With the 99 cents store I am not sure how Party City stays in business.

I'm guessing most of your kids are gonna have a birthday sometime in 2010 - both of mine are anyway.  Kid's birthday parties can get expensive fast, but not if you know where to look!

Here is my tip - check out some of the party favor stuff they have at the 99 cent store & put a bug in their ear early about how that would be the coolest birthday party theme.  My kids are 3, they are easy to manipulate and this works every time.

Here are some themes I see at our San Marcos 99 cent store all the time

Princess
Cars
Winnie the Pooh
Hanna Montana (barf)
Mickey Mouse and friends
sometimes Dora & Diego
High School Musical
and I know there are more

My daughter is having a Princess party, and we cleared out their Pirate bags & plates during halloween for my son's Pirate themed party.  We have also hosted Winnie the Pooh, Dora, and Car's parties for a very low price thanks to the 99 cents store.

Some of these items are literally the same items you can get at Party City for 3 or 4 times the price!

They also have helium balloons with various themes for 99 cents too.

If you are brave enough to venture into the food section there are usually brand name cupcake mixes for 99 cents too - I always assume stuff will be expired and I honestly have never found something even close to expired.  I'm not gonna lie, I can be a snob when it comes to 99 cents store food, but if it is a trusted brand and not expired or broken - why not?! 

They do have plates, napkins, plastic cutlery & more - but I think the Dollar Tree actually has a better selection for these items.

Happy Birthday sometime this year!

Kate