The lovely ladies who commented in this thread asked me to post the pics from my moms fiftieth birthday surprise party it was super fun and went off without a hitch- she was so surprised!

I had so much fun planning and decorating. My dad did all the food.

All of the decor, cutlery etc cost less than $150!
My dad paid for the food so I'm not sure what the cost was there, but I think we pulled off a pretty party for very little $$