Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Ok, so it's been months since I last checked in with you guys. I love the start of a new year and - even if I never seem to keep them - I love making resolutions.
This year we are expecting a new addition to our little family, so making my traditional "I'm going to lose 30 pounds" resolution is off the table (although check back with me after the little man has arrived. I will likely say the same thing then! Ha ha!) So I made my list of things I can resolve to do: Pack more lunches, get an emergency fund saved, add new items to my Etsy shop and blog more!
Keeping that resolution in mind, I thought I would share with you how we spent new year's eve!

Our little girl is all about everything princess and fancy right now. I was lucky enough to have the week off with her, so we decided to plan a "fancy party" for New Year's Eve.
It was just a little party for the three of us, so we wanted to spend as little on decorations as we could - while still keeping things fancy, of course! So off to Dollar Tree we went. If you have followed how I plan parties at all, you know by now that I LOVE the Dollar Tree! We lucked out and found a ton of stuff to fit our fancy New Year's Eve theme.

Here is how it all came together!

 

Our hallway tree got a quick makeover with just

a few items! It's a 12-foot tree, but slim, so it really

didn't need much to fill it up. We used one pack 

of silver star paper plates we picked up at Dollar Tree,

4 packs of silver and gold plastic ornaments that we

got on clearance for $.50 a pack, some paper clocks

just about to strike midnight, little paper banners that

read 2017 and gold Christmas ribbon we got at 

Michael's for 70 percent off! A little tip: I only wanted

to use the one roll, so I cut small strips and tucked

them throughout the tree. It looked like it was 

wrapped all around the tree, but really it wasn't. 

For all the paper banners and clocks, I just cut out

the shape on printer paper and used a black Sharpie 

to add the design. I should have taken a picture 

of the adorable little clocks filled in with scribbled 

crayon and the section of tree where all the balls

are clustered together - ahh decorating with our

two-year-old!! It's more important to me that she

gets to help and loves the decorating than it is that

things look perfect! She was so excited by all of it!

 We were walking through TJ Maxx one day and

Peanut saw these cardboard chargers. "Mama, we

need those for our fancy party!" At just more than 

a dollar a piece, into the cart they went! The plates

are just plastic plates from the grocery store with 

more paper clocks cut to fit the middle. We placed

the paper on top of the plate because we weren't going

to actually place food on them and it hid the logo,

but for an adult party, you could get glass plates and

decoupage the clock to the back of the plate.

Everything in this picture is cardboard, paper or plastic,

which made it all safe for our little fancy 2-year-old. 

I am kind of obsessed with paper straws. Our girl 

thinks they are so fun to drink out of, and they are

an easy way of adding a little interest to your party. 

These added to our silver and gold star theme. The

masks were a fun find from the Mardi Gras section. 

 I love this clock so much! Sadly it has stopped

working. I am determined to fix it and get it back

on my hallway wall, but for New Year's Eve it took

center stage on our buffet. The food wasn't out yet

in this pic, but we had all of Peanut's favorite foods

for our party: Strawberries, grapes, cheese and - of

course - chicken nuggets!

 Well, that's it! I hope you enjoyed our little party!

We all had so much fun that we think it might

become an annual thing. All the decorations are going

to get saved in a box for next year, but there are

several times throughout the year parts of this theme

might be reused. All the gold stars would be perfect 

for an Oscar party. The clocks about to strike 

midnight would fit perfectly at a Cinderella soiree and
(for my about to be engaged friends) as glitzy as the
silver, gold and black looked, I can't help but think
how pretty a New Year's Eve wedding would be. 

There are plenty of options to enjoy a little

"fancy" in the coming year! 

The only rule - have fun with it!

Happy New Year!