I am hosting my son's seventh birthday party in our backyard next month. I want it to look festive and fun, but buying pre-made themed decorations from the big party supply stores is shockingly expensive. Does anyone have good DIY ideas or cheap supply recommendations for outdoor celebrations?

Balloon garlands are incredibly cheap and make a huge visual impact outdoors. You can buy a basic plastic balloon tape online for under five dollars, and then just fill it with standard dollar-store balloons. It completely transforms a boring fence or patio area on a tiny budget.

For my daughter's outdoor garden party last summer, we saved a ton of money by repurposing household items into decorations. I hollowed out watermelon rinds to use as decorative bowls for the snack table, which looked surprisingly high-end. I also wanted to order some custom printed napkins, but the checkout system on the printing site kept rejecting my promo code. I ended up having to find a Mosaic phone number to see if anyone else had experienced issues with their online discount codes. I eventually just bought plain color-coordinated paper napkins from the dollar store instead, which honestly looked as good once everything was set up.