The Budget Babe's Summer Gathering

Cass, the hostess/party planner

With a touch of imagination and creativity, you can throw together a party at little cost, like my best friend Cass did over this past weekend. Had it been a party thrown by someone else, I would have thought it was planned well in advanced with the help of a party planner. I was amazed, as I'm now going to pimp her out as  "the ultimate party planner"!

A little over two weeks ago, Cass suggested that she wanted to have a little pre-summer shindig at her house that she recently moved into with some close friends. Her twin boys, Cade and Ryder, also were turning four, so she decided to weave some candles, cake and decor to celebrate their birthday, since she was not planning on throwing them a party this year. I truly was in awe as I walked in and saw that her backyard was turned into an outdoor living room. She hit a few key stores, got creative, and grabbed one of her must have items...THE GLUE GUN!!

Tables and Chairs: Cass bought a couple of cheap wicker chairs and a few $9 side tables from Ikea and moved some of her indoor furniture outside. What created a cozy and comfortable ambiance, were all of the floral and printed pillows, which she made in minutes with old fabric she had, her glue gun and sewing machine.

The centerpieces: Cass blended flower arrangements of roses in every color that she bought for next to nothing at the flower mart in downtown Los Angeles. She coupled these arrangements with clear jars (also purchased at Ikea) and filled them with candy and pink marshmallows.

Kids Table: Cass bought bright colored $0.99  plastic buckets from Michaels arts and crafts and filled them with cotton candy, crafts, pinwheels, bubbles and a few others from the 99 cent store.

Cake and Cupcakes: We all know that we can buy pricey cake's from L\A's famous Hanson's bakery and delicious cupcakes from Sprinkles or Ralph's market.....but it's so easy to do homemade deserts (from a box).......and make them both unique and eye-catching! Cass bought cupcakes (chocolate, vanilla and red velvet) and about 10 containers of Fluffy white frosting. She grabbed a box of non traditional food coloring from Michaels arts and crafts, mixed it in, added some sprinkles and these cupcakes became part of the decor as well. As for the twins' birthday cake, she just frosted the cakes, and put their initials on each cake to add that personal touch!!

Okay, so with $150, a glue gun and a sewing machine, I find this to be pretty amazing!!