Our Little Artist -6yr- Decorate Your Art Can

My daughter absolutely loves to do art projects so I knew that was the perfect choice for her 6th birthday party.  I thought about having it at a local art place but with all the family and friends we wanted to invite, it was cost prohibitive.  We opted to have it at home instead. 

For the party invitations, I bought quart size paint cans from a local paint store.  I used my computer to print up some colorful invitations stating: Our Little Artist Is Turning 6!!  Then I added the invited child's name, party specifics and some paint palette clip art to the sides. I taped the invite to the can.  I also taped the lid to the bottom in case anyone wanted to use it for it's intended purpose.  I then added some colorful tissue paper inside and put in those lollipop paint brush candies in the center so it looked like a paintbrush sticking out.  We invited my daughter's entire Kindergarten class so no one felt left out.  We took them in a box to school several weeks prior to the party.  The children were really excited that day to take their personal invitation home. 

Since my daughter's birthday is in February, we thought the weather would be nice so we rented a jump house for the back yard.  We needed something to occupy the kids (all 29 of them) between the party events.  Since we were having so many children, I made up some name tags. I used a paint palette clipart I found online and Windows Paintbrush to type in each child's name in the center.  I then filled in the paint blobs with different colors using the software.  I printed them out on my color printer.  I then cut them out in the proper shape and ran them through my sticker maker.  I had my daughter hand them out as each child arrived.  It was really helpful for me since I didn't know a lot of the children from her class.   

Every year I paint a T-shirt for my children to wear to their birthday parties.  I will sometimes copy the invitation or do something to match the theme.  This year I decided to do one for both my daughter and my son to make them "stand out from the crowd".  I purchased plain white t-shirts and painters caps from a local hobby store.  I used bright colored fabric paint and splattered paint all over the shirts and hat with my fingers.  It was a fun project for me and I didn't have to worry about them messing up a nice outfit at the party while having cake or doing the art project.  It will also be a keepsake for years to come. 

For the cake, I made that myself using two 11x15 cakes iced together as one with a paint palette cake on top.  I carved the paint palette cake out of a 9 inch round cake to get the shape I wanted.  I then covered it in white rolled buttercreme for a smooth finish and added colorful paint blobs in red, yellow, blue, green, purple and orange. Since I was running short on time, I enlisted my friends to help color the paint blobs for the palette cake.  I then added a real paintbrush leaning against the palette cake for effect.  I used alphabet cookie cutters to outline the Happy Birthday info and then filled in the letters with icing stars in different colors.  The cake was a big hit and everyone loved it.  

For the kids art project, I planned for them to decorate a gallon size paint can which would also serve as their goody bag. I purchased the paint cans at several local paint stores.  One store actually gave me 12 of them free! I purchased the rest and received a "contractors discount" which helped out immensely with the cost since I had to buy so many. We did the art project in our children's gameroom since it has a vinyl floor.  I borrowed lots of kid-sized tables from friends/family.  I had white pieces of paper cut to fit around the paint can so they could decorate that easily.  Each child got to decorate their paper using art themed stickers, markers, crayons, glue, scissors, glitter, foam pieces, and colored jewels.  We also had them write their name on it to help identify them later.  We let the art pieces dry while we cleaned up for the cake. 

The cake was served and then the kids went back to play in the jump house while others got their faces painted by several volunteer Mom's.  They really enjoyed that!  Once the papers dried, we taped them onto the gallon paint cans.  

For the party favors, I wrapped those in bright colored cellophane and let it stick up out of the top.  I added things like erasers shaped like crayons, markers, crayons, sidewalk chalk, girls bracelets, temporary tattoos, and various other items.  I also added some  paint palette cookies which I iced white with colorful paint blobs.  I used Royal Icing which hardens nicely so they can be stored in plastic bags.  We also added some colorful crayon and paint brush molded candies I made.   

For the Thank You cards, I had my daughter help me with those.  I found a great picture of a little girl painting on an easel holding a paint palette.  I copied it onto regular copy paper positioning it so I could fold it like a greeting card.  I then had my daughter color each card in and write "Thanks" and the child's name on the top.  I then filled in the thank you info and had her sign them.  She had fun doing them and the cost was next to nothing.    All in all, I think this was a great party that she'll never forget.