Our eldest offspring decreed that her birthday party theme be none other than all things STARS, and I quickly found that google loved to show me all things star WARS or ROCK star, but scarcely a simple STAR PARTY could be found.  And by that, I mean, free, cheap ideas or printables!  :)

I did come up with some cute DIY Star Poster Board Hanging Art that added a nice WOW factor, but one big staple of the Party Planning Process is deciding on FAVORS!

This always seems to be a great dilemma for me as I don’t want to pass out bags of useless junk that will soon be relegated to the deepest, darkest corner of everyone’s toy boxes.  HOWEVER, with all the other party expenses, I equally do NOT want to dish out a fortune on them either.

Am I the only one that’s amazed at how far the Party Favor concept has come since we were kids??  I don’t remember even getting a favor at every party, but these days, kids {mine included} show up to the party asking what they’re going to get!  And what’s even worse is my kids think that as the birthday boy or girl they should get birthday gifts PLUS one of the party favors!   {If we don’t have enough they have to deal with not getting one, fyi, because I am THAT mom.}  :)

My Big idea this year was inspired by Pinterestof course!   I saw a cute pixie stick with a cut out shape attached and thought it would work nice for a star themed favor. I ended up going with a fun twisty straw instead of pixie stick though, which I’m sure the moms in attendance were all grateful for.  :)

I cut out the star toppers with my cricut, but you could also use a stencil and trace and cut.

You’ll need twice as many stars as you have straws so we can cover the fronts and backs for a super rad “finished” look.

I started by taping a star to one side of the straw with plain old scotch tape.

Then I used a glue stick to attach the second star to make the finished back side.  I put glue on both the stars for extra hold, and it seemed to work better to press down on the edges first and then the center.  That way the giant straw bump in the middle won’t cause your edges not to lay right or not meet.

To give my Starry Straws some extra pizzazz, I added some fun green and blue polka dot ribbon from my stash and also tied on a pack of smarties with some twine.  {I added  a small piece of tape to give it some extra hold too.}

I love how they turned out like a cool magic wand and made for such a fun and cheap favor!

The kids were impressed so that means success in my book!!

For more Easy, Cheap, DIY Party Inspiration, check out my Holiday Board on Pinterest!

Are you with me on favors getting out of control??  What’s your favorite “Go-To” easy and cheap party favor to appease the munchkin masses?

*Sometimes I link up at these parties… Weekend Bloggy Link up, House of Hepworths, the 36th Avenue, Home Stories A-Z, Five Days Five Ways, How to Nest for Less, Positively Splendid, and Six Sisters Stuff. You should check ‘em out!!