Art Party -2yr- Candy Buffet

For my son's 2nd birthday (in August), I wanted to plan a fun, indoor party. He is really in to colors and balloons, so we wanted to fill the party with both. The theme for our son's party was an ART PARTY.

I had Marie Jay, with Autumn's Creek Cards, design the invite. I looked online, found some cute ideas (that you can make yourself), but didn't really find anything that stood out to me. Marie designed the party invite last year and she did an AWESOME job this year! I was able to scan some of my son's artwork and send to her and she incorporated his designs" into the invite. The invite was full of color and balloons (just like the party).

DECORATIONS/ACTIVITIES: I found some really cute ideas online. We had the party in the bonus room at my mother in law's house. The room we used was pretty much a blank canvas for decorating (nothing on the walls etc). Leading into the room I had one of my favortie pieces of my son's art work made into and 16x20 poster and sitting on an easel. I added the words: Welcome to Preston's Art Gallery: Where every child is an artist. This welcomed everyone entering the room and set the tone. On one wall I hung some of my son's artwork he had made over the last year. I used sticky tack to hang the pictures and used a bright colored paper frames to frame the artwork. A simple almost no cost decoration and it let us show off our son's talent.

Next I found inflatable 23 inch crayons on line (from Windy City Novelty). I blew up the crayons (12 of them). I hung them from the ceiling using fishing line and clear tape. The kids loved the crayons (we even let them guests take one or two home with them). We filled about 100 different colored balloons attached colored curling ribbon and had them floating above the kiddos heads. I found blue crayon shaped mylar balloons and a mylar balloon shaped like a crayon box online. We inflated these and attached them to my son's chair. We put two folding tables together and covered them with blue stay-put table cloths. At each child's seat I made mini easels out of craft/popsicle sticks. I had name cards that were the shape of crayons setting on each easel. This let the kids and parents know where each child's seat was. At each place setting there was an 8x10 blank canvas finger paints foam stickers washable markers crayons and paint brushes.

Most of the art supplies were in art caddies. The main activity for the party was to paint/decorate the blank canvas. The canvas was also part of the party favor. The kids and even the adults seemed to really enjoy the painting part of the party. Another decoration that received lots of comments were the crayon wreaths I made for the front double doors. I used 2 embordery hoops (12 in and 8 in) as the base of the wreath. It took a box of 64 crayons to fully cover the wreath. After I secured each crayon with hot glue I attached a blue-white polka dot bow to each and hung from the front door. So simple and cute.

FOOD/CAKE: One of my favorite parts to the party was the candy buffet. On the buffet in the dining area I used crayon fabric to cover the surface. I used several glass containers/jars I own to hold different and color candy. I made labels for each candy using mailing labels. I wrapped a ribbon around each container and then attached the label. Candy included: crystal rock lollipops rainbow swirl lollipops colorful bubblegum gummy worms multicolored twizzlers ol' fashion candy sticks pixie sticks and plain m&ms separated by color. I provided bags (purchased from oriental trade) for guests to take candy home with them. I had a framed sign Thanking the Guests for being so "Sweet" to share this day with us. After the painting activity we provided lunch for our guests. We serviced Raisin' Canes Chicken strips homemade mac and cheese chips and fruit. Once we ate we went outside for a pinata. I found a pinate in the shape of a crayon box (Windy City Novelty). I converted the pinata into a pull string pinata (really did not want toddlers swinging a bat). The kids loved the little whistles in the pinata.

We went inside for cake. I had a lady decorate the cake for me (I am not a cake decorator). The cake was an overside half sheet cake. The lady did an awesome job. She had drew a crayon box in the center of the cake. Where the words Crayons usually goes she put my son's name Preston. It looked like the box was open and the crayons were showing. Above the crayon were the words: Happy 2nd Birthday. The background was a light blue color with a yellow red and green border. So simple yet so cute and yummy. I found crayon shaped candles for my son to blow out. After cake it was present time. While my son opened presents some of kids played with the gaint inflatable crayons (44in) I found of ebay for $6 for 4 of them or they played with balloons.

FAVORS: I used reusable pastic totes as goody bags. I attached a note to each bag thanking the guest for Coloring with us today and to let them know they COLORED OUR WORLD. Each bag included a magnetic chalkboard (made by me) a mini crayon roll (contained chalk and crayons) a crayon shaped magnetic notepad a magnetic a little bag with crayon shaped sidewalk chalk a 8 palette of washable paints with brush and a box of 24 crayons (and each decorated canvas). I wrote each kids name with chalk on the chalkboard. I made the chalk boards using a cookie sheet. I primed each cookie sheet using a metal primer. Next instead of using the standard black chalkboard paint I made my own. I found the recipe online. Take any color of latex paint to make your own chalkboard paint. I used pink for girls and blue for boys. Take one cup paint and add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix together and you got your own custom colored chalkboard paint. I used two coats for each chalkboard (let the paint dry between coats). Season the chalkboard and you are in business.

OVERALL: This was a super fun party for all involved. I even had a crayon trivia game for the adults. The adult who answered the most correct won a 64 pack of crayons and a coloring book. You cannot go wrong with decorations and supplies. With art nothing has to be matchy/matchy and you don't have to spend a lot of money on theme ware. Since his birthday is in August and Back to School sales start in late July early August I stocked up on all of the painting supplies (some as little as 25 cents and no more than $1). My son had a blast and still talks about his birthday party a month later. What more could a parent ask for? This party works for all ages!     "