Saving Money at Halloween with iParty

An example of cheap decor items - save on helium by hanging balloons upside down

Last week, my blogger BFF Jill and I attended a fun event in Boston at iParty – a party store (and much more) located throughout New England and Florida.  The event highlighted some fun trends for Halloween costumes and decorations, and also provided us with some great money saving party tips to share with our readers.

Here are some of my learnings from the event:

• When visiting iParty, look for pins on the sales associate’s name tag.  They get one every time they complete additional training, so those associates with lots of pins are very experienced.
• Accessories are a great way to make a good costume great – wigs, fake teeth, etc…
• If painting faces for Halloween, go with Snazaroo face paint.  Seriously – this stuff goes on so easily and comes off with unscented baby wipes.  It’s not available at Target or Walmart, but can be found at party stores.  With a tiny bit of trial, I found that I could paint my kids’ faces pretty easily.

The "design-your-own-cupcake" my 5-year old decorated

• The iParty value line, which offers costumes for $9.99, is a great way to get a good costume at a great price.
• Keep in mind that most costumes can be easily shortened with tape, and rolled up.
• Always buy a size too big if you are in a cold climate, so you can layer clothes or a coat underneath it.

Here are some of the money saving tips they offered:

1. Mix more expensive printed tableware with solid colors
2. Buy table cover rolls rather than tablecloths.  We actually did this for my daughter’s birthday party this past weekend and found it to be a great value.
3. Plan “do-it-yourself” parties – where guests decorate their own cookie or cupcake, or make their own pizza, taco or sundae.  You can also have guests decorate bags or tiaras as take home favors.
4. Use old fashioned, tried and true decorations that are versatile, like streamers and balloons.
5. Buy on sale.
6. Save left over decorations that you can use at a later time.
7. Reuse – costumes can be used as decorations, etc
8. Use household items like jars and lunch bags in your decorations.
9. Buy for multiple purposes.
10. Do it yourself!

To learn more about iParty, visit their website.

Tagged as: Blog Events, Decor, halloween, Paper Products/Favors