For my daughter's 2nd birthday, I bought plastic lunchboxes (they were 99 cents each at a party supply store). I then bought Fine Point sharpie markers in several colors, alphabet stickers, and cartoon stickers, some geared for boys and some geared for girls. Since the birthday theme was "Dragon Tales", I also bought Dragon Tales stickers. Each guest got to pick their own color lunchbox and decorated it to their heart's desire.  Then after we broke the piñata, the lunchbox came in handy to put their candy and little toys in.  Since my husband can draw, he offered his services to the children, however, they (and the parents) were so intrigued, they wanted to do everything themselves.  My husband and I spent less than $50.00 for this project (we bought enough for 25 kids).  The most expensive items were probably the markers and the sealant (which should be used to keep everything permanent on the lunchbox).