Planning a DIY party can and should be lot of fun. Remember, the party will only last for a couple of hours at most, but the planning will take weeks, so get the kids involved, flex those creative muscles, and above all, enjoy the process! You can shop at Party City and Oriental Trading for some of the simplest decoration ideas, or you can use the craft stores like Michael's and Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts for some great DIY decor. Once you've picked your theme, google it and you'll find a ton of great ideas with step by step instructions for games, activities, crafts and decorations. 

Pros: A DIY party can create a very unique experience tailor-made for your child. You can have it at your home so you don't need to stress about the time. Closer family and friends can linger and enjoy the party long after. Your kids can be involved in the process, picking and choosing decorations shopping for favors and adding their own creative twists. 

Cons: A DIY party does involve a lot of time and careful planning. Kid's will need an open area to play, so you may need to re-locate some of your large pieces of furniture. Having it at your home will involve messes and spills to clean up afterward. 

Invitations
Send out invitations early, at least three weeks in advance and include an RSVP-by date, leaving plenty of time to buy enough supplies. Indicate on the invitation if you would like the adults to stay or not. It may be helpful to have adults around to help with the activities, but too many may be difficult if you have a small space. We made the invitations ourselves and printed them at home using Google images. We used clever phrases such as "You're invited for a Jawsome Experience," and "Be there or be shark bait," for our shark theme, and "The ship departs promptly at 1PM," and "Scallywags will be forced to walk the plank," for our pirate theme. To save money we had the invites printed in black-and-white then added ocean- and pirate-themed stickers for added color. 

Timing
When it comes to DIY parties, timing really is critical. It's important to plan carefully here, especially if you have a lot of young children invited to the party as they can get restless easily. While most people do arrive punctually for a children's party, there will inevitably be some lag time between the first arrival and the last. I like to have a craft or other DIY activity for the kids to do upon arrival. I also like if the craft is something the kids can wear or use for the party. For our shark-themed party, the kids decorated a visor with ocean creatures and green streamers for seaweed. Once everyone arrived, we gathered together for some games and activities, then we served the food. After eating, my husband led the kids downstairs to open the piñata while I got the cake ready. Lastly, we opened the treasure chest, handed out the goody bags and bid everyone farewell.    

Here's a breakdown of what my plan looked like:

12:00–12:20: Guests arrive and participate in DIY craft and/or get their face painted
12:20–12:40: Kids rotate between four game centers
12:45: Serve pizza and snacks
1:00: Piñata
1:15: Cake and goody bags!

Budgeting
While you might take it for granted that a DIY party would be cheaper than having it at a venue, you may be surprised, as I certainly was, at how quickly things can add up if you're not careful. Once you choose a theme, you will be finding theme-related stuff everywhere and may be tempted to buy it all—at least I was. Begin by calculating the amount you want to spend and keep careful track. Save your receipts and make sure you can return any unused items from no-shows. Before buying anything, plan the party carefully. Think of what you will need for a craft, activity, game and goody bags. Once you've got it planned out you will be less tempted to impulse buy yet another goody bag or piñata item. 

Planning As any good teacher will tell you, it's always best to over plan. If you don't get to a particular craft, game, or activity, no problem—no one will be any the wiser. But if you realize at the last minute your game idea is not a hit at all, it's nice to be able to move on to something else in a hurry.  

Enlist the Help of Family and Friends
When my daughter suggested she wanted a pirate-themed party, I immediately looked into hiring a pirate entertainer. Then it dawned on me that a stranger showing up at our house in costume and character might be a bit intimidating for her and some of the guests. Since my family is filled with unusual characters anyway, I thought it might be fun if they arrived dressed in costume! Sure enough they were all a big hit. I then thanked them all with dinner afterward at a private party with the birthday girl.  

Prepare for the Unexpected! While it is literally impossible to plan for every possible mishap, you can be certain that with even the best planned parties something completed unexpected will occur. So planning for the mishap becomes a matter of attitude. I wish I could say I had this part down, but when my oven decided to break just as I was heating up the pizzas at my son's party, I was on the verge of a meltdown myself. Thankfully, the adult guests at the party promptly reminded me that the party was for kids! We served goldfish and fruit salad, and of course, cake, no one left hungry or disappointed.  

Involve Your Kids
Kids love to be involved in the process of planning and decorating the party. The more you can involve them the more invested they'll be in the party. What's more, you may find your kids are full of surprises and great ideas. Creativity is like a muscle, it need to be used in order to grow. The more we invite our kids to be involved in the process, particularly when they have an invested interest in the outcome, the better they will become at creative problem-solving. 

HIde the Breakables and Treasured Toys
While your house is most probably kid-proofed, keep in mind, when you have a large number of kids there for a party, you will need to step that up a notch. You'll also want to clear out a large space for the kids to play. The easy way I found to get ready for the party is to take a large box and fill it with anything that won't be used for the party and pack it away in the garage or basement. I usually have the kids close off their bedrooms, but if they have any treasured toys in the living room that they don't want other kids to be playing with, it's best to have them store them away. 

Decorations
You can find plenty of theme-related items to buy from Party City and Oriental Trading as well as Amazon.com, but you can also make some great decorations yourself by printing pictures from the internet. If you don't have a color printer, most libraries will allow you to print color pages for a nominal feel. We lined our walkway with theme-related signs, in order to build up the enthusiasm as the guests arrived. You can also find theme-related wrapping paper online to hang on the wall. We found paper with an ocean-scene at Michael's.

Games
Kids love playing the classic games: Duck Duck Goose, Tag, and Pin the Tail on the Donkey can be easily adapted to fit with any theme. For example, we played Captain Captain Scalywag for our pirate party and Shark, Shark, Minnow for our Shark Theme. We also played Pin the Fin on the Shark and Hook the Hook on the Pirate! 

Crafts:
Oriental Trading has a great selection of all-inclusive crafts for kids. You simply purchase the packet, lay them out on the table and everything needed to assemble the craft is included. Michaels or other craft stores can supply visors and crowns as well as theme-related stickers for those more adventurous. I like if the craft is something the kids can wear or use for the party. For example, for our shark-themed party, the kids decorating a visor with ocean creatures and green streamers for seaweed.

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