The Look for Less “Budget Chic” Challenge! {Back to School theme}

Hey party peeps!
So excited to announce that my Look For Less “Budget Chic” post for Hostess With the Mostess is a CHALLENGE! I thought it would fun, exciting and inspiring to challenge my friend and party colleague, Michelle Burt, owner of Maddycakes Muse (a DIY crafting blog) to a challenge! I have nicknamed Michelle the “DIY Chic!” and know that she will come up with some very crafty ideas!

The challenge concept is: 1 WEEK • 1 THEME • 1 BUDGET • 1 STORE

Both Michelle and I will have 1 week to pull together a “Budget Chic” “BACK TO SCHOOL” themed party with $100 budget and shopping exclusively in one store. Michelle chose to shop in Dollar Tree and I chose to shop in Target. Both Michelle and I can interpret the BACK TO SCHOOL theme any way we want.

I first went to Target with one theme in mind…purchased all the items…got them all home and then…GASP!!!! There was an item I had purchased that INSPIRED me to completely CHANGE DIRECTIONS! I often start an entire party’s design plan based off of one inspiration piece.

Day 1: INSPIRATION PICS REVEALED!
Michelle revealed her inspiration: (or “MUSE” as she calls it) Space themed wall decal
I revealed mine: a composition book with a bunch of doodle drawings all over it
Can you tell what my party theme will be from my inspiration pic? I wonder what Michelle’s theme will be? Science?

Day 2: SHOPPING & in my case…RETURNING!
Before I hit the store…AGAIN…. I had to draft new design plan based on the NEW inspiration! Once I figured out what I wanted to do, it was time to hit Target, return everything for the original theme and pull together the items I will need to pull off the new theme.

Day 3: CRAFTING VS. DESIGNING
I now have all my items and now to do what I do best! And…NO…it’s NOT crafting! A graphic designer for years, I know that my niche is in custom designing printables that match any party theme. So, I sat down at my Mac and began to design while Michelle, the DIY CHIC is busy crafting. I think I just don’t have the patience for crafting. If it requires more than 3 tools and 3 steps…I can’t do it. LOVE and respect those who can craft such FABULOUS things! Part of the reason I LOVE Michelle! I think my key is REPURPOSING & EMBELLISHING items and creatively SHOPPING! I wills spraypaint and embellish something in a minute!

Day 4: CRAFTING VS. DESIGNING
Let’s be real for a second…when you are a wife, mom, entrepreneur…you will need SEVERAL days to get all your designing and crafting done. I knew I wanted to my printables design to match my theme perfectly, so I set out to design my own printables. Day 4: All printables designs are done and sent to printer!

Day 5: ASSEMBLY FOR ME!
Today, I will be picking up printables and beginning assembly. This is the day I feel crafty! With glue gun in hand I begin my 3 STEP/3 TOOL PROCESS:

3 STEP ASSEMBLY: PRINT – CUT – ASSEMBLE
3 TOOLS: TRIMMER – PUNCH – GLUE GUN

That’s it! {remember I just admitted to having a SHORT attention span!}

The post is due tomorrow so Michelle and I will no doubt be doing all the last minute touches tonight and tomorrow on our party spaces and getting ready to shoot it.

I can’t wait to see Michelle’s final party! You can see BOTH of our parties debuted in my Hostess With The Mostess “Look for Less” Budget Chic post in a few weeks! THANKS Michelle for taking the challenge!