8 Crafty Ways to Make Store Bought Party Supplies Special

December 5, 2017

I love hosting get-togethers! Sometimes they are elaborate, over-the-top parties and sometimes they are simple backyard barbecues.

My favorite party to plan is one for my boys. Crafting a birthday party with a theme that’s unique to each of their personalities is especially fun and usually calls for a DIY project.

Try some of these tips for your next birthday bash to step up store bought party supplies and make your kids’ day extra special.

8 Ways to Step-Up Store Bought Party Supplies

Googly Eye Party Cups

As a mother and a blogger I’m forever trying to come up with kid’s birthday party decor that’s easy to pull off and inexpensive. Basically, I just attached googly eyes to anything and everything you might use on a party buffet and the results were darling!

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Photo: Rachel Hollis/The Chic Site
DIY Straw Easel

This easy craft can be used to hold a seating card, a menu, or even potluck signage and it makes a whimsical addition to any table.

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Photo: Rachel Hollis/The Chic Site
Star Cake Toppers

This cake topper is so simple! I just put a star sticker on the top of a wooden skewer and then attached another one to the back. The result is so pretty and it turns a simple cake into something magical!

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Photo: Rachel Hollis/The Chic Site
Balloon Mason Jars

There’s no hiding it, I’m a sucker for mason jars and will find any way possible to incorporate them into a party. This time around I used balloons to add a pop of color. Try it yourself!

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Photo: Rachel Hollis/The Chic Site
DIY Glitter Cups

Glitter is not just reserved for New Year’s Eve with this DIY. Try it at your next princess themed party and watch, as you become Mom of the Year!

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Photo: Rachel Hollis/The Chic Site
Bug Party Bags

Hosting a summer party for bug loving kids? You just need a few props and a pair of scissors and you’re ready to entertain with a creepy crawly theme!

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Photo: Rachel Hollis/The Chic Site
Paper Plate Table Runner

I like to think I can make just about anything stylish or fancy. Case and point… A paper table runner made out of paper plates. Don’t believe me? Check it out!

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Photo: Rachel Hollis/The Chic Site
Fringed Streamers

Reinvent the look of your summer party and turn those ordinary streamers into something extraordinary in just a few easy steps.

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Photo: Rachel Hollis/The Chic Site

Rachel Hollis is the founder of the popular lifestyle blog www.thechicsite.com and Los Angeles-based event-planning firm, Chic Events. At 27, she was named by Inc. Magazine as one of the “Top 30 Entrepreneurs under 30.” She has designed and produced fabulous parties for many of Hollywood’s elite, including Bradley Cooper, Rashida Jones, Al Gore, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ivanka Trump, Jamie King, and Cuba Gooding Jr. (just to name a few). In February of 2014 she published her first book, a roman a clef called Party Girl about the years she spent as a celebrity event planner. The self-published title proved so successful that Lake Union Publishing purchased it and the subsequent sequel. Lake Union re-released Party Girl in December of 2014 and will publish the sequel, Sweet Girl in May 2015. In Fall of 2016, Thomas Dunne Books will be publishing Hollis’s cookbook entitled Fancy Trash, an irreverent collection of recipes for affordable meals presented so polished you'd never know their "lowbrow" origins. Most recently, she was named as the Best Blogger for Entertaining by Better Homes and Gardens.
In addition, Rachel is a lifestyle expert for The Talk, EXTRA, The Nate Berkus Show, The Steve Harvey Show, KTLA Morning News, Fox 5, Better TV and a regular contributor on PopSugar TV and Celebrations.com. She has been featured in People, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Parade, OK! Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Better Homes and Gardens, Traditional Home, Entrepreneur, Grace Ormand and the TV shows “Jilted” and “I Do Over” for the WE Network, “The Traveler’s Guide to Life” on the Travel Channel and “Self Made.”
Rachel lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three boys.