Do Less: How to Throw a ’90s-style Birthday Party With Less Stress

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

My head is spinning with all of the overcomplicated kids birthday parties invading my Instagram feed. Between the egregious cost and time and energy commitments in order to put on these picture-perfect shows, all of it just has me longing for simpler times, for how our parents put on birthday parties in the 1990s.

Back in the 1900s.

If you, too, are going numb with the overblown event throwing, read on. Join me on this quest for simpler times and cheaper memory making.

I wanted to celebrate my daughter’s third birthday with heaps of love and fun, but I just had a baby. Our bandwidth for party throwing shrinked significantly.

And, to be honest, I don’t think kids need a giant celebrity-level festival each year. I don’t want to build up certain expectations of grandeur in my kids. I don’t want them spoiled. I want them to consider the needs of others, and sometimes forsake what they want in order to give to someone with less.

This year, as I’ve shifted priorities, I’ve thought about how I was raised in the ’90s. No, it wasn’t perfect. But simplicity lead. Simplicity was best, was affordable, was memorable. Inspired by ’90s birthday parties, I was determined to do less in hopes of saving more and savoring more meaningful memories.

Here’s how we put together a reasonable toddler birthday party:

Less is More: Choosing a Practical Location for a Birthday Party

Think back to the location of the birthday parties of your youth– did they take place at parks or family homes? Maybe even McDonald’s?

While McDonald’s birthday parties don’t seem to be a thing anymore, plenty of fun parties can be hosted in your home or a nearby park.

It’s free or very low-cost to host a party in your home or a local park.

Even a small home will suffice, as long as you have areas for people to sit, eat, and chat. Remember: Keep things simple.

I love the warmth and ease of home birthday parties. I sense home parties being on the rise with greater numbers of parents reaching for simplicity.

Embracing a no-frills location is the first step to an authentic ’90s-style kids birthday party.

Say-No-More Easy Birthday Decor

We used one piece of decor for this party, and it was a rainbow unicorn castle backdrop from Amazon.

Honestly, the banner was so big (it covered the top half of one of our walls) that it transformed the house. I’m not even kidding. Yes, it’s a little overzealous on the pink girlishness. A bit garish, even. But the more I looked over at it, I couldn’t help but feel calmed by this A. affordable and B. super easy decoration that transformed the room.

I usually do some sort of balloon arch, and I didn’t feel the need to this year. This banner really did it all.

Follow the included Amazon link for the specific banner we used— made of thin fabric, not flimsy tablecloth plastic. There are others like it with higher ratings if you’re interested.

If you have a shoestring budget, I highly recommend getting one of these banners for your space. It pulls its weight and then some with its transformative powers.

A Do-Less Birthday Party Menu

I struggle with simplicity when it comes to party menus. With my love of cooking and baking, I just want to turn every event into a Martha Stewart-like production. And with my priority of health and homemade food, I feel pressured to make as much as possible homemade.

But I realized that this was the year I was going to let those sky-high ambitions go a bit.

You can still be a healthy, homemade household and order pizza for a birthday party.

And that’s just what we did.

I couldn’t resist making a homemade chocolate cake. I topped it with naturally dyed sprinkles (you can get naturally dyed sprinkles from Wal-Mart, Whole Foods and Amazon!) and some premade macarons from the frozen section at Publix (also naturally dyed!). The only other food I made was a Caesar salad with sourdough croutons from a local bakery.

The rest of the food we either bought, ordered or had family members bring. We had gracious grandparents offer to bring drinks. Other family members brought chips. And we ordered pizza from Dominos.

Before we knew it, we had a full party spread thanks to making a little, buying some, and having some items brought. It truly was doable and delicious, just the like the parties of my childhood.

Put Together A No-Stress Tablescape

The tablescape was, again, simple, thanks to a few key items.

We spread a unicorn tablecloth over our dining table (yes, the flimsy cheap kind– I cleaned it and plan to regift it or donate it to give it a second life).

Then, I picked some plumbago stems from our yard and plunked them into little ceramic yogurt pots I had cleaned and stored for this purpose.

To finish the off the complete look, we had the homemade cake standing grandly above the rest on a cake stand. If you like to host and don’t own at least one or two cake stands, I’d recommend collecting a few. Cake stands are a high-lift item. They elevate the cake, or honestly whatever food you want, and add an effortlessly beautiful look to any table spread. Our favorite cake stands can be found here (classic ceramic white) and here (rustic and beautiful wooden).

Do Less for Birthdays, and Make Wonderful Memories

I’m a recovering perfectionist.

But when it comes to parenthood, I’m realizing the tradeoffs more than ever. No one can possibly do it all, and do it perfectly.

The tradeoff of a simple birthday?

More time, energy and money to spend on what we prioritize. By foregoing the complicated party, we freed up more time for connection and were truly able to enjoy ourselves, our guests, and most of all, our birthday girl!

I highly recommend going the 1990s-inspired simple route.

Looking for more mom articles or DIY birthday party ideas? Read more on Chocolate for the Teach. Thanks for being here!