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Sometimes I swear some of my finest decorating or crafty moments come when I divert from the Pinterest-y idea that I was originally planning to re-create. Last weekend we threw a pretty awesome, pretty last minute beach-themed birthday party for the kids. Our usual early fall joint birthday party was moved up to August so that Lily could have the pool party she was hoping for and because our September is already completely booked. So with only a couple of weeks to pull off a party (seriously? I usually plan for MONTHS for a party!!) we ended up with some really cute elements that I will show you in a series of posts.
Today’s post – some really easy, insanely frugal beach-inspired centerpieces!
I originally planned to go my typical flowers-in-mason-jars route for table centerpieces. However I wanted to both cut down some party cost AND find a way to avoid some of those pesky summer flies that are always hanging around.
Here’s what you’ll need to recreate these centerpieces:
- mason jars (quart sized)
- citronella tea light candles
- wooden skewers
- twine
- paper clips
- Goldfish snacks
- Sand
- Tiny pails or buckets (we used little metal pails bought at Dollar Tree – 3 for $1 in the wedding favor section)
I’m sure you can tell just by looking at the pictures exactly how to put this one together.
- Fill the mason jar with sand about halfway to the top.
- Fill the little pail halfway with sand and stick the tea light on top. Fill in the space around the candle with sand so that the candle sits flush with the top of the pail.
- Push the pail into the sand in the mason jar so that it sits at an angle.
- Tie one end of twine to the wooden skewer.
- Tie other end of twine to paper clip, bent to look like a hook.
- Carefully stick paper clip end through goldfish.
- Stick the skewer into the mason jar sand. Make sure skewer is a good distance AWAY from the candle wick.
- Light candle and enjoy!
Some other posts you might enjoy…
Fire Truck Birthday Party Ideas
Fancy Party Glasses for the Kids – Perfect for NYE Toasting!
