Just because you're on a budget, doesn't mean you have to skimp on creating great party decor. Get creative, DIY, utilize things you already have around your house, borrow items, or thrift them in order to help you realize your vision. Here are some tips and ideas to get the most out of your party.
1. Photobooth
Anything can go as far as a photo booth and backdrop are concerned and they are great attention grabbers for any event because they are large and everyone usually wants in on the action. You can simply hang up or tape up a light weight sheet or blanket with a cool design, use plastic or cloth table covers to create a design, get creative with patterns and colors with paper streamers, or create one out of any type of paper. A two pack of streamers at the dollar store, a dollar, table covers a dollar each, and household items, are free.
As far as the camera goes, you can borrow one from a friend, or just opt for your guests to take photos of each other with their own phones. For props, again, the dollar store sells paper props for a dollar, and/or you can look around your house for hats, glasses, frames, other creative items, and you can make signs using dowels you can find for cheap under 2 dollars at any craft store or make some out of paper or chalkboard paint. I once made 40 props using just craft foam, hot glue, free templates found online, tape, and kebab skewers.
2. Tables and Chairs
Rentals can add up, but if the weather is nice, artfully arrange some blankets and pillows for outdoor picnic style seating. You can create low tables out of pallets which you can find discarded by many stores and companies or online from people offering to give them away for free. You can paint them, or leave them bare and just cover them up with table cloths. You can also requests party guests bring their own blankets/pillows for your casual event. For more formal parties, borrow tables and chairs.
3. Flowers/Centerpieces
No need to buy expensive flowers that will rot and die soon anyway, but if you insist, if you have time before your event, like a few weeks or even months, instead of recycle your glasses and bottles, save all the glass, clean and wash them, paint them if you want, and use them as vessels for your flowers or you can pull out your cheap kitchen glass set and use the glasses for your centerpieces. Buy one bouquet and separate the flowers out and put one or two in each glass and spread them around. You can also save by buying up filler flowers and greenery which cost a lot less.
If flowers are not your thing, you can easily create centerpieces in fun and creative ways out of just about anything. For any birthday party, simply wrap up some boxes you already have lying around the house or get some cheap craft bags, and fill them with colorful tissue paper and use them as your centerpieces. Fill empty vases with tinsel, candy, or fruit. Stack up old books you can thrift, and top them with photos of the guests of honor which you can print online for free or just use pre-existing framed photos from around your house.
4. Balloons
FORGET about helium. Instead, buy balloons (20 pack/$1 at the dollar store) that can be inflated with air alone. Regular balloons can be blown up, and tied upside down to the ceiling, or they can be blown up and just randomly pooling around the floor in less high foot traffic areas, or you can tie them onto something like an arch or chairs or a centerpiece rather than using helium. They also now sell those giant number balloons and happy birthday signs, and all sorts of signs and symbols in air only versions for a few bucks. You can blow these up and string them up or attach them to something and you get the same exact effect.
5. Big Impact Pieces
Go for something eye catching that will be the focal point of your party using cheap DIY's and easy on the budget supplies. Create things like crepe paper chandeliers (embroidery hoops/hula hoops with crepe paper attached with tape) and dramatic ceiling treatments with table covers which you can arrange according to your color scheme. Make easy DIY floral backdrops for door ways or photobooths just out of paper and glue.
6. Utilize another man's trash, and make it your treasure
Take full advantage of the online world. After a wedding or a big event, a lot of people have no use for many of the items they used to host it, so they will either give it away (look for local freebie in the paper or online near your location) or they will sell it for cheaper than you can find it elsewhere like on https://wedding-recycle.com/ or ebay. If you know a friend or family member is throwing a party for their kid, see if you can possibly recycle some of their supplies and decor. You can even place an add in the paper or on craigslist asking for certain supplies (*It never hurts to ask, you may get what you need). Also, speaking of free, ditch the paper invites and just go paperless by creating one stunning invite or paying for a sample invite, and then posting that to your website or linking it to your friends and family.
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And strip light. They're cheap too.
You can also pick this stuff up for dirt cheap after Christmas or Halloween when the sales have them at 75% off or more.
Great advice and cool looking pictures.
I like balloons.