Paint Birthday Party

I recently threw a Paint Birthday Party for my little one who was turning 4 - I suggested the idea and he loved it!!!

What's always first with a party?  Invitations!  I sent out these paint themed invitations - aren't they adorable?

On the front door, I purchased a small paint palatte from Michael's and filled in each circle with paint.  I added the 4 to the middle along with some ribbon to hang on the front door and greet our guests. 

I decorated the buffet table by using this adorable paint hand print fabric from Jo-Ann Fabric as a runner.  The hot food was all on the buffet so it was filled with chafing dishes.  The plates and napkins were from a local dollar store and I purchased red, blue, and yellow.  Alternating the colors seemed like a great idea for the party!

At my kitchen table, I purchased red, green, and blue fabric - also from Jo-Ann's - to create the effect of spilled paint.  With some empty paint cans from Lowe's, I was able to complete the look.  I raised the paint cans on a couple of children's books and covered them with some fabric. 

For the food, I served Italian sausage sandwiches complete with sautéed onions and peppers for the grown ups and this beautiful colored pasta for the kids!  They loved it - their eyes got so big when they saw it.  Truth be told - my big brother and I had fun seeing the results as I made each batch. Adding gel food coloring from Wilton to the water after it is boiling and just before adding the pasta creates very vibrant colors - I even made it with whole wheat pasta!  I found the idea here, it was super easy and can be used for any occasion.  The Italian sausages were delicious, I purchased mostly sweet and some hot links straight from a local store called The Pork Shop in Queen Creek, AZ. 

From Walmart, I bought a bunch of colorful bowls, 4 for $1 even - and filled them with foods that matched the colors and placed them around the cake on the kitchen table.  I also filled a couple of paint buckets with some white cheddar Smart Pop and BBQ potato chips.

Oh, and did you see that cake?  It was so much fun to make.   The little one wanted white cake and chocolate frosting, so that's what he got.  During the planning, he also wanted a blue Jello-O poke cake, but changed his mind at the last minute.  Secretly, I was very happy about that because I really didn't have room in my refrigerator for a big cake! 

Once frosted, I let the cake sit for about an hour.  Then I took some Wilton icing in a variety of colors and thinned each of them down with just a little bit of water.  Using a silicone basting brush, I flung the icing onto the cake!  I also used the back of a spoon to create a different kind of splatter.  I waited for each color of splattered icing to dry before moving to the next color.  Even though the hubby and big brother didn't think the colors would combine, I wanted to be a little more conservative to ensure I had true colors. 

For the cake topper, I purchased the #4 from Smoothfoam and spattered paint onto it using a good ole' small paint brush then stuck a cake pop stick into it for the cake topper.  My little one told me all of the colors he wanted on that #4!

For the activities, a friend of mine, who was also at our Easter Party, entertained the kiddos with face painting.  We had lots of fun faces and painted hands at the party.  If you are looking for a fun face painter in the East Valley, let me know and I'll send you her contact info!

 
As part of the party favors, I asked each party guest to choose a smock straight from Oriental Trading when they arrived.  I wrote each of their names on the tag so that they'd have it at the time of painting and would be able to take it home with them. 

Once it was time to paint, all of the party guests gathered around a large table (set up outside of course with a large canvas drop cloth underneath it) and were ready to paint!  We filled the paint palattes full of paint, set out the jumbo paint brushes and handed out paper.  The kids had a blast!  Thankfully, I had lots of help from the moms with this activity!
Quick tip - if you decide to have a paint party, I'd also suggest setting up a bucket of soapy water and a couple of washcloths close to the painting area.  This came in very handy for a few of our guests!

The evening before I strung some kitchen twine between two trees in our backyard and added a bunch of clothespins....this was a perfect place for the kids to display their art! 

Lastly, I brought the party guests inside to play a game of "pin the paint on the palatte".  My big bro was in town visiting and was kind enough to draw the palatte and the paint circles.  My little one watched this process very carefully and gave him the order of the colors on the palatte. 

For the party favors, along with the art smock, I found these cute little mini paint cans at Michael's and filled them with two little tubs of paint and tied on a small paint brush with colorful ribbon. 

 

Overall, the party was a big success!  It was so much fun to plan and execute - hopefully you are inspired and see a Paint Birthday Party in your future!