I love using these boxes for birthday gifts because you can easily fill them in one stop. Stop at Target and fill with your favorites from their sample section, go to your favorite local bakery and pick up your favorite treat, or raid your fridge and put together a charcuterie box.
The possibilities are literally endless but I have listed out some ideas below if you need help getting started:
STEP 1: Raid Your Pantry
The best way to save money is to make the most of what you already have. Bachelorette watch parties obviously call for charcuterie. The good news is you can use a random mix of things you already have. Check your pantry for crackers, nuts, candies, cookies or anything else that you think can work.
Pro-tip: I'm not a big snacker so anytime anyone is giving away snacks that I think can be used on a board I'll take it home instead! This can slowly add up and can help add variety to your boards for free!
For mine I found almonds, walnuts, a variety pack of crackers (that have lasted me my last 3 charcuterie boards), cookies from a gift basket someone was giving away
STEP 2: Raid Your Fridge
Next step, raid your fridge. Check for any cheese, fruit and meat you already have. Luckily these items tend to have a pretty long shelf-life if stored properly. For example, I had jalapeño and cheddar cheese slices left over from our 4th of July party. I also had brie cheese left over that had a star indention in it. For parties like this you don't need anything fancy or a million different cheeses - just be creative with your display! I cut the cheese I already had into a variety of different shapes to make it feel different. Then I flipped over the Brie cheese and used a heart cookie cutter I got on clearance from Hobby Lobby for our Valentine's party.
STEP 3: Raid Your Party Supply Closet
Now it's time to see what party supplies you already have. I cannot stress the importance enough of keeping everything. If you're balling on a budget, having leftover decor that's easy accessible can save you so much time and money. Since this was a Bachelorette watch party I knew that I wanted it to be girly and pink. Luckily this was a perfect excuse to re-use the decor from our Valentines party back in February. I also had left over red items from our 4th of July party so between the two I didn't need much. I took out everything I thought I could even possibly make work. If it was red, pink, or white, I added it to my pile.
Put It All Together
Now that you've raided your pantry, fridge and party supply closet it's time to put it all together. This step is SO important. In order to save money you need to force yourself to use the full extent of what you have. Lay everything out in one spot and just start playing around - you'll be surprised how much you can get out of what you already have. Be creative! Test things out, move things around, try things. As you go you'll start to think of how you can use other items. For example, once I started placing decor and realized I needed height I ended up using the lid to a Tupperware container and covered it with pink tissue paper I had in my gift wrapping drawer. You'll start to think of ways to use non-traditional party items.
Don't just lay it all out, physically put everything together. This will help you identify gaps and allows you to get everything you need in one stop. The last thing you want to do is multiple trips.
Write Your List
Now that you've decorated with the full extent of what you already have, now you know what you need. What snacks are going in your containers? What drinks are you serving? Any must-have decor items you need? Write it all out! I tend to write them out as I think of them on my phone so I don’t forget anything but once I have everything done I like to physically write it out. To help be more efficient I organize the items based on where they live at the grocery store and in the order that I go through the store. For example, because of the way my H-E-B is structured, my list always goes: produce, cheese, meat, alcohol, snacks, frozen food. This helps me keep my grocery trips super quick because nothing is more frustrating than running back and forth when you're on a time crunch.