Eleuteria's 80th: Decor on a Budget

I had the amazing pleasure of flying home  the beginning of August for my abuelas 80th birthday party. While I live miles away I was called upon to do all of the decorations for the outdoor festivities in one day with $200. My mother rented the beautiful Laural Grove picnic area at Wickham Park in Manchester, CT 

Featuring a nice big grill, a covered area and open space with long picnic tables. I flew into Connecticut on Thursday night, spent Friday seeing the space and shopping for supplies, and spent Friday night doing DIY projects to make my grandmothers day as beautiful as possible! With a limited budget my mother and I hit the dollar store and hit the jackpot with these beautiful faux flowers 

In addition, we found some great glass jars, pebbles, mirrors, baskets and more.

Our next stop was Walt-Mart and while I have some ethical issues with them, when you are trying to create beauty with a limited budget Wal-Mart is the place to go. Due to the fact that the event would be outside we needed to get some kind of bug repellent and what better than Cutter candles turned table decor? 

In addition to the candels, I turned the dollar stor faux flowers into table bouquets placed in glass jars lined with faux rose petals and tied with a sheer ribbon.

The outdoors, while beautiful in it's natural state, was softened and colored with the flowers, candels, and balloons 

Other decor included, mirrors (bought at the dollar store along with stands) which reflected the space and provided cute messages for the guests. See below more pictures of decor: 

*Mirror reflecting the space that reads "Feliz Cumpleanos. Eat. Drink. Be 80!"

*Outdoor bar featuring another mirror that read "for kids 21 and over!" 

*Cake table decorated with paper lanterns and stremers 

*wood number "8" and "0" purchased at Wal-mart and wrapped with burlap like string purchased at the dollar store and used in this basket as a napkin holder. 

My mom had those awful metallic stars that you see at every high school prom. I refused to use them as is but we needed the weights to hold down the table cloths so I repurpused them with floral tissue paper. 

The event over all was beautiful! I was so happy to go home, even for a short weekend, and help my grandmother have a wonderful birthday! She has been through so much in the past couple years loosing two of her 9 children, dealing with health issues, taking care of her grandchildren and great grandchildren, she is truly a queen and deserved the best for her birthday! Te amo abuela! Enjoy the photos below and if you are planning an event and looking to bounce ideas off of someone contact me! I hope to one day make a career of event planning (outside of higher education).