Rainbow Art Birthday Party
Last month we celebrated my “baby” Joy’s 6th birthday. How does this happen… the little (well, if 9 lbs is little) baby we brought home from the hospital not too long ago is now 6! Joy has always been the perfect name for this fun, rambunctious, confident little girl. She dives into life head first…and has a few stitches to prove it!
We celebrated Joy’s birthday with a colorful Arts & Crafts Birthday Party. I chose this theme partly because I knew we’d be inviting both boys and girls, and wanted something fun and interactive that everyone would enjoy.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and everyone seemed to have a really great time!
Please enjoy Joy’s Rainbow Art Birthday Party…
I designed the party invitations to fit inside a standard watercolor paint set. Since I knew we’d be hand delivering the invitations, it was a special way to give the guests an idea of the fun we’d be having. I bought the watercolor sets (Wal-Mart is the cheapest place I found), then removed the cardboard Crayola label inside and used that as a template for the invitation. I designed the invitation so that I could fold it in half and the image on one side would show through the box (the “You’re invited… ” part), and the other side (which would be inside the paint box) would include the party details. I added some pretty ribbon and a little name tag for each guest.
As I was planning the dessert/snack table, I made a set of 3 rainbow crayon art canvases to act as the backdrop, and pull in the whole theme. I have a full post with the details of the Rainbow Crayon Art Canvases)
Along the back of the table, I lined up a row of bud vases with bright gerbera daisies.
Snacks included…
Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting, baked in grease-proof polka dot baking cups (called ”Color Cups” from Wilton).
Fresh Fruit & Pretzels (in polka dot baking/snack cups)
Decorated Sugar Cookies (here’s my Sugar Cookie Recipe)
I had fun making simple, yet colorful crayon shaped cookies, and added a special personalized cookie to the tray as well. The personalized cookie was hand-painted, in the same way I recently made some hand-painted Valentine’s cookies.
Simple snacks of fresh fruit (above) and pretzels (below) were served in colorful polka dot baking/treat cups (available from TomKat Studio, Shop Sweet Lulu, and Sweet Estelle’s Baking Supply)
I planned two main crafts for the kids to complete during the party. In addition, I covered the entire party table with white paper (from the teacher supply store) and allowed the kids to draw all over the table. The kids were able to color on the table while we waited for all the guests to arrive. I had jars of crayons and colored pencils (as well as paintbrushes for our other craft) all along the table.
The first craft was a personalized mosaic canvas, which included the initial of each child’s name. Each guest chose the color they’d like to paint the letter, and got to work…
The final craft included the painted initial, on top a mosaic covered canvas. I have a full post on how to make the Personalized Mosaic Canvases.
The second party project was for each guest to color their own “cookie canvas” (inspired by The Decorated Cookie). I baked and iced (with royal icing) large cookies in a couple different shapes. I prepared the cookies (and added the frame) just as I did for the Valentine’s cookies I posted HERE. Be sure to allow at least one full day (or more) for the icing to dry before the kids are going to color them. I provided the guests with food color markers, and they had fun being creative!
Certainly, the crafts the children created during the party would have been adequate favors, but before I had even settled on the party crafts I had already prepared these cute favor pails…
Small paint can pails (available from Oriental Tradding Company, or Michael’s) were filled with mini colored pencils, bubbles in a crayon shaped container, an erasser, a rainbow lollipop (from Party City), and multi color crayon “pods” I made from broken, melted crayons.
Joy’s birthday was a fun and creative day, and we really enjoyed sharing it with friends!
All photos, food, and styling by me/Joy’s mommy/Glorious Treats.
You are such a fun Mom! Great ideas for a fun party and very cute little daughter!
What an incredible party for your little girl! The guests were equally lucky. Glory, you did a fantastic job with every little detail!
What a fabulous party for your little girl! So colorfull and fun. Beautifully done Glory!!!!
Can I please be your adopted child??? You are such a fun mom! I would love to be like you!
Cute and pretty!!
So many fabulous details in this party (to start off, I’ve always loved an art theme for kids)! You pulled them all together perfectly — from the invites to the backdrop to the art activities. Great job!
That is the cutest most creative and beautiful party I have ever seen!!! I can’t stop thinking about the frame cookies that lets the kids be the artists!! Brilliant!!
You know how to throw a party!!!
What an awesome party for one lucky little girl! I would have LOVED one like this! Heck, I’d like one like this even now! (Some of us still haven’t quite grown all the way up!
Happy belated birthday, Joy!
Beautiful as always, Glory! I don’t even have a sweet tooth, but I loves seeing your blog posts pop up on my Google Reader. Your creations are so beautiful! So beautiful that I don’t think even I could resist taking a bite out of them if I saw them! Thank you for sharing such beautiful photos with us!
Fantastic birthday, all the best! Very colorful, interesting, since you can immediately see that the children are happy. Thanks for Insperation and many useful ideas!
You are such a creative and sweet Mom! How beautiful is this entire party- such a lucky daughter you have
This is an amazing party planning idea! Fun, colorful and beautiful!!!
Glory this is beautiful and truly original. We’re planning a ‘build it’ party next month for my 7 yr old girl and it’s very similar except we’re building (and painting and crafting). Thanks for the great ideas, I’m bookmarking for reference. LOVE IT.
Love your art birthday party!..the colours, the crafts..any kid would have loved that..well done!
Glory–your attention to detail is amazing! The love you put into your daughter’s party is evident. Thanks for sharing the details of this adorable party design.
Hi Glory,
Belated B’Day wishes to your cute little daughter Joy. I think you are born to throw the awesome parties. I like each and every bit of your ideas and my favorites are those 3 rainbow crayon art canvases. So colorful and inspirational. You have already made me so addictive to your website. keep up your good work.
Regards,
Lakshmi
Oh, this is just the cutest!!!!! I saw the smaller pic on your FB page and had to pop over. LOVE what you came up with! So creative and just such a wonderful theme! You have so many cute ideas!
Vey nice!!!
And you absolutely win mother of the year!! So adorable and she will remember it always!!
That was an awesome party! I showed it to my daughter, who is turning 6, and begged that we do the same. You are such a fun and creative mom. Thank you for the inspiration.
This is just about the cutest birthday theme I’ve seen…what a great job you did! Everything so perfectly detailed….beautiful!
That is a beautful party! I was wondering, Where did you get that adorable cupcake stand? I have to have it!
I’ve just featured your blog in my recent post My Favourite Blogs @ The Science of Happy.
http://thescienceofhappy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/my-favourite-blogs.html
Always a pleasure reading!
- TSOH
Glory replied: — February 18th, 2013 @ 10:38 pm
Thanks for the feature! ~Glory
Everything you did for your daughter’s birthday is just beautiful! So is she. What a fabulous time everyone must of had. I love the special framed *Joy’s Art Birthday* cookie and the crayon cookies. Too cute. Obviously the kids had a very enjoyable time decorating their own cookies. They must have been so proud of their work.
I am sure they had a wonderful time. I tried to leave a message this morning in a motel but it would not go through. CRAZY technology!!!
Glory, I love this!
I’m planning a rainbow party for my daughter’s fifth birthday in July and I love what you’ve done here. I particularly love the cookie masterpiece and the letter craft, how lovely to take home a lasting memory of Joy’s party.
I also love your party food. I tend to massively over cater but what you’ve got is perfect… I’m inspired!
Belated Happy Birthday Joy!
Glory, you are an incredible mother. I love every details of the party. I was just wondering, wasn’t there a B’Day cake for Joy to cut?
This is one of the most beautiful party ideas I have ever seen! And so creative! Especially the cookie painting craft. My little girl would have loved that.
This is the first time I’m writing a comment but I’ve been visiting your blog for quite a while and I love all your ideas! I can’t thank you enough for your inspiration. I’ve seen many other baking and food crafting blogs but yours is, by far, the most elegant! Congratulations!
Happy birthday to your littel angel….
AMAZING!!!! I’m going to show this post to my daughter who cannot decide what kind of party she wants!
Thanks for sharing!
that is just adorable!
love Love LOVE this party!!! especially those cookies! no..the monogram art! no.. the canvases! no… the way you displayed the table! no…aw heck i guess i love everything! heehee
Tiffany would go crazy if I make these for her Birthday party! Adorable!
Looks so beautiful. I am sure that Joy had a wonderful time.
Glory, This is all just adorable, and it is so well styled and photographed! Thanks for bringing back lovely memories of when my kids were little, I used to do parties for them, with lots of planning, creativity, and fun! You are a very creative and memory-making mom!
I love love your painting kit invite, so clever & cute! Your daughter is absolutley beautiful! Just like your party & cookies!
Lovely! Amazing! If I ever do have kids, I’ll definitely be having parties for them like this, even decorated like this! Just amazing!!
Those watercolor invites are fantastic, so creative!
Love it! We can definitely see how hard you work and how much of your heart that you put into it! Great job and Great Mom!
I would be surely organizing this Rainbow Art party for my 5 year little brother.. This idea is just superb.. Thanks a lot Glory.. You are really a great person
Perfect party, Glory! Love the canvasses, the cookies, and the invitation is genius…oh, and the framed cookies!
This is absolutely precious. I would have died for this to have been my party as a kid.
You should submit it to Apartment Therapy for their “My Party” Feature- http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ohdeedoh-my-party-submission-f-82858
Wow, what a wonderfull party – thats really great. An the fotos are wonderfull too. Sorry, i don´t speak english very good.
Best wishes from germany and have a nice sunday,
Sabine
Glory, this is simply fabulous! Thank you for the beautiful tutorial. Looks like it was so much fun!
ingenious! loved every bit of it
Glory,
your site is a treat for eyes. Thank you so much for so many beautiful ideas.
Wow Glory! This is so amazing! I’m sorry I haven’t been by to read your blog in a bit but I’m sure glad I did today! Great party, my favorite feature was the invitation in the paint set! Brilliant! Love you!
~Cecilia
wish you were here to help me with Naya’s birthday (3/3)…I love your ideas and am outright stealing some of them!!! Love you!
Glory replied: — March 1st, 2013 @ 12:07 am
Oh Carolyn, I wish that too! Steal away…. what’s mine is yours! =) I hope she has a wonderful day! Love you guys! <3
I’m with Sarah on being your adopted kid – lol. This is truly a unique party idea and I love the party favors. No matter what gathering I have at my house there’s always favors to take home
I also loved, loved, loved (oh did I mention LOVED) Joy’s ladybug party theme. I too am an enthusiastic ladybug fan (ladybug key chain, jewelry, email address, vanity plate, birthday cakes, flip-flops, sun hat, Swarofski collectable, ceramics, stuffed animal, thank you notes, egg timer, trinket box, Halloween costume . . . you name it and I’ve got something ladybug”ish”). I’m hosting a girls night (yes we’re girls even at 50 years of age – lol) in April and I’m thinking ladybug theme just for kicks.
Thanks – you’re newest fan – Ana
Hello,
Du très grand art ! As we say in France
Many thanks for such beautiful painting and so original cakes as “Stabilo Boss” brushes. I regret to be at work from monday to friday instead of being at home enjoying myself with such very good ideas.
Kisses from the suburb of Paris
Just stumbled across your blog. WOWZA – you are so talented and inspire me.
I’m so not the crafty mom but I enjoy others gifts and sometimes ‘try’ my hand at something new. You’ve made this party look like so much fun and relatively easy. Thank you.
Oh also, where did you purchase those lovely turquoise cake pedestals? I’m in love.
Thank you
Glory replied: — March 20th, 2013 @ 3:08 pm
Hi Angela,
I bought the cake stands off Ebay, they are by the Mosser glass company. If you search “blue cake stands” on Ebay, you will likely be able to find them from time to time.
Hi Glory,
I have followed your beautiful work for a while now. I was totally surprised when I recognized your previously published pictures of Joy’s Birthday on another blog. I did not see any listing of your blog”s name. Check out the following; http://anasapeka.blogspot.com/ .
Glory replied: — March 20th, 2013 @ 3:06 pm
Hi Maggie,
Thanks for letting me know. I just let a comment on the post, but I’m not sure if the person posting my work will be able to read my comment in english.
You are a very talented woman. I wish I could do this full time. Your ideas are very creative and I love checking in from time to time to “borrow” them.
Thanks for sharing!
The kids are so lucky and the decorations are so pretty.
Wow, what a great and creative idea. I love what you have done with the theme. It is great when kids get the chance to be creative.
Everything is so perfect! Do you have template for the invites that you would be willing to share or sell? Thanks! melissa
Glory replied: — May 18th, 2013 @ 3:22 am
Hi Melissa,
All I have is the exact invitations pictured. I made them by measuring the paper that comes in the watercolor box, and worked off those dimmensions (using Photoshop).