These are the invitations for Kai and Dax’s upcoming birthday party. Or shall I say, BOOOOday party! I wrapped the mummy invites in gauze bandage, and with Kai’s help, finished it with felt and googly eyes. The card itself opens and is folded along the top (party info inside), and why am I telling you this? Because I forgot to take pictures.

Aside from the ink already in my printer, this project cost me $7.

We had a very lovely evening socializing and enjoying pumpkin-based dishes at our annual pumpkin party for all the ladies from church.

Despite some major glitches along the way (an entire string of lights shattering, missing tablecloths, missing committee members, and so on), everything came together perfectly at the end. We had to work within a ridiculously tight budget, so decorations were handmade or bought on the cheap, and I took full advantage of the outdoor patio/courtyard area our relief society room opens up to. To elevate the “budget” decor, I relied heavily on lighting, hence all the tea lights, luminaries, and string bulb lights.

This undertaking would not have been possible without an awesome planning committee (those that didn’t go AWOL on me) and amazing, amazing friends that came early and stayed late to help, just because. And husbands, I did not forget about you. Your prowess in hanging lights and managing extension cords is worthy of a gift certificate to any electronic store of your choice.

Resources and design notes:
Pumpkins – Martha Stewart tutorial here.

Luminaries – Vellum paper rolled and held together with double-sided tape. Paper trees cut out of black paper, taped onto battery-operated tea lights, then inserted into vellum luminary to create a spooky tree silhouette.

Battery-operated Tea lights – Best price at Costco; 24 lights for $12. Otherwise, order from Oriental Trading.

String bulb lights – Borrowed from dear friends Kaleene and Shawn. But can be found at Target, $8.99 for 25 feet. I know this because we had to buy them a new string to replace the one we broke!

Fall leaves – $1 for pack of 50, dollar section at Target.

And another lovely birthday party we attended on Saturday. My friend Andi said she didn’t have a definitive theme as she was putting it together, but to me, it felt very whimsical and fairy-in-the-woods-like.

{Make your own fairy wands}

The gourmand she is, Andi baked not only a Swedish princess cake…

…but a banana-cream cake. Along with dozens of cupcakes for…

…a design-your-own cupcake bar. This was a hit!

{He does frosting and toppings. Only.}