Thrifty Thursday: Make Your Own Birthday Party Cake

Frugal Tip for the Week

I will admit it, I’m horribly challenged when it comes to decorating cakes. When I say I’m challenged, however, I mean that I am really, really bad at it. It is surprising, then, that I have saved money by making and decorating the cakes for my kids birthday parties.

I use three tricks for this:

1. I make cupcakes instead of one large cake.

2. I make some delicious vanilla frosting that is light and airy. While the kids usually don’t care, this tends to get very nice remarks from any adults that might be around.

3. I use simple decorating strategies like spin art cupcakes, brightly colored frosting, cupcakes made into a shape (like these First Communion ones), and decorate your own cupcakes (where you give the kids the plain cupcake along with a dollop of frosting and set out sprinkles).

A batch of cupcakes and homemade frosting are much cheaper than even a 1/4 sheet cake from the grocery store.

Do your children have birthday parties? Do you have any great birthday party savings tips?

Some Great Online Deals This Week

Only through the end of August 18th, Homeschool Creations has their Weekly Homeschool Planner on sale for $12.00 (originally $20.00). This is a fully editable PDF file, and I was lucky enough to just review a copy. Just use the code BACK2SCHOOL at check out.

Speaking of great homeschooling resources (although this would be great for anyone wanting to work through projects with the kids), Kris from Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers has re-released her ebook Hands-on Learning: Cross-Curricular Projects to Make Learning Come Alive. It is on sale through Friday for half off. Just use the code WUHSHANDSON at check out.

Free 8″x10″ Canvas (or $50 off a Larger Canvas) – You can get this deal through Canvas People, and they also offer 50% off a second canvas! This would be a great way to pick up a free Christmas gift!

Free Sign Up for About One – About One is a service to help you get you and your family organized. You can safely store items such as photos, children’s artwork and health, education and home records.

Coupons.com is a great place to find printable coupons. Here is just a preview of some of the coupons that you can find there (click through to get to the coupon):

On the topic of coupons, if you like Kellogg’s products, make sure to go visit and sign up to get $5 – $10 in coupons!

Free Chips and Queso… (YUM!)

And then what about some Quiznos coupons as well? (four of them, including one for a free sub)

6 Free Photo Products from Vistaprint – Choose a photo flipbook, t-shirt, mug, mouse pad, magnets or calendar- all for free! Don’t let your photos sit hidden on your computer, take this opportunity to celebrate your memories every day. You can upload from Picasa, Facebook and Flickr! You only pay shipping and processing.

Do you use Swagbucks while you do your web searching? If you don’t, you should definitely check it out as a way to do what you would normally do online and then earn points to turn in for gift certificates. (The Amazon.com gift certificates are my favorite!)