This past February, I did not throw an environmentally friendly birthday party for my son. Nope. Preoccupied and busy, I went to the store, bought all the Spiderman paper plates, paper masks, paper napkins, paper cups, paper invitations, and stickers I could find. I used crepe paper and balloons. I didn’t recycle any of it when the party was over.And when it was all said and done, I felt guilty.
Part of my guilt was brought on by the whole fact that I write a blog called Accidentally Green. But part of my guilt also came from the realization that I had been really thoughtless about my purchases. Not only were they a waste of paper, but I couldn’t even justify having made frugal buys.
I’m happy to report that the party atmosphere changed dramatically as I recently prepared for my daughter’s birthday. She’s way into Sesame Street right now, and that’s all she wanted for her birthday theme.
- I scoured Pinterest for creative Sesame Street party ideas.
- I ended up making my own invitations with cardstock and glossy paper I bought years ago. My simplistic shapes of Ernie and Bert ended up looking cute. It only took an hour to make six invitations. (Hey. It felt long, but I am NOT a crafty lady.)
- I discovered Sesame Street cupcake ideas, which were perfect. Our oven has been on the fritz and baking a full-size cake would have resulted in a burned outside and raw cake batter inside. (Christmas cookie baking has been very interesting this year.)
- I made veggie trays to resemble Elmo and Oscar the Grouch faces by using cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, and black olives for Elmo and broccoli and black olives for Oscar. (Use white serving bowls with white dip dotted with black olives for eyes.)
- For decorations, I used crepe paper remnants from birthdays past, a few balloons I had on hand, and my favorite thing: Sesame Street cutouts. I received colorful Sesame Street folders years before I had children, and for some reason I kept them. The other day as I was searching for something else in my basement, I discovered the folders and voila! Amazing – and absolutely free – Sesame Street decorations.
- I used my colorful Fiesta Ware for plates, and found a pack of Sesame Street paper napkins for 99 cents. They were the only party decoration I bought for our soiree.
I was thrilled with the finished product, and my daughter was in awe.
I love it when I can make my children’s birthdays the most special days of the year for them. The days are even better when I can throw everything together while staying frugal, resourceful, and environmentally friendly.
How do you make your parties more environmentally friendly?
Photo credit: Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Latest posts by Hilary Kimes Bernstein (see all)
- The Day I Realized Healthy Choices Don’t Guarantee Health - July 21, 2015
- Avoid Synthetic Bug Sprays with All-Natural Repellents - July 16, 2015
- The Day I Learned I Could Cook Real Food - July 13, 2015
I love the veggie Muppet idea! I had a lot of homemade birthday parties as a child, and I remember the things my mom made for me (like the “Pin the Door on the Refrigerator” game, and the cake shaped like Eeyore for which she did her best to make GRAY frosting) much more fondly than I recall the few store-bought indulgences.
For my son’s party this year, we had a new idea for a party favor which was a repurposed item and very popular with the kids.