Putting the Art in pARTy!

***pictures included after this loooong text*****

Well, Sweet P is officially a 2 years old (sometimes terrible twos come into play). I think his party was a success. It was so fun planning his party. I started thinking of his party back in January. It worked out perfect because back to school sales are on in August. And boy, did I take advantage of those sales. Besides, we knew we wanted an inside party, since in the South, August is HOT, HOT, HOT!!

I started off picking the theme because Preston loves colors. He used to "flip out" when he saw a color. He still gets excited when he sees them. So I knew a color party would be fun and easy. Fun for the kids and easy to decorate and come up with ideas.


I knew I wanted the kiddos to create some kind of art. So, I figured I would buy some canvases and let them decorate. I chose to buy an 8x10 canvas for each child. I picked these up on sale at Hobby Lobby. I also purchased foam stickers on sale at Hobby Lobby. I LOVE Hobby Lobby sales! To also decorate the canvases I had available paints, finger paints, markers, and crayons. I bought all of these on sale, during back to school sales!


How to decorate in a fun, cute way? Solutions...balloons and inflatable crayons. Preston, LOVES balloons. I knew we needed lots of colorful balloons to be floating above all their little heads. I happened upon a website that sold small inflatable crayons here. I next found a seller on ebay that sold giant (44in) inflatable crayons. So, I scooped these two finds right up. I hung the smaller crayons in the party room from the ceiling using fishing line and I just left the bigger crayons free for the kids to play with. I found this site, that sold affordable lightweight toddler art aprons and little crayon cut outs that I used as name/place cards. This site is great if you are a teacher or are wanting affordable educational toys/tools for your child. The May issue of Parents magazine had adorable party ideas. One of the ideas just happened to be an art party. They showcased making a mini easel out of craft sticks. I found a package of already colored craft sticks at the Dollar Tree, for of course $1. I busted out the handy dandy glue gun, and easel making I went. It was so super easy. These mini easels were used to hold the crayon cut out with each child's name at their seat. A little children's store, in our hometown, was having a MEGA sale on some of their items. Some of those items used happened to be, little art caddies and colorful plastic bins that were on sale for a $1 each. I purchased 3 caddies and 5 bins. The caddies I used to hold all the art supplies between every 3-4 kids, and the bins were used to hold various items at the food buffet. I am now using them to hold little toys and art supplies in Preston's play room. To decorate part of the wall, I used some of Preston's art work over the last year. I put them on the wall and placed a paper frame around each. Such a cute, easy and virtually free decoration.

I searched and searched for an invitation that I liked but could not find one that just said this is it. But, I knew who I could go to...Marie. Marie Jay, of Autumn's Creek, is awesome! She did Preston's invite last year for his red wagon party. She has cards for all occasions that you can choose from in her store and she will customize any design. If you don't see exactly what you are looking for she can create it for you. That is what she did for us. I contacted her and let her know what I was doing for the party. She was super quick to respond back and asked me to scan in some of Preston's art work and she would incorporate it into the card. What she came up with was AWESOME!!!! View card here. Isn't she great? My favorite part is Preston's artwork is on the invitation! So personal and custom for just Preston. By the way, Marie is super inexpensive for the custom work she does. Check her out, next time you are looking for custom one of a kind cards and invitations.

What is a party without cake? Lisa Ellen Anderson of Lisa Ellens Cakes and Catering did a fantastic job (as always) on Sweet P's cake. My sister and I searched the net and found an adorable picture of a crayon cake. I sent Lisa Ellen the picture with suggestions for modifications. Lisa Ellen took the picture and ran with it. I think the cake turned out adorable and it tasted divine.

One of my favorite parts, of the party set-up, was the candy buffet. It seemed like every party I looked at online had a candy buffet. I thought the idea was cute and it would be COLORFUL and sweet for Preston's party. I went overboard with the candy, but I think it looked great (and my coworkers enjoyed the leftovers!).

Party favors were another fun part of the party planning. I made magnetic chalkboards...kind of cheesy and kind of cool all in one. I took a regular cookie sheet and converted into a chalkboard. I didn't want to use the standard black chalkboard paint, so I searched and found the recipe to make your own chalkboard paint using any color. Recipe found here. So boys got blue chalkboards and girls got pink chalkboards. The little reusable bags also contained a mini crayon roll with chalk and a crayon, a little bag with sidewalk chalk, a 24ct box of crayons, a crayon shaped magnetic pad and a magnet. The 8x10 canvas that each child painted along with a little 8ct paint set was included. I found a crayon box shaped pinata here that I converted into a pull string pinata. I really did not want toddlers swinging a bat.

We served lunch to our guests, since we had the party at lunch time. On the menu: Raisin' Cains chicken strips and fries with their special sauce, a variety of fruit, homemade mac and cheese, Lisa Ellen's cole slaw, chips, and drinks. I made Crystal Light lemonade and added fresh fruit. I served it in my Southern Living at Home (now Willow House) beverage server, and put some in Mason Jars.

Collage of Party Decorations and Set-Up

The Party Room...aka Preston's Art Gallery: Where every child is an artist.

Crayon wreath I made for the front door

The Candy Buffet

Close up of the M&Ms separated by color


The Cake...yummy!

My Little Artist!!!

Our family!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Preston! May you forever "color" our lives by being who you are. Words cannot express how proud we are to call you our son!

Love, MaMa and Daddy