Simple and Inexpensive Backyard Baby-Q Decor
Like I mentioned yesterday during my post about a DIY vase for the shower, one of my best friends is expecting and we threw her a Baby-Q this weekend that went great! I wanted to share with you some of the other decorative items that I used that were of little to almost no cost! My goal is always to throw a cute shower and spend the smallest amount of money and I hope you may get some ideas of ways to be creative and decorate on a budget!
Here is the invitation I designed. I loved the idea of using the picnic checkered items that really go with the BBQ theme.
The theme was anything red checkered, chalkboard and galvanized, which is all easy to find!
Where we live in Alabama, we have the luxury of having cotton fields nearby. I have been anxious to do some crafting with cotton so I picked some which ended up being great for the shower. I purchased these small galvanized buckets in the dollar spot at Target and just cut the stems short enough to fit into the small buckets. These turned out great because they matched my galvanized theme and the cotton was free. Plus these little galvanized buckets will be great to use in the future for decorative purposes or for organization in my craft room!
I always use what I have vs. buying something new. Luckily burlap kind of goes hand-in-hand with the theme I was going for. I had the burlap table runner already and just took a red roll of burlap ribbon that I had in my crafting supplies and just layered them. I can still use the red burlap for crafting after the shower so it was a Win-Win!
I always keep my scraps of burlap from my burlap hangers because you never know what project may need a smaller piece of burlap (burlap rosettes, banners, etc.) Those scraps turned out to be perfect to use for a burlap pennant banner. So this project was using scraps and I just used acrylic paint and twine that I already had so it was no additional cost to make and it looked great on the mantle. Plus this is something that my friend can keep and use for maternity pictures or may can use in the future.
I love using banners for parties because they’re cute and inexpensive and the perfect party décor. I always keep a stash of this thin cardboard that I get from work that would normally be trashed. It’s thin enough to cut with scissors but thicker than cardstock which makes it perfect for gift tags like I made here and it’s also wonderful for party banners. For these I painted them with chalkboard paint and then used a stencil and chalkpen that I had to make a quick banner for the gift table. Once again, $0 out of pocket for this project and something I may can use again in the future at another party.
Chalkboards are everywhere and being used in so many ways these days. Large Frames are perfect for chalkboards. I actually borrowed this one from a friend that uses it for all of her showers and parties. I just purchased a black poster board and wrote on it with chalk and framed it. This is great party décor and my only cost was the poster for $1.25!
I hope this may help inspire you to DIY, recycle and be resourceful when it comes to shower/party décor!