairs, barbie bingo), had finger sandwiches, tea (juice), cake and ice cream. For party favors (if you do them) we did chapstick, nail polish, beads or braclets (if you don't make them) and took a photo of them in their hat and sent it with a Thank you.

Thank you so much for all the ideas! I have lots of ideas now to talk with her about.

I think she might go for the half b-day and have hers with her friends on a later date. A lot of her friends families are so busy with holiday parties or just the holiday's in general that they sometimes can't come. So that may just work.

Thanks again for all the ideas!

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If it wasn't on a clearance rack, it's not in my house!

Kim mentioned the glamor party.. We did one of those for my neice.. 3 moms set up stations.. The girl rotated between them.. We did a

Manicure station: soak, scrub and lotion. (all from stuff I already had)

Nail station: simply let the girl pick the color and you paint (my girls has plenty to choose from, didn't have to buy more..)

Makeup station: We did blush, lip gloss and light eye shadow.. (all bought at walmart)

Honestly the girls had a blast. The loved watching the other girls when it wasn't their turn. We cranked up the radio to their tunes, they danced and had a a ball... As mom's we raided there dress up box.. We had 80's style hair and bead necklaces, feather boa's on..

We picked up several lip glosses, when they got to that station they picked one to keep.. We used theirs on them and had them put it in the goodie box they later took home.

You could also do a little photo shoot with all the girls together with your digital camera and print one off for each girl to take home.

We had them make their own pizza's on english muffins, decorated cookies with tons of frosting and sprinkles.. (put the frosting in a sandwich bag cut the corner off and they used it as a decorating bag)

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Prehaps a tea party theme?

What about a science party? You could get a book on expirments and do something from it. Make bath fizzies. Baking soda and a little water. Put a trinket inside of them and then put them in white vinegar to disolve them and find the prize. There are lots of ideas just pick one together.

Or you could host a decorate your own cupcake. Sometimes the simpler the better.

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