Celebrating holidays is even more fun now that I’m a mom. Everything is so exciting to my kiddo. His enthusiasm is why I love going over the top with parties and activities for Jackson and his cousin, Mia.
For our Valentine’s day party on a budget, I knew I needed to head to Target and the Dollar Tree! Bullseye’s Playground always has great stuff and the Dollar Tree never disappoints. I spent less than $25 on everything!
(Head to the end of the post for a budget breakdown.)

For our parties nowadays I spend the most on one main focal point (usually the dessert table). Gone are the days of decorating everywhere! The focal point of this party was the little dessert table.

Our small plastic kiddie table made the perfect place to set up the desserts and decorations. The cake stand is from Target. the hearts and balloons are all from the Dollar Tree. Walmart had inexpensive mini cupcakes on sale so we snagged a dozen! I was originally annoyed with the purple, but it added a nice color pop and actually matched with the Valentine’s Day inspired craft.


For a craft they each got a mini easel and canvas to paint ( from the Dollar Tree). In the spirit of transparency, they didn’t paint these on the tiny white table. Instead, we moved the party downstairs to the dining table where messes could easily be cleaned up!


Without a doubt, my favorite part of the party was asking Jack what he loved about his family members. One-by-one I asked about Nana, Daddy, PopPop, and everyone else! His answers were silly but genuine. I wrote them down on these cute postcards from Target and we hung them on twine.


If you don’t want to buy this set you can easily make your own out of blank index cards. Just draw a small heart in the corner with a red marker. Then add the “xoxo” and address lines with a thin black marker. The Dollar Tree has twine and mini clothes pins.

Budget breakdown:
- Cupcakes: $3 for 12
- Cake stand: $5
- Heart “placemats”: $1 for 5 (I think) various sizes.
- 2 pink heart balloons: $1 each. They also had red.
- “Love” balloon: $1 (Off topic but cool, The Dollar Tree has number balloons for birthday photos!)
- Canvas kits: $1 each
- Valentine twine kit: $5
- Sheet and table: We already owned!
- Flowers and vase: Reused from Mia’s birthday party. (Originally on sale at Hobby Lobby for $6. The Dollar Tree has flowers that will work just fine though!)
I hope you guys feel inspired to give your little ones the best Valentine’s Day party on a budget.
Don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram posts so I can see all the fun!
Happy Valentine’s Day!


This post contains affiliate links. Meaning, I may make a small commission off of some purchases at no extra cost to you. This post is not sponsored by Target, Walmart. or Dollar Tree.
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