7 Smash Cake Dollar Store Purchases

7 Dollar Store Purchases for Photographers

Yes, photography gear costs a ton - but you might as well save a little money where you can. We’ve got a couple of ideas of what you should be buying at your local dollar store to lessen the burden on your wallet.

1) Pom poms

At last count there were 11 different colors of pom poms at my local Dollar Tree. You can’t get all the colors you need (silver, burgundy etc) but I like 2 pom poms for a $1 a lot better than I like to spend $2 each at your local party store. If you don’t have a dollar store locally or you need other colors here’s a link to ones we like on Amazon: multicolored pom pom sets.

2) Diaper disposal bags

Talk about something you don’t need to spend extra cash on! Parents forget their bags occasionally, and they also work great for bagging up dirty laundry for the ride home. A couple of boxes of these in your smash cake arsenal is never a bad thing.

3) Balloons

We actually have a better balloon selection at the local Dollar Tree than we do at Hobby Lobby. I buy lots of balloons while I’m at the Dollar Tree, and I buy anything unique. Check out the paint smeared balloons in our Construction smash cake set. Polka dot balloons and anything with stripes are also must haves. It’s not like birthday balloons take up a lot of space! Make sure to watch our video on where to source helium.

4) Chinese Lanterns

We enjoyed watching the Dollar Tree start carrying Chinese Lanterns, forcing Hobby Lobby to cut their price in HALF. Our dollar store only carries seasonal colors, so I’m buying them in colors I don’t necessarily need as they roll thru (Black, Gold & Silver for graduation) (Red, White & Blue for the national holiday) so I’ll have them later. Chinese lanterns make great pops of color where your backdrop meets your floor, and give you another texture to mix with your pom poms.

5) Stickers

I don’t remember which photographer we picked up the sticker idea from, it might have been Sam Puc, but we’ve been doing this for years. Putting a sticker on the floor is a great way to get a mobile cake smasher to hold still long enough to get the baby pictures his mama is looking for.

6) Combs

Buy packages of combs, use them once, and send them home with your smash cake client. They come 6-12 for a buck, and will save you HOURS in editing. Plus you look that much more professional to mom and dad. For a couple of pennies, you’re the hero. Awesome.

7) Plastic Shoe Boxes

Um yeah. Organizers for a buck - I’ll take 10, thanks. We use these for headbands and hairbows, for organization and to store our banners so they don’t get wrinkled in between photography shoots.

So, as always, we want to know - what useful smash cake items are you finding at your dollar store?? Be sure to leave us a comment below.

- Clare