Planning parties of any kind can be very difficult and tiresome especially when working with a tight budget, but a smart DIY-er would know how to stretch that budget and still pull off a fun and festive party with a little help from friends and family. With the Fourth of July celebrations just around the corner, have you gotten ready with your party plans? Let us give you some DIY suggestions that'll help you mazimize your resources. The Decor Here's a basic truth: Colored craft paper or tissue and a pair of scissors are your best friends! Cut up some red, white and blue craft paper and create pinwheels of different sizes that you could use to decorate your walls, windows and tables. Smaller pinwheels could be used as pretty cake/cupcake toppers too. If pinwheels are too complicated for you, try cutting up stars and flaglets and breathe life into them by putting some glitter on them. String them together with a piece of twine or ribbon, and you already have a sparkly garland to adorn your table or garden plants. Meanwhile, use the tissue to make pretty pompoms and hang them around your house or porch along with white running lights (perhaps you kept the ones from last Christmas?) and you've got yourself an eye-catching set of decors. To jazz up your dining table, choose a bright red table runner or placemats and scatter some of your cut up, glittered stars around. A vase with red, white and blue flowers in it could serve as your simple centerpiece, or you could add small balloons and flags to make it look more cheerful and festive. It's up to you if you want to light up some candles on the dinner table, just look out for the kids who might want to play with them. The Food Traditionally, Fourth of July parties are all about the barbecue, but lets add a little color to that food table, shall we? Fruits and vegetables are always a healthy part of one's diet, so toss up a salad or cut up some fruits for an assorted fruit skewer. Homemade pizza is also a nice option, since it's very easy to make, and you could put nearly anything on pizza that you don't really need to shop for a lot of ingredients. And what is a party without some sweets? Serve your guests a simple strawberry and blueberry parfait, or a vanilla frosted cupcake with red and blue candy sprinkles after dinner. If you could, put up a small dessert table and set up candy dishes filled with assorted sweets of red and blue like Skittles, M&Ms, and gumballs. Don't forget to serve up some smores, too! The kids (and the kids at heart) will surely love them. The Fun It's been increasingly difficult to get kids to come out and play lately, what with all the computer games they could get their hands on, so encourage them to get down and dirty with a Fourth of July scavenger hunt! Before the party begins, hide various objects in your backyard (or inside your house) and write down a list of clues as to what each hidden object might be. Each kid will then try to determine what the hidden objects are, and then locate as many as possible. It's your call on what to give the winner afterwards. There are a lot of other outdoor games that the kids and even the adults can play like dodgeball, sack race, water balloon fights and relay games-the only limit is your (and the kids') imagination. After a fun-filled afternoon, be ready to light up the evening with your sparklers!