Sweets & Treats Birthday Party {DIY budget friendly parties for kids}
Emily asked for a sweets and treats party this year so of course the aspiring baker in me was happy to oblige!
The main event for this DIY party would be a cookie decorating tutorial for Emily and her friends. They would be shown how to use a piping bag and then be able to decorate five or so cookies to take home. We also had an ice cream bar, played pin the cherry on the ice cream, had a candy jar full of M&Ms they had to guess the amount in the jar to win, and each made a sweet friendship bracelet.
Most of the prep work was baking the 60 or so cookies needed for this party. I used my go-to-ready-to-bake cookie mix by Krusteaz and quickly mixed, rolled, and cut out 60 cookies for the party in the shape of ice cream cones, cupcakes, donuts, and a few “11” shapes for the treat buffet. Once baked, I stored them until the party and decorated a few for the sweets buffet. I also prepared a french vanilla box mix of cupcakes which I decorated for the sweets buffet. The cookies, cupcakes, and the ice cream were all topped with my favorite sprinkles from Dainty Sprinkle Co. For this party I ordered both the Unicorn Tears and Mermaid Dreams sprinkle mixes. These were an absolute hit with the girls, and made decorating a breeze. Everything these went on instantly looked beautiful!
The sweets buffet looked amazing with treats galore all topped with these beautiful sprinkles. I used $1 wrapping paper rolls that matched the theme as the runners on the buffet, table, and ice cream station. The decorations all came from the $1 spot at Target and the local craft stores. I usually hunt around for small, affordable party decorations once I have decided on a theme, and then fill the house with treats and games.
I couldn’t find the perfect banner locally so I knew I needed to order from my favorite tassel banner shop Sorieelove to complete the treat buffet. I think it looks amazing here!
The party table was ready to go with a friendship bracelet kit to start the girls off, and the plain cookies ready for decorating.
The girls bracelets turned out so sweet! They each were able to choose a sweet sentiment charm and had thread to match the party theme.
After the bracelets came the cookie decorating!
Next the girls served themselves up from the ice cream bar, and chowed down on their ice cream, cookies, and cupcakes! Sugar OVERLOAD!
After the treats were devoured, the girls played pin the cherry on the ice cream. I cut out an ice cream cone from $1 poster board and used it as a stencil on craft paper. The cherries are made from cardstock paper cut with my silhouette machine.
After the fun, the girls all signed the giant ice cream that I had cut from the poster board for Emily to keep as a keepsake. Then they sang to Emily and she opened her gifts. The girls each went home with a goodie bag with treat themed pens and note pads, candy, a cupcake and the rest of their decorated cookies.
This party was as sweet as my Emily, and the girls enjoyed being treated!
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15 Comments
Courtney
Omg how cute is this party?!?! Just love the pastel colors. My favorite. I bet my daughter would love this party theme
David Elliott
You really did make it look amazing. I love the way the cookies have been decorated. They just look so colorful and fun, and I know my daughter would enjoy it.
Purva
Wow that’s so much fun for the kids! Really “sweet” idea 🙂
Neely Moldovan
Such a fun way to do a birthday party! I really need to do a more budget friendly party next year
Amy
These cookie cutters are so cute, I have to look into buying them. I love making my own sweets during a party.
Nahashon Kyalo
Those are awesome ideas you have there. I now can’t wait for my nephew’s birthday to come along.
Stephanie
This is so cute! We had ice cream parties a couple of times when I was growing up. I’d love to adjust this to a boy’s theme and do an ice cream social for my son’s Cub Scouts this summer!
Patricia Chamberlain
This theme is so cute! I love the icecream bar idea! I also think the pin the cherry on the ice cream cone game is super original!
Tiffany
I love this entire party theme! I wish I saw it before hosting a 6yr old girls bday party. But definitely saving these ideas for another one.
Margaret Smith
What great ideas! The pin the cherry looks like fun. I’ll have to send the link to my daughter for my grandaughters’ next party.
Billy
What awesome ideas! My daughter’s birthday is coming up and I am totally going to share this with my wife. She would love this! Thanks for sharing!
Kate D
Such a CUTE party idea!! Everything is super adorable!! LOVE it!!
Sabrina
Looks like such a fun party! Love the idea of having an activity and nothing’s better than getting to eat your sweet masterpiece!
Amy Locurto
I adore all of these party ideas! Decorating cookies is THE BEST party activity in my opinion. 🙂
Aimee Shugarman
LOVE this party idea. So adorable.