Wade has been obsessively yearning to be four, for what seems like ages.  He has entertained us all by answering the question of “How old are you?” with a somber and woeful… “STILL three!”

He was SO very impatient to finally reach this illustrious milestone. 

Our theme this year for his big par-tay, was the SPEND NO MOOLAH theme!  You ever had a party like that??  :)

Other years we have splurged… last year was Chuck E, and the year before Monkey Joe’s. 

Every year, it’s the pay off choice.

Which is more important?  Time and effort or moolah?

This year moolah won out and so began the exorbitant time and effort. 

Thankfully, for this party I had Pinterest as my guide giving me FABULOUS ideas that were so on the cheap!

While I didn’t achieve my spend NO moolah goal, I came pretty darn close.

Because of limited space, partying at our house wasn’t an option, so that meant two separate family parties.  One at my parents and one at hubby’s parents… plus a small one at our house with just our little fam on his actual birthday. 

My biggest tip from my Spend Zero attempt is this… balloons, balloons, and more BALLOONS! 

Balloons are so CHEAP, but they make such a BIG impression.  They give a huge wow factor, and they are always a hit with the kiddos.   

It usually backfires quickly into fights over balloon possession, of course, but, hey… at least that initial wow factor was impressive, right?

Since Wade was so obsessed with turning FOUR, I thought he would love this #4 Balloon Decoration inspired by this pin from good old Martha.   

I love how it turned out!!  The original pin idea was balloons attached to the wall, but I thought foam board would be a good idea too so I could transport it to our other parties.  I just made little circles of tape and stuck ‘em all on there. 

I also made the “Wade is” in Word, and just cut it out around the edge of the letters.

I also found more balloon Pinspiration and decided to do a fun Balloon Curtain for Wade to wake up to and walk through.  {Inspired here from Babble.}

It was SO EASY and was such a fun addition to his special celebration at home.   

 

Davis really was a fan, believe it or not, though he looks as if he’s wondering where his breakfast is, hello!!

I also decided to try to make a Handmade Pennant Banner!  {Inspired here from Anders Ruff.}   I probably should’ve done two separate banners for the two words, though, because it turned out HUMONGOUS!

I didn’t have enough ink in my printer to print the whole massive thing, which was available as a FREE PRINTABLE, so I improvised with pretty scrapbook paper.  {Full tutorial coming soon!}

I also made another last minute banner… inspired by Southern Lovely’s, and decided to do a picture for each year of his life starting with his newborn pic.

It was a fun conversation piece to look back at how he had grown, and my sister was impressed that SHE had taken ALL of the pics!   Yes, she is awesome.

It’s definitely been a crazy four years with the Wadester!

He informed me that he wanted chocolate on chocolate cupcakes, and I derived even more pinspiration on how to better frost  and bake cupcakes. 

After I piped one, I was seriously in shock that I had actually managed to create something that didn’t look half bad. 

Why have I not been able to do this before?

It’s sad, but I was amazed.  It’s nothing compared to the wonders of frosted cupcake goodness I’ve seen elsewhere, but it was pretty phenomenal for little old me. 

I found some Pintastic Printable Cupcake Toppers and adapted them in Picnik so I could save paper and ink. I also added a great big number FOUR on one side too, since we were going BIG on the number FOUR! 

I followed Amanda’s great instructions for assembling the toppers, and it was a breeze.  I even took out the toothpicks after party #1 and put in fresh ones for party #2!

It wasn’t the Chuck, and it wasn’t the Monkey, but if the huge smiles were any indication, I think the big FOUR year old approved.

  

     

  

Aunt Kelly gave Wade the cutest Super Why Cape and Mask, complete with his name on the back and everything!  :)

  

He’s all about Supah Heroes these days so anything with a cape and a mask is a definite winner.  :)

Haylee found the perfect transformer mask to give Wade.  He loved it!  It better enables the showing off of his muscles, as you can clearly see.  :)

It’s hard to believe our Wild Wade is really, actually, finally FOUR! 

All in all, our Spend Zero theme was a hit!  It just goes to show you that kids at this age really don’t care all that much about the things that we moms tend to care about. 

A room full of balloons and chocolate cupcakes and lots of love and attention showered on them means a memorable fun filled day. 

And somehow the cheap theme was translated to… “I get THREE parties,” and Haylee has decided now SHE wants the same thing.   :)

Spring is officially in the air, and I am so stoked to announce something SO FUN coming up in JUST two weeks! 

A few bloggy friends and I are getting together to host a Progressive Dinner!  You ever been to one of those?  It’s basically a feast of gluttony type proportions.  Each course is served at another house, and you go from course to course stuffing yourself silly. 

Kristi will kick us off with an amazing beverage on Monday, and I’ll be doing a delish appetizer on Tuesday.   Christa is doing the heavy lifting sharing the scrumptious main dish on Wednesday.  Laine is covering the bread and a fabulous side on Thursday, and Christina is wrapping it all up with the most important course of all, DESSERT on Friday!  :)

Can’t wait to share in all the yummy goodness!  And I wouldn’t be surprised if one or five of them were all pinspired too!  :)

 

Isn’t Pinterest so very fun?!  I love using it as my new search engine.  Move over google.  You knew you were on thin ice. 

*Sometimes I link up at these parties… YHL, Hi Sugarplum, Weekend Bloggy Link up, Tatertots & Jello, House of Hepworths,Bowl Full of Lemons,Organize & Decorate Everything, Not Just a Housewife, Funky Junk Interiors, Somewhat Simple, Shabby Creek Cottage,No Minimalist Here, Skip to my Lou,Today’s Creative Blog, the 36th Avenue, Thrifty Décor Chick, Home Stories A-Z, Five Days Five Ways, How to Nest for Less, and Someday Crafts. You should check ‘em out!!