• Home
  • About
  • Contact

See Ash Blog

EAT . CELEBRATE . CREATE . EXPLORE . LIVE . WORK

  • EAT
    • BREAKFASTS
    • APPETIZERS
    • DINNERS
    • SWEETS
  • CELEBRATE
  • EXPLORE
  • CREATE
  • LIVE
  • WORK

Money for Nothing – Money Themed Birthday Party

02/18/16 | Celebrate, Uncategorized | Comments

 

In keeping with my son’s usual, for his 7th birthday he requested a birthday party theme that I couldn’t just run to the store and buy pre-printed super hero plates and napkins for. In keeping with my usual, I tried to give him the party he wanted without breaking the bank.  Literally, this time. 🙂

I told myself that the request for a money themed party had to do with the fact that his dad works in finance and not because we were terrible parents raising the next Ebenezer Scrooge. I scoured the internet for ideas which almost always provides some jumping off point but to my surprise this time…nothing!  I found a few Monopoly themed parties and one gold themed party but that was it.  No inspiration.  I was going to have to come up with this one all on my own.  So if your future banker, stock broker, financial planner or accountant is asking for a money themed party, read on and you’ll see just what I came up with.

Money Themed Party Favors

I frequently start my party planning with the party favor. I know, I know, most parents HATE the favor but it’s actually one of my favorite parts of a party.  The one thing I always make sure to do is fill it with food, candy, or items that the kids can actually use.  I hate bouncy balls and plastic garbage just as much as the next gal.  Another thing I like to do with my favors is keep the cost between $1 and $2.  This particular one came in right at $1.65 a piece.  Here’s what I included: A chocolate bar wrapped to look like a $100 bill (sort of, the Government frowns on counterfeiting so this is a stylized version), a snack-sized Pay Day, a snack-sized 100 Grand bar, a million dollar mint, coin wrappers filled with Rolos candies, and a couple of chocolate coins.  I put a little bit of shimmery, green shred in the bottom and put a label on the container that said SAVINGS to make it look like a kids bank.  The labels I used are no longer available but this version is a great substitute.  I purchased the chocolate bars at my local grocery store when they were on sale and  I had a coupon (thank you S’more’s season).  I purchased the chocolate coins at my local World Market but everything else was purchased at Dollar Tree.  The snack-sized candy bars were $1 for a pack of 6.  I probably could have found them cheaper by buying them in a larger package somewhere else but since time is money I decided to just complete my shopping there.

Money Cupcakes

After the goodie bags were done it was time to get brainstorming on the cupcakes. I decided on store-bought yellow cake mix and homemade, green tinted buttercream icing.  I always use the Wilton buttercream recipe.   I decorated the cupcakes with gold sugar and the same chocolate coins that I used for the goodie bags.  I used the regular Reynolds brand silver foil cupcake liners you find in the baking aisle.  They are super affordable and they fit the theme perfectly.

For decorations I kept it simple with gold and green balloons, gold and green streamers, and paper money that I also found at Dollar Tree. I absolutely LOVE digital invitations and found this one on Punchbowl that worked beautifully with my theme.  I customized the invitation with the party details and a little poem that read,” Let’s invest in our friendship and spend time together.  We’re banking on a good time.”  Cheesy, maybe?  But I thought it was cute.

Safe Pinata

Now for the activities. My son wanted a pinata and all I could find was a small one that looked like a $100 bill.  It was too small to fit much of anything in it so I decided I was going to have to make something myself.  Since I was trying to gear this money themed party towards the idea of earning and saving, not consuming, I decided that a pinata shaped like a safe would be fun and easy to make.  I had successfully augmented store-bought pinatas before so I was sure I could do it.  I set out to find an affordable, large rectangular shaped pinata and ended up finding one at Wal-Mart for $10.  It was originally fashioned to look like a wrapped present but I knew that all I needed to do was tear off the decorations and then add my own.  When I started to tear off the decorations I expected to find the typical chicken wire and paper-mache pinata I was used to.  Oh no, what I found was a plain old box.  Seriously?  I could have saved myself the $10 and just grabbed one of the many boxes I had in the garage but that was neither here nor there at that point.  I wrapped the box in black tissue paper, made a door out of a piece of cereal box that I covered in duct tape and then created the dial portion with the lid of an oatmeal canister and the top of a milk jug.  It turned out absolutely adorable (if I do say so myself )!

Pin the Dollar Sign on the Safe

After the pinata the kids played a game of pin the dollar sign on the safe. For that I just used a piece of black poster board, made a safe door out of duct tape again and drew on the dial with black sharpie and silver paint pen.  I made little money bags for prizes from leftover chocolate coins.

In order to drive home the message that this money party was geared towards earning and saving I created a fun obstacle course type game that had the kids doing “chores” in order to earn money. I set up stations; pick up your toys, take out the trash, walk the dog, and set the table.  Two kids at a time would race against one another and the one who finished first would “earn” a bag of chocolate coins.  This was far and away everyone’s favorite activity.  They even liked it better than the pinata which says a lot in my book.

All in all the party was a success.  I had a very happy 7 year old and lots of tired and thankful friends.

 

« Easy, Flexible Quiche
Quick and Easy Chicken Broth »

A Penny For Your Thoughts... Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AMERICANHEARTASSOCIATIONIMAGE

aboutphoto
Hi there! I'm Ashley but my friends call me Ash. Here you will see me create, eat, celebrate, explore, work, and live. Browse around and check back often. Thanks for visiting! Learn More About Me...
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Follow Along with Ash

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

Recent Posts…

Everyone’s Favorite Brownies

Classic Italian Pasta E Fagioli

Quick and Easy Chicken Broth

Copyright © 2025 · See Ash

Copyright © 2025 · Tasteful Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in