Every Child is an Artist!

Ho Hum.

Christmas is over and put away for another year.  So what's a crafty girl to do - but plan a party?!!!

This weekend we hosted Sheep's birthday party  . . . AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!  (Yes, that's me yelling about it in blog-speak!)  Since she has many boy friends (NOT boyfriends mind you, let's be clear on THAT) and her favorite boy in the world (her cousin Max) to consider, we had to think of something to do that both girls and boys would enjoy.  And since my little girl has obviously gotten her arts and crafts gene from ME (makes my heart leap) we couldn't think of anything more fun than an ART PARTY!!

And it was some serious fun!!

I'm tellin' you, if you are looking for an awesome party theme, and aren't afraid to get a little messy, this is THE party for you!

Sheep and I handmade invitations two weeks ago, but we've been Pinteresting collecting ideas since before Thanksgiving, so I will attempt to link our inspiration sites for you as much as possible.  We used cardstock we had on hand, a circle punch and some pop dots to create the paint palette.  Then added a small paint brush from our stash (I tend to buy arts and crafts supplies in bulk) to each of palettes.  The information about the party was printed on cardstock and glued to the back side.  Since we were running out of time, the finished invited were a bit bulky AND it was raining the day they were set to be mailed, I opted to hand deliver them instead so they wouldn't arrive a ruined, wet mess - but you could certainly mail these if you wanted to!  I cut and Sheep glued and I think they came out GREAT!!!

And let me just say that this whole entire thing would not have been possible without the aid of my BFF and her daughter (a million thanks as usual), who helped us 'test drive' all the projects in advance and just generally save the day when my idea to completion ratio reaches unacceptable levels and I begin to panic!

We ultimately decided on 5 art stations, including:

Canvas Pour Painting

Marble Art

Bubble Art

Salt Art

Nail Polish Art

In preparation for the mess party, I decided to make aprons for each of the kids to wear.  I was lucky enough to grab them for half-off at Hobby Lobby during Christmas and grabbed a remnant of felt at Joann's for the applique.  I simply cut down the paint palette template I used for the invitation to fit the bib of the apron and sewed it on the aprons.  Then I used my embroidery machine to add each child's name in rainbow colors to look like paint on the palette!  So stinkin' cute!!  And they cost less than 3 dollars each for a party favor they will be able to keep and use for many moons!

To make Sheep's apron a little more special (she is the birthday girl after all), I found an apron with a ruffle and used pinking shears to cut out her paint palette.  Doesn't she look adorable?!

She wasn't the only one decked out for the party either.  All of my 'help' wore mustaches (oui, oui) that my sister had sent as a stocking stuffer this Christmas, so they were free!!

We didn't want the party-goes to feel left out though, so we drew mustaches on their fingers so we could all be french painters together - OUI! OUI!

Sheep and I had visions of a layered rainbow cake like the one seen here to continue the rainbow art theme of her party, but with so many kiddos and helpers and parents to feed, I was afraid that a layered round cake wouldn't easily cut into enough pieces.

Never fear!  Pinterest is here!!

Instead of layers, we simply divided and colored the batter using paste food coloring and then poured it into our 9 X 13 pan for a marbled rainbow cake that looked like a piece of art itself!!  A generous layer of buttercream frosting made it simple irresistible!

No.  Seriously.  It was irresistible.  Just ask Katie, who once again managed to devour (thankfully only a portion of) the cake!!  Ugh!!  Not again!!  Well, it was too late Friday night when I discovered it to much other than trim the corners and cover them with some leftover icing.  But a quick trip to the store Saturday morning for Skittles to scatter around the cake distracted (almost) everyone from the now unusual shape and decoration.  It's a good thing she has friends in low (short) places . . . .

It looked really amazing when it was cut, and tasted every bit as good, so if you're interested in trying yourself, I used the recipe here.

We 'decorated' the house by simply rolling up the rug and covering the furniture with canvas drop cloths we borrowed from our neighbors.  We covered the floor and tables, both inside and out, with a roll of painter's paper that cost about 10 bucks at home depot and secured everything with blue painter's tape.  We hung our samples up using leftover twine from another project and scattered some of Sheep's artwork on the mantle and around the house.  Voila - instant art studio!! And super easy cleanup afterwards too!

When it comes to winter birthday parties around here, the weather is really anybody's guess.  It could be 75 and sunny or 45 and raining - or any combination you can think of.  This weekend, it was warm, but cloudy and soupy with probably 98% humidity.  Scratch my original idea (seen here) to hang their art to dry out on the porch.  Nothing was going to dry outdoors in this weather and I wanted them to be able to take their art home.  Luckily, panic necessity is the mother of invention!  Or inspiration at least!  I was able to score some box lids from our local copy store (free) and used the tempera paint for the party to paint them in rainbow colors the night before.  Of course I had to move them indoors overnight to dry ha!  I printed out a quote I ran across while looking for something for the kids new bedroom and glued it to the inside of the box lids for a cheap and easy art display that they could take with them.  Clever me!  I think they came out pretty cute!

My BFF is a hoarder collector of 'things.'  All kinds of neat and wonderful things just screaming to be refinished, repurposed or recrafted in some way.  It is one of the 'things' I love most about her, even though it puts my craftaholic tendencies in overdrive when I visit!!  Needless to say, she is an AMAZING resource when it comes to parties.  And I think she may love my little Sheep almost as much as I do so she's not afraid to go all out for that girl!!  She supplied us with oodles of paint, nail polish, Sharpies and two old frames that she painted and used to take pictures for the party!

FABULOUS!!

The kids AND their parents LOVED having pictures made with the frames!  And the pics of Sheep with her friends will make great thank you cards as well.  Oh, did I mention she's also a great photorapher?  Like I said, this party would NOT have been possible without her!

The soupy mess of a morning started to clear off by the end of the party, so everyone joined in on the photo fun!

Happy Birthday (Party) Sheep!  We love you!