Over the Rainbow Birthday Party
It's the time of the year for mom and dad to be busy preparing for birthdays and celebrations! Sarah had been quite literally counting the days to her 5th birthday party. After 5 years I have come to love theme parties - it makes it easier to plan, it has a focus, and it is actually quite fun! The other thing we are still trying to continue as a tradition in our family is that we celebrate together (Sam at first complaint there was going to be too many girls, and was actually invited to a birthday party to which we kindly declined) and we continue to try to host it at home to keep costs down.
So as we began brainstorming on themes for Sarah's party, Samuel started working on a song during his note reading section in his piano class. We all fell in love to the song and so that is how we came up with the party theme:Samuel's First attempt at "Over the Rainbow" with teacher
As the years progress I am learning to also appreciate more and more 'markers' of milestones. So what has become also tradition is a slideshow I would put together with pictures of the birthday girl/boy and what he/she has been doing all that year. I usually try to find a song along the same birthday theme (it helps me remember) but this year putting 'over the rainbow' didn't seem to fit so I used "My Girl" by the temptations.
Then, the fun part for me. I really actually enjoy this part so hosting a party works for our family. I researched online for ideas. I usually find a balance of easy projects combined with one more difficult one. Otherwise, the projects become too difficult and you lose the fun part! The other part is simply costs - I try to keep costs down.
1) Rainbow Decor -
I went to Home Depot and took a stack of paint chips in rainbow colours. Then I simply used them to make signs. I also used cutters to cut them into fun shapes.
I got a pack of multicolor tissue paper at Walmart for $4 - and made tissue paper pom poms. I had made these before. There are tons of tutorials online.
I re-used the party table cloths I use for my kids parties each year - I simply use them in different places every year so people never notice
For room for presents, I just made a sign (laugh out loud if you want - yes, I misspelled my own daughter's name!) "Sarah's Pot of Gold" and put a box under it. It was a nice and neat way to have all the presents in one single spot
2) Rainbow Food -
I made rainbow jello - but failed (people didn't know until I told them hahaha) - I used the baby prunes containers I had at home already for individual sizing. Later my friend told me I did not wait long enough in between layers of colours :D and that is why they didn't come out in layers.
Other finger foods: I covered oreos with coloured chocolate, We served veggie chips in green, yellow and red, we had exotic drinks like mango and coconut juice, got some shrimp (rainbow, get it?) and of course an array of veggies in rainbow colours
This time we actually had lunch before games and crafts. Daddy BBQ'ed so it was quite simple - hot dogs and burgers. I played some videos for the kids during the meal time too
3) Cake
Of course, I had to make cake! But this time Sarah wanted a Dora Topper, so instead of going with fondant or a 3D cake I made a simple vanilla cake with a SURPRISE inside!
Go Here to find out how
4) Party Games
I kept things simple - so we played Rainbow Limbo (I bought 1 thick and 4 thin sticks at Home Depot - about $4) and wrapped them with party streamers ($1 each colour) and tied them with rubber bands. We also played a game where the teams had to build the tallest rainbow tower possible. I simply used the wooden blocks my kids had - cost? $0
5) Rainbow Craft
I had a ton of ideas but either I felt the craft would end up in the garbage before kids got home or I thought it would be too simple, or too complicated/messy. In the end the idea came as I drove through Fabricland during the week -- what if I made pillows in rainbow colours for the kids to decorate?
Once at the store though I realized the fancy fabrics would be too expensive for my budget friendly party. So we settled with $3 a meter fabric. I spent a total of $25 for 9 pillowcases. To challenge this sewing dummie/mommy, I looked online and found something called 'burrito method'. I tested it out and VOILA...it worked!
It actually took me longer to figure out how to use my Singler Sewing Machine - at one point I had to google tutorials on how to sew !!!
Then, I bought some fabric markers ($5 at Walmart) and found a neat method to do iron on transfers. Get ready: You use SANDPAPER! So I got 2 packs of 3 sheets at Home Depot, took my iron out, some crayons out and voila...iron on transfers!
6) Loot Bags
And last but not least - loot bags - I had already gotten bags at Target last year (in the US) and simply needed stuff to fill them. Ended up with funky flavoured lip balm, Kinder Surprise, Smarties, Gummies, Bubble Bath ($1 each), and made some cute signs.
Overall I think we had a blast (I did, planning it!) -- and it's such a blessing not only to be part of this amazing little girl's life but to also see our family surrounded by so many families that 'colour' our world!!!
So as we began brainstorming on themes for Sarah's party, Samuel started working on a song during his note reading section in his piano class. We all fell in love to the song and so that is how we came up with the party theme:Samuel's First attempt at "Over the Rainbow" with teacher
As the years progress I am learning to also appreciate more and more 'markers' of milestones. So what has become also tradition is a slideshow I would put together with pictures of the birthday girl/boy and what he/she has been doing all that year. I usually try to find a song along the same birthday theme (it helps me remember) but this year putting 'over the rainbow' didn't seem to fit so I used "My Girl" by the temptations.
Then, the fun part for me. I really actually enjoy this part so hosting a party works for our family. I researched online for ideas. I usually find a balance of easy projects combined with one more difficult one. Otherwise, the projects become too difficult and you lose the fun part! The other part is simply costs - I try to keep costs down.
1) Rainbow Decor -
I went to Home Depot and took a stack of paint chips in rainbow colours. Then I simply used them to make signs. I also used cutters to cut them into fun shapes.
I got a pack of multicolor tissue paper at Walmart for $4 - and made tissue paper pom poms. I had made these before. There are tons of tutorials online.
I re-used the party table cloths I use for my kids parties each year - I simply use them in different places every year so people never notice
For room for presents, I just made a sign (laugh out loud if you want - yes, I misspelled my own daughter's name!) "Sarah's Pot of Gold" and put a box under it. It was a nice and neat way to have all the presents in one single spot
2) Rainbow Food -
I made rainbow jello - but failed (people didn't know until I told them hahaha) - I used the baby prunes containers I had at home already for individual sizing. Later my friend told me I did not wait long enough in between layers of colours :D and that is why they didn't come out in layers.
Other finger foods: I covered oreos with coloured chocolate, We served veggie chips in green, yellow and red, we had exotic drinks like mango and coconut juice, got some shrimp (rainbow, get it?) and of course an array of veggies in rainbow colours
This time we actually had lunch before games and crafts. Daddy BBQ'ed so it was quite simple - hot dogs and burgers. I played some videos for the kids during the meal time too
3) Cake
Of course, I had to make cake! But this time Sarah wanted a Dora Topper, so instead of going with fondant or a 3D cake I made a simple vanilla cake with a SURPRISE inside!
Go Here to find out how
4) Party Games
I kept things simple - so we played Rainbow Limbo (I bought 1 thick and 4 thin sticks at Home Depot - about $4) and wrapped them with party streamers ($1 each colour) and tied them with rubber bands. We also played a game where the teams had to build the tallest rainbow tower possible. I simply used the wooden blocks my kids had - cost? $0
5) Rainbow Craft
I had a ton of ideas but either I felt the craft would end up in the garbage before kids got home or I thought it would be too simple, or too complicated/messy. In the end the idea came as I drove through Fabricland during the week -- what if I made pillows in rainbow colours for the kids to decorate?
Once at the store though I realized the fancy fabrics would be too expensive for my budget friendly party. So we settled with $3 a meter fabric. I spent a total of $25 for 9 pillowcases. To challenge this sewing dummie/mommy, I looked online and found something called 'burrito method'. I tested it out and VOILA...it worked!
Then, I bought some fabric markers ($5 at Walmart) and found a neat method to do iron on transfers. Get ready: You use SANDPAPER! So I got 2 packs of 3 sheets at Home Depot, took my iron out, some crayons out and voila...iron on transfers!
6) Loot Bags
And last but not least - loot bags - I had already gotten bags at Target last year (in the US) and simply needed stuff to fill them. Ended up with funky flavoured lip balm, Kinder Surprise, Smarties, Gummies, Bubble Bath ($1 each), and made some cute signs.
Overall I think we had a blast (I did, planning it!) -- and it's such a blessing not only to be part of this amazing little girl's life but to also see our family surrounded by so many families that 'colour' our world!!!
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Christal