Mike’s Surprise Party – Source List + Budget Breakdown

I’ll preface my source list by noting that I never shop at Walmart and by “never shop at Walmart” I mean I might walk in there once a year at most. Low and behold, last Sunday was my once a year trip into a Walmart and I scored a bunch of basic project supplies for pennies. Moral of the story – don’t be afraid to scope out unlikely places when you’re looking for ideas or need craft supplies. (As it happened, our venturing into Walmart that night had nothing to do with crafting and everything to do with finding rope so we could strap a Christmas tree to the roof of the car on our way home.) I had no idea what I was going to do with the 150′ roll of kraft paper when I picked it up, but I knew that at $6 I had to take it home. From there it turned into table runners, the background of the photo line and will soon be used to wrap all of my holiday gifts.

Source List:

Ric rac – Jo-Ann Fabric
Font – Slab Tall X from dafont
Red square envelopes – Paper Source
Paper straws – Urbanic
Kraft paper peanut bags – Bake It Pretty
Jute twine, clothes pins, kraft paper for photo line and table runners, (2) king size flat sheets used as tablecloths – Walmart
Hot dog holders, kraft paper letters, cupcake toppers – Hobby Lobby
Cocktail napkins, napkins, plasticware, plates – Party City
Atlanta Braves sundae helmets – Gumballhelmets.com

Budget Breakdown:

Food – $67 (excluding the cupcakes and nachos, which my best friend brought)
Invitations – $25 (details and photos forthcoming)
Envelopes – $9
Postage – $18
Straws – $12.90 w/ shipping
Kraft paper window bags – $11.45 w/shipping
Atlanta Braves sundae helmets – $13.45 w/shipping
Tablecloths – $28 (actually two king size flat sheets – so much cheaper than actual table linens!)
Jute twine – $2
Ric rac – $3
Cocktail napkins – $2
Plates – $2
Plasticware – $2
Red drink cups – $4
Dinner napkins – $3
Kraft paper letters – $13.86
Cupcake toppers – $1.99
Hot dog holders – $2.99

Total –  $227.64

{Photos by Cyd Converse for The Sweetest Occasion.}