Whether you’re planning a cocktail party for 10 or a romantic dinner for 2, this is an inexpensive way to celebrate the ones you love.
I went with an Asian theme after I spotted the wrapping paper I used to cover my take-out boxes with. I loved the colors and the flowers. It just seemed to inspire beauty & romance.
You can create this romantic setting too, using a lot of what you already have!
My coffee table was converted to a dinner table and our “chairs” were these beautiful pillows from Pottery Barn Teen that I ordered for our downstairs guest room.
The runner was made from two placemats and the pretty orchid was a Goodwill find for $2! Other pieces were taken from home decor I had around the house. And, believe it or not, I think all of them are from Goodwill! Macklemore would be proud.
I did end up DIYing a few pieces… like these ombre chopsticks!
I got a pack of chopsticks for a little over $1 from World Market but I wanted to fancy them up. I decided to try a pink ombre pattern.
I simply painted 1/3 of it with white paint, and then covered 2/3 of that with a light pink and the last 1/3 with a darker pink color.
A simple DIY tea light holder can be made from an old baby food jar lid. I just spray-painted it gold to add a little pizazz.
This was one of my favorite parts. Using some air-dry clay, I created my own gold fortune cookies that I used as a place card.
Let it dry overnight. Spray with primer then gold spray paint! Add a little piece of paper with a message or name on it!
For your menu, a really inexpensive and easy dish to make is Pad Thai or stir-fry. Customize to fit your tastes or let your guests add their favorite additions.
I tried to make these banana fried pastries but they didn’t look very pretty so I went with a simple cinnamon sugar dusted heart with ice cream and chocolate sauce. I had an extra piecrust in the freezer so I just used a cookie cutter to create the heart, then dusted it with cinnamon sugar and baked it for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Talk about an easy & stress-free dessert!
Now you can create your own Valentine’s Day dinner party… on a budget!
p.s. This is YOUR official invite to the party… join in on the Parties for Pennies Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram & Bloglovin!