Those party odds and ends can overrun a grocery budget before you even know it: cute napkins, cream for coffee, juice boxes for child guests, etc. For anyone who’s making a conscious effort to make every dollar meaningful, the little things do add up.

Maybe you take the money you didn’t spend on sprinkles and cupcake papers and put it toward a food basket for a family in need. Maybe, in this economy, that family is your own. Either way, it’s nice to brainstorm ways we can enjoy each other’s company without all the fuss of a holiday blow-out.

(BTW: Amy of Momadvice taught me to color our own decorating sugar by adding a few drops of food color, stirring, and drying. Works great, and you get every shade for pennies! My kids think that coloring the sugar is actually more fun than decorating the cupcake itself.)