simple birthday celebration ideas on a budget
this week we celebrated luke’s birthday (happy 25th birthday, hubby!). we have been celebrating with a special birthday breakfast since becoming a family. i absolutely love our sweet birthday traditions. they’re simple, affordable & meaningful.
today i am sharing three steps for creating your own simple birthday celebration on a budget!
1. spend your time, not your money – my husband’s love language is quality time. more than the cute decor & birthday gifts, he asks for my time. so instead of spending hours & hours on decor, i choose to create simple vignettes for the table so that i may spend time with him.
2. diy is your friend – we keep a box in our closet full of banners, bunting, happy flags, & bits of party decor. often times we have made these items, but sometimes we make small purchases to freshen up our box of birthday decor. this year i purchased new stripy straws & the red striped banner hanging from the chalkboard for under $4 each.
we also write a birthday celebration message on our family chalkboard. if you don’t have a chalkboard in your main living space, diy or purchase one. it’s one of my favorite items in our home because it serves so many purposes.
i also made those “happy birthday” & “yay!” flags, inspired by my sweet friend amy. we keep these in our box & pull them out every year for brightening fresh bouquets of flowers from the garden.
simply cut out colorful cardstock into the shape of a small flag. hand-stamp your letters onto the paper flag. hot glue to a wooden stick & happily use!
3. cook a special breakfast – for our birthday celebrations, we always cook the other person a special birthday breakfast. this year i made luke delicious homemade waffles with fresh berries. we spent the morning sharing breakfast & conversation over coffee.
i love our simple birthday traditions because they’re meaningful moments that never break the bank.
what are some of your birthday traditions? how do you make simple birthday celebrations meaningful?
love,
natalie
Unknown | 22nd Aug 14
Hey Natalie. I just found your blog while searching around pinterest and I wanted to tell you how much I love it! I also love this post. I grew up with simple birthdays where we got to choose dinner and dessert and spend it with our immediate family. After going to countless birthday parties I noticed that the day spent with family rather then a ton of friends or sometimes people you barely know was much more satisfying. Now that I have a family of my own my husband and I are trying to keep that simple tradition. PS I love your large chalkboard in your kitchen!
Julia | 22nd Aug 14
happy birthday to luke! i always forget how young you two are, because you are so much wiser than most 25 year olds 🙂 xo
Paula | 22nd Aug 14
Hola Natalie!! Thank you for sharing these bright ideas!! My birthday was the 20th and I told my husband I wanted to have a picnic to celebrate!! Yaaay!! So, he picked me up from work at 1:00 (I work only in the mornings), he took me to a huge hill in the city, and we had some champagne, along with the delicious food he cooked for me that day!! It was the perfect and simple celebration I needed for that day!! So blessed!! 🙂
Sugar Plum Eats | 24th Aug 14
Hello! I found your blog last night whilst looking at christmas stuff(so early i know) but had to come back for another peek now. Natalie Creates is such a charming blog, i really like it. Looked like a lovely birthday breakfast.
Madelyn | 24th Aug 14
Happy Birthday Luke! I am celebrating my 21st birthday today. 🙂 August birthdays are the best! Hey Natalie- I was wondering where you found that food sign? I love it and need it in my kitchen!
-Madelyn
onebluebicycle.blogspot.com
Natalie Freeman | 25th Aug 14
madelyn, i purchased the sign from shindig paperie (a local shop where i live!)