budget party for 4 year old dd / fairies

[Sassyfrassy]

My dd will be 4 end of january and we have almost no money at all. We're inviting her two best friends and their parents who are good friends of ours. Dd has asked for fairies and a yellow cake with fairies. I'd be really grateful for ideas on party decorations, party bags and similar that are cheap or homemade. I want to make it special for her. As it is she won't get the bicycle she really wants and I feel quite guilty.

How about getting the dc to make things on a fairy theme to take home instead of party bags?

You can get lots of very cheap crafty stuff from your local scrapstore, which should include various kinds of card/fabric/buttons etc. Or you could go to a cheapo art stuff shop such as The Works. The girls could make sparkly head bands, wands, glittery masks, etc. Some ideas for fairy costumes here. Some better than others!

Find some images such as these and photocopy / print on different pink and yellow paper to make strings of fairies to hang round the room.

Could you make a cake, ice it with yellow icing and draw on fairies with writing icing? Of course, you could have lots of different coloured fairy cakes!

Can you find a suitable dvd to show? Something like Cinderella?

You could get a plain sponge and put some small fairy dolls on top for decoration. Each of her friends could take one of the dolls home. Go to the market and buy some voile / net and get them to make their own fairy costume instead of playing games (you could pre-gather the skirt for them on elastic and they decorate with felt pens). You can make wings by bending a coat hanger and covering with tights. Stock up on stickers, ribbon, coloured paper and craft stuff and get them to make a fairy wand. You can get away without doing party bags then as they will take the outfit home, cake and a fairy doll. I find if you make up a story to go with it you can get away with them making anything, fr example decorating a picture frame to make a 'magic fairy wishing mirror' HTH.

I made fairy doors for Christmas (31 of them) but they were quite cheap about £2.50 each - you could get the doors & prep them then let the children decorate them

Sassyfrassy - whereabouts are you? I have a little girl's bike that my DD has grown out of. Good condition. I'm SE London.

You can do great fairy wings

You need 2 bobbles/scrumchies one of those comb things (like a paper clip) and a rectangle of material/gauze less wide that the heith of the child - but longer than their outstreched arms by about a foot

You tie a bobble each to the top corners of the long side - then gather it up in the middle with the comb/clip thing and attach it to the back of their tshirt - it looks like butterfly wings

Make wings from gardeing wire and cheap net curtains (charity shop?) then get silver glitter glue pans sequins and pink fabric paints and let them loose on them. They could take them home and hang them on their walls.

Jelly and icecream is essential.

Why not ask for a bicycle on Freecycle?

Thanks for the good ideas everyone,

Kbear, I'm in Northamptonshire, so a fair bit off. Racingsnake, I would, but dh has an aversion to freecycle, not sure why.

I really like the idea of making fairy things, dd really enjoys all kind of crafty things so we'll do lots of sparkly things.