The economy may be less than robust right now but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate birthdays with style. If you need to create a birthday party for someone you love, these tips will help keep costs down, while still allowing you to create a party no one will forget:

Be Creative with the Birthday Party Theme

Why not try an unusual theme that would also be affordable for both your party guests and you? If you’re giving a children’s party, the guests can bring low-cost items that would be appropriate for a  homeless shelter that serves families or a regional pet rescue organization. If you call the organization’s manager, you can get a list of low-cost items you can recommend to your guests. Instruct them to wrap the items as if they were regular birthday gifts and then the entire party can meet at the organization to deliver them. Doing this would be a meaningful experience for everyone and would also give children first-hand experience with how good it feels to give to others.

If the event is for an adult, save money by throwing a re-gifting/recycling party. Most people can locate at least one gift they’ve received that they don’t want, so let them wrap them up and give them again! Make sure to let them know who is coming to the party though, so people don’t re-gift items they received from other party guests! If you don’t want to risk hurt feelings, this idea also works well for items that people have bought new on impulse but never used. The recycled items should be limited to a dollar amount that’s appropriate for the group, so people at all income levels can participate.

Make Your Own Birthday Party Decorations and Invitations

The Web is full of a nice selection of free birthday invitations for both adults and kids. So why spend money on store-bought invitations when printing them at home is so easy and inexpensive? There are also a lot of birthday clip art options online, many of which would make perfect party decorations. If you can find large enough art, you can make your own banners and signs for the party. If you can’t find the right kind of clip art, you have the option of decorating flower arrangements or plants with clip art cut-outs or making table place cards. If the guest of honor likes vintage art, you can print an assortment of vintage birthday greeting cards and tie them with fancy ribbons to a string that forms a garland. This will create a distinctive old-time feel and make the room look great! To enhance the shabby chic, vintage theme, get intentionally mismatched plates, glasses and silverware at a thrift store to use in place of plastic and paper partyware.

The key to creating a memorable birthday party is to be creative. If you implement even the most low-cost ideas with style, no one will ever know the party was actually a bargain!