by Averie loves rainbows, and she loves painting – so we put the two together and had a Rainbow Artist Birthday Party for her third birthday.
Venue
We used Groundswell in Cedar Rapids again this year for her birthday. It’s such a neat space, and is MADE for kids to be creative, so it was a great fit.
Invitations
Invitations were postcards from vistaprint – as usual! We used a photo from her birthday photo shoot with Patrick Frost. We used the painting she made during the photo shoot as a backdrop for the invitation text.
[singlepic id=192 w=320 h=240 float=]
Outfit
No birthday is complete without a great outfit for the birthday girl! Tutu, Flower in her Hair and Shirt are all from Bella Joys Boutique. Photo Credit to Moment in Time Photography.
[singlepic id=194 w=320 h=240 float=]
Of course it was a little chillier on the day of, so her outfit at the party was a little bit different!
[singlepic id=178 w=320 h=240 float=]
Table Decor
Tables were done in ‘rainbow’ plastic table cloths and white butcher paper was run down the center of the table with crayons on them for doodling entertainment. Some of the crayons were the multi-colored rainbow ones. Centerpieces were bright colored baskets filled with multi-colored rainbow popcorn with balloons on sticks attached to them. We also had balloons all over the floor. They were supposed to be in an arch over the treats table, but we sort of ran out of time (and patience?)
[singlepic id=123 w=320 h=240 float=]
Lunch Food
Everything else was complicated enough that we kept it simple and had hot dogs and sloppy joes with chips.
[singlepic id=150 w=320 h=240 float=]
We did throw in a rainbow fruit tray though…
[singlepic id=124 w=320 h=240 float=]
Drinks
You must have rainbow drinks at a rainbow party!
[singlepic id=126 w=320 h=240 float=]
We looked around forever for the Hug Barrel drinks… I had almost given up when Aaron called to let me know he found them. We bought more than we needed, but I was okay with that – we used them all summer!!
[singlepic id=128 w=320 h=240 float=]
No party is complete without personalized water bottle labels…
[singlepic id=127 w=320 h=240 float=]
And for the more grown up tastes we had sparkling juices and some soda as well.
[singlepic id=129 w=320 h=240 float=]
Treats
Aside from the rainbow popcorn at the tables, we had to make sure there were other rainbow treats for the kids (big and small)!
[singlepic id=130 w=320 h=240 float=]
We had covered oreos in all colors of the rainbow (big thanks to Auntie Las in TX for making and shipping them!), dipped pretzels and rainbow twizzlers (thank you Easter clearance!). We also had the wax bottles of colored juice and candy dots.
[singlepic id=134 w=320 h=240 float=]
Cake
Tillie’s Secret Sweets made us the amazing rainbow cake that’s all over the internet, and she did a fantastic job! The outside was white, with a rainbow colored top.
[singlepic id=118 w=320 h=240 float=]
And the inside was full of rainbowy goodness!
[singlepic id=181 w=320 h=240 float=]
She also made us cupcakes galore — I made rainbow paper liners to disguise what was inside and the frosting on top was white with rainbow circle sprinkles on it.
[singlepic id=132 w=320 h=240 float=]
And the insides of those? Well, of course they were full of rainbowy goodness too!
[singlepic id=193 w=320 h=240 float=]
Activities
Color A Cookie
I made up some pretty basic rectangular cookies and let the kids attack them with food coloring markers. It was a pretty big hit! I think most of them liked it as much (if not more) than the actual painting!
[singlepic id=119 w=320 h=240 float=]
Here’s Averie showing off her cookie!
[singlepic id=145 w=320 h=240 float=]
Fruit Loop Necklaces
This is one of Averie’s favorite craft projects — everytime we have Fruit Loops for breakfast she asks to make a necklace from them!
[singlepic id=151 w=320 h=240 float=]
Painting
Everyone thought I was crazy… the FIRST thing you saw when you walked into the party were two tables that looked like this:
[singlepic id=121 w=320 h=240 float=]
But the kids loved it!
[singlepic id=158 w=320 h=240 float=]
Even some of the bigger kids…
[singlepic id=173 w=320 h=240 float=]
And they really didn’t make too much of a mess… it could have been MUCH worse. We have some great friends and family with amazingly well behaved kids!
Gift Bags
Aside from taking home their paintings and the aprons, and whatever cookies and fruit loops might have been left, we had goodie bags with miscellaneous trinkets, toys and art projects in them.
And that’s a wrap. Averie had a blast, she’s still talking about her rainbow party 4 months later!
Oh – and here’s how I judge if a party was good or not:
[singlepic id=191 w=320 h=240 float=]
I’d definitely call that a success 🙂
There were a lot of pictures up above, but if you want to see the rest, they’re all in this gallery here!
[nggallery id=8]
This post makes me sad that I wasn’t there 🙁 But I like that I got a shout out! Excellent party, as always!!