When my middle son was about to turn 5, he told me he wanted a "confetti teddy" party inspired by his favorite teddy bear. The sweetness and innocence of that was not lost on me as I know he could have just as easily wanted a Transformers birthday party, which he also loves.
So you bet your bottom dollar, I was excited to deliver on this "confetti teddy" request. I truly feel like I come alive as a mama when I get to celebrate my babies. Plus throwing parties combines my love of celebrating people and being thrifty/crafty so the whole ordeal is fun for me. But I know that's not the case for everyone and I got so many messages on Instagram when I shared his party that I want to share the wealth. So if you see a teddy party in your future somewhere, I'm here to help. It brings me just as much joy to help other people celebrate their people well.
Being a designer, I have a leg up in being able to design and print my own invitations but here I've laid out a blank bear template for you to be able to take into any editing program and add your own information. Designed to be printed 4 per page and sent as postcards (32cent stamp) as the most cost effective way to mail invites! If you want to save even more money, add in your information and then just text it as a photo!
As far as decorations go, to me a balloon garland is the biggest bang for your buck. I made one big enough to cover the main arch in our house and it cost me about $10. You can get a balloon garland kit which makes it super easy. And if you're gonna make a big one, I'd be sure to use a balloon pump and save your lungs. I got 5 packs of balloons for $1 each at my local Dollar General - 4 white and one confetti balloon pack. I had enough extra confetti from the confetti balloons to use that on my tables.
The cake is a decoration in and of itself in my opinion but it doesn't have to cost a lot! We just bought a boxed funfetti cake mix and a jar of white icing and a box of teddy grahams which was about $5. I separated the mix into 3 round cake pans in order to make it a taller cake and put teddy grahams all around it and 5 teddies holding the candles on top! Served with the cake, was chocolate milk in empty honey bear bottles! I just bought empty honey bear bottles on Amazon but I also saw them at the Dollar Tree for $1 if you wanted to put in the work to transfer the honey and wash out the bottles!
What else do you need to decorate a teddy party other than teddies? We just went around and gathered up all the beloved teddies we had and put party hats on them. The only other request my son had was that everyone wear teddy party hats and Walmart totally delivered for just $2!
The games were a serious last minute design the day before the party but my mom gave me some great ideas and all you need to use is a corn hole board and these printables! The first game is Pin the Bowtie on the Bear. Use the bowtie template and cut out as many as you need over colored construction paper. Have kids write their name on their bowtie before the game starts and it's played like classic Pin the Tail on the Donkey using a blindfold. The person closest to the actual bowtie wins. And the second game is Feed the Bear. Designed to fit over a standard corn hole board, kids can throw bean bags into the mouth of the bear and whoever gets the most in, wins! Each poster printable is 24x36 and can be printed for about $3 at any place that prints black and white engineering prints (Staples, Office Max, etc.)
So here was the cost breakdown:
Invites & Game Printables: $10
Cake: $5
Bonus decor:
My husband has taught himself the art of video and he has been making so many beautiful memories for our family to cherish. Enjoy!
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