Melissa Newell from My Party Passion and our budget party contributor, threw her son the Ultimate Nerf Party.  Not an easy theme to do, but Melissa found inspiration in unusual places. Read her whole story below:

I don’t know about you, but it’s easy breezy chicken peazey to find girl themes for birthdays, however, much more challenging to find a boy -- preteen no less -- theme.

Wait until you see this fantastic set of free mermaid birthday printables we're giving away for FREE! How perfect would these be for a little girl's birthday!

The collection includes: invitations, a birthday sign, a banner and mini banner, cupcake toppers, water bottle labels, mini candy bar wrappers, gift tags, treat toppers, and tented cards, and gift bag tags.

I know, French macarons. We've all heard the horror stories of how hard they are to make. But they are also absolutely gorgeous, look great on a dessert table, and where I come from, cost about $3.50 per macaron. So maybe I need to rethink my fear of trying. :)

To help me, I asked macaron expert and professional baker, Chris Roberson of Frostine Bakery. She makes hundreds of macarons, so if anyone knows how to do it, she does. She's shared not only her recipe but her trade secrets. Thank you, Chris, our lips are sealed (except for the fact that I'm posting it)!

Here's a quick and easy DIY I found on Studio DIY to make a vertical rainbow garland.

Yep, it was a big day in our household. Lainey headed off to kindergarten, and you can see by her face she was VERY excited!

I used our free first day of school printable signs for this picture (we've got every grade through high school).

Jen at Evanssays, be sweet created this adorable school bus cake pop tutorial as a great back to school treat. What kids wouldn't want to sink their into this as they come off the bus that first day?

My plan for this project was to create 2 lamp shades of different shapes, to hang them from the ceiling in my new office.

Supplies: