I have never been a big fan of fancy photo shoots. Only our wedding and first Christmas card photos were taken by a professional photographer.

When Ava Sofia was born, I thought we have to have a photography session for sure, but the time went by, and we have taken all the photos of her by ourselves.

My husband and I are not professional photographers, but I think we take decent photos. I just snap away until I get some shots I like.

For her first birthday and cake smash photos, I decided to craft some props. I didn’t want to spend much money, so the DIY option was the best one.

Budget Friendly Photo Props for Kid's Birthdays @homelifeabroad.com #photoprops #birthday #kids
Here are some budget friendly photo props for kid’s birthday photography sessions.

Streamers

Crepe paper streamers are budget friendly, easy and fast to make. It’s really easy to coordinate streamer colors with your party theme and color scheme. There are different ways to use them –  you can hang them from the ceiling or make garlands of them. Those pink streamers cost me only 0,75€ ($1) and took around half an hour to make.

Budget Friendly Photo Props for Kid's Birthdays @homelifeabroad.com #photoprops #birthday #kids

Tissue paper pom-poms

Another great way to bring some color to your photos is pom-poms. Every party needs a pom-pom, right? Again – easy to make and gives a great result. Also, tissue paper flowers look really beautiful and are as easy to make as pom-poms.

Fabric

Check your linen closet for colorful bed sheets, tablecloths, textured blankets, lacy curtains, etc. There are so many possibilities to use fabric you already have at home as a backdrop for your photos.

Hats, headbands, crowns

You can’t have a party without a party hat, can you? Hats are easy to make and personalize. I was looking for a party hat for Sofia’s photos in several stores, but there was nothing I would like. So I created one for her. I used pink cardstock, some lace and printed out a number one. Took around an hour to make. It shouldn’t take so long normally, but I was really indecisive about the lace and ribbon color.  Another cute idea is to use crowns or headbands as props. If you need some headband inspiration, check out these headbands.

Budget Friendly Photo Props for Kid's Birthdays @homelifeabroad.com #photoprops #birthday #kids

Balloons

Balloons are one of those party accessories that you must have at kids celebrations, what is a party without balloons? If you blow them up yourself, instead of using helium, balloons are very inexpensive to use. If you need a color splash, balloons are your savers. There are a lot of ways to use them as props – scatter them around on the floor, create garlands or hang them from the ceiling. Makes a great backdrop too.

Any ideas for other budget friendly photo props?

September 27, 2013
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