Teenage Birthday Party

My daughter is turning 12 soon. I guess that isn't technically a teenager yet but man does it seem so old! I guess I am getting old. We haven't done a big birthday this year so we are doing something a bit more. While the activity is a bit of money (an escape room) I am trying to save money in other places. I am ALWAYS looking for ways to save money. I love my kids and love to do fun things for them but I also am very conscience of how I spend money. So I am going to walk you through what we are doing. 

My daughter really wanted to do an escape room. I found the place locally. They have birthday parties there for 10 or so people. Since my car isn't that big and we would have to be in smaller groups anyways we decided to do just a few friends. This made it less expensive and she doesn't need a party room and ice cream and pizza there on a cheap plastic tablecloth. She wants to be with her friends. After we do the escape room I brought up the idea of going to a local ice cream place and getting a treat. This makes it all so simple for me and not too expensive either. 

Since we ended up saving money in a few places I decided it would be fun to do some little gift bags. I found some fun things on Amazon that some pre-teen girls would love. First, I got these claw clips on a great deal a few days ago. I have the larger version and I use them at least once a week. Then, of course we have to put candy in the bags, especially chocolate. My daughter has quite the sweet tooth so this is as much for her as the other girls. Another item we are going to do are some Taylor Swift stickers. We got a huge pack a few months ago when it was on a random cheap deal. There are a ton of options on Amazon. My daughter has taken them to camp, gave to friends at school, and put on notebooks and waterbottles. It has been fun since the Taylor Swift fever has hit our house really hard this year. The last item that we have thought of so far is a custom friendship bracelet for each of her friends. She made them a few days ago and they are so cute! I got her a kit a while ago and we have all been having a blast. She even made my husband a 49ers one! 

I still can't believe my oldest is turning 12! Life gets busy and while I don't want to be so stressed out about planning and money and everything I still want her to feel special. I am all about trying to make them feel loved. We love to do a cake that they like (mint chocolate chip was requested this year) and a few fun presents and simple decorations. Some people love the big birthdays and that is great. I love to do something fun but also realizing that I have 4 kids and not endless time or money so we figure it out. I did get her a fun present for her birthday too but that will have to be a secret for now. 

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