You’d be amazed how easy it is to be a great host or hostess within a small, predetermined budget. You just need to master the following techniques that can help achieve big results with a small amountof money:

Tip #1: Don’t pay for party decorations

There are many decorations that can be created at home with just free vintage clipart images and free digital scrapbooking papers you can find online. The clip art can be printed on card stock; cut out with scissors, a craft knife or a paper cutter and used in various locations, including being used as napkin holders or menu cards. And the scrapbook papers can be used as backdrops for napkin holders and place cards. They can also be used to wrap small party favors. This can be particularly nice-looking if you find matching scrapbook papers and clip art. If you want a little fancier appearance, try applying touches of glitter glue to make the decorations stand out.

Tip #2: Serve impressive food that doesn’t cost a lot

When doing your party planning, look for party recipes that aren’t expensive to make and also provide that “wow” factor. An example of this would be spinach and artichoke dip in a sourdough bread bowl, or bacon-wrapped water chestnuts coated with a sauce made of mayonnaise, brown sugar and pre-made chili sauce before baking.

Tip #3: Provide lots of great music

Music relaxes people and is a ideal party mood-setter. CDs will work, of course, but live music is even better. But you don’t have to have The New York Light Opera Company perform to have the entertainment be special. If you don’t know a musician or band willing to work either for a small amount of cash or for free just to get the experience, inquire at a local university’s music department. There may be student musicians who will work for free or just a small fee.

Tip 4: Don’t pay for party invitations

There are a huge number of printable invitations you can download on the Web. Simply find the look, size and message you like, paste it into a Word document or some other type of word processor and print. If you choose the artwork well, the end results should exceed your expectations.

There are probably other ways you can think of to stretch your entertaining dollars. Just remember to keep your guests’ ultimate experience in the forefront of your mind and don’t let “inexpensive” devolve into “cheap”. If you stay focused on being classy, no one will know that the party was also a bargain. And before you know it, everyone you know will be asking for your help with their parties!

Tags: clip art, clipart, free clip art, free party invitations, free scrapbook paper, free scrapbook supplies, party invitations, vintage clip art

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Women's Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.