My daughter's Art & Owls birthday party was a success! She loved it, the guests loved it and I didn't go broke throwing it! Yay!
This post is going to focus on the set up of the party. The next post will show actual party photos of the kids and the activities.
Here is my little sweetie next to her cake. Since she keeps getting taller but no bigger around this owl jumper I made her for preschool (2 years ago) still fits! It was perfect for the party!
Here is the main party table. I recycled most of the decor from previous parties. I did buy plates, napkins, etc, but all of the hanging decorations are pieces I bought or made in years past. Luckily for me, the girl loves pink so I have a ton of reusable decor.
I splurged on a piece of owl fabric that my daughter fell in love with. I used it as the table cloth but I'm planning to use it to make a basket liner for her new bike's basket!
One way I save money is to host my kids' parties in the afternoon. Feeding a ton of people a full lunch is super expensive and I don't really think the kids eat very well at parties anyway. Our party table always consists of sweet treats, salty snacks, water, juice and a special cake. Basically a whole lot of yummy junk!
Here are some close ups of the goodies...
My mom made these delicious sugar cookies with M&Ms to look like paint pallets. I also grabbed some candy sticks from the dollar store.
Cost Plus World Market advertised the cutest owl bread pan. It cost $10 but it is something I see myself using a lot. I was able to make pumpkin bread shaped like little owls! Perfect for this fall party!
I also always grab a couple of boxes of Little Debbie treats. They are delicious and SUPER inexpensive (like $1.79 a box)! I unwrap everything and put it all on a pretty plate. Nobody ever knows they are Little Debbie!
These pretzel paintbrushes were really easy to make. I just dipped the pretzel rods in melted milk chocolate. After they dried, I dipped the tips in another color of melted chocolate.
While I made the pretzels, I also dipped rice crispy treats in the chocolate and pushed a stick in the end. They made sweet little paint brushes too.
With the leftover melted chocolates, I was able to make tiny paint pallets. I just smeared a glob of milk chocolate on some foil. I dropped a spot of the different colors around it and ta-dah! Little chocolate paint pallets! Yummy!
One special tradition we have is to get a story book that goes along with the theme of the party. All of the guests write a message on the inside cover. We keep the story book, read it over and over, and are able to remember all of the people who celebrated with us.
My kiddos made a small "art gallery" on the wall. They drew several pictures of owls inside frames. I like the kids to have a lot of involvement in their parties so I thought it was a cute idea...and one they came up with on their own.
For some added decor I used acrylic paint to paint a picture of an owl on my sliding glass door. It added a lot of color and easily washed off with soap, water and paper towels when the party was over.
Another tradition is to include a photo for each birthday. You can see your baby grow before your eyes.
Since it was kind of a rainy day we decided to set up one of the art stations inside.
The table was set up with every supply the kids needed for the two projects assigned to it.
This end of the table was set up for Mondrian. There were different sized squares in primary colors, black strips and glue all organized and ready to use.
The other end of the table held supplies such as markers, colored pencils (purchased during the back to school sale in August) and artist pens (from the dollar store) so the kids could create their "Original Artwork".
I had a sample of the projects next to the table along with a brief history about the author and directions for how to complete the artwork.
Everything was organized and easy to get to.
The main outside table was set up for watercolor.
Again, all of the supplies were set up and ready to use.
I had a smaller table nearby to show examples and give an explanation of the artist and artwork they'd be completing.
One project was Kandinsky.
The other project was Van Gogh.
There was a small table set up with pastels and paper bags so the kids could create a Picasso piece.
The last art station was set up for a Pollock piece...spatter painting! This was by far the kids' favorite station...not to mention, the messiest.
I blew it and didn't take a "before" photo of the mural so here it is after the kids decorated it. We stapled a roll of paper to the fence and set out a jar of markers. This was what the kids did as soon as they got to the party while we waited for guests to arrive.
I also hung a piece of ribbon along the fence to hang wet artwork. We stapled the ribbon to the fence and I used free clips from the grocery store to clip the work up.
Obviously a lot of preparation went into this party. But I started early and stayed organized. I really didn't have to spend much money at all. I bought all of the art supplies during the back to school sale in August and most of the other items came from the dollar store. The most expensive part was ordering the owl plates and party supplies. However, I did use a coupon and I also got free shipping! I hope this will inspire you to get creative at your child's next party. I was a special day for all of us. Best of all, my daughter loved her party!
Stay tuned for more party photos coming soon!
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