10 Ways to Organize an Amazing, Inexpensive Party

2. Make your own decorations.

Finding printables online to print and hang up, or coming up with cute banners that you cut and paste with letters, are fun and add to the feel of the party. Whatever season it is, incorporate that as part of your party colors or decor. Even making your own pom poms to hang can be easy and very inexpensive with tissue paper. Make place cards simple by cutting out shapes and sticking into a fork, as below.

The more people you have, the more money it will cost you to feed them. Pick those who you really want to spend your time with or choose a group of people that you’d like to get to know better. Keeping the group small will give you more intimate and meaningful conversations. Having pre-planned questions to ask your guests can also help ease the awkward lulls you might encounter during the party.

Look around your place to find things that you can use to create an intimate feel. Take white Christmas lights and string them up in a unique way. Dim the lights for a beautiful evening effect. Take an old suitcase and open it up and use for display. Something old and unused can be a pretty way of decorating once you set it up on display around a buffet table.

Instead of a traditional party where people are invited at a specific time, have an open house party. This is where you can have an open ended time for those to come in, stay a bit, and leave when they need to. This works great for a housewarming party, especially. You don’t have to worry about a lot of seating, since most people will only stay a short time, and you can serve small appetizers instead of a large dish for each person.

Instead of mailing out invitations, use an online invitation. Use can even use Facebook and set up an event on there, too!

I find a ton of my inspiration online, from blogs, and from Pinterest. Sometimes just getting some good ideas plants a seed in my head of what I could do with some of the supplies I already have around the house.

Gather everyone around the kitchen to help with food preparations. Oftentimes, I find that most of my guests actually WANT to help out, but don’t know what I need. Have a potluck and ask others to bring a small dish or a bottle of wine.

Consider moving your furniture around in an unconventional way. If you are inside or outside, try to move things around to make it set the scene for your party – doesn’t  cost a penny! When I had my daughter’s party, we moved our outdoor couch to set up on the driveway for a cozy feeling when they watched the movie outside. Move your kitchen table into your living room and push other furniture against the wall – or move couches around. Or use pieces already in the room as buffet servers.