Messy Art/ Rainbow Theme Outdoor Birthday Party

 Little son turned 3!

I threw a MESSY ART PARTY outside at our home.

I soon realized that it was more messy than arty, but that made it even more fun and the kids had an absolute blast! It also had a slight rainbow theme to compliment the ART part of the overall theme.

The Setup

2 Sensory Fun Kiddie Pools  

shaving cream and colored sand 

(We had a Goop pool but too much water got dumped in)

Messy Kitchen Station 

fake plastic food, natural ingredients (rocks, sticks, leaves, etc), utensils, and the main ingredient of messy fun flour and water

(which was fun but I wouldn't recommend. It was horrible to clean up! Should have went with GOOP)

Outdoor Paint Canvas 

My husband and his buddy made this awesome outdoor canvas for the kids to paint using washable paint and brushes and spray bottles filled with colored water (water and paint).

Swimming Pool and Slip-N-Slide

To wash off and cool off

A few buckets of bubbles

and lots of different kinds of bubble wands

forgot to take pics

Other

1 kiddie table covered with easle paper to color on.

I also gave the kids stickers and coloring books.

I wanted a non messy table for kids that are a bit messy shy

or just needed a bit of a break in the craziness.

A water table and kiddie table near the sand pool to mix sand and water

A few large storage containers scattered around the yard and filled with water for easy wash off.

Which at times also became tubs lol

Food and Drinks

Grilled hotdogs and hamburgers, chips, drinks, cookies, watermelon, etc.

homemade rainbow suprise birthday cake

this cake is all over the internet right now and I knew I had to do it!

 I found the easiest directions

HERE

Just look at that face! He was so proud of mommy's cake and couldn't wait to see the suprise inside!

tada!

Party Favors

Homemade bubble wands and rainbow coloring books (paint samples from Lowes)

I also kindly asked that instead of bringing gifts, that guests bring art supplies 

 to donate to the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter.

Birthday Banner and Sign

Using more paint samples from Lowes, I made a "Happy Birthday" rainbow banner using string, colored fuzzy craft sticks, and 6 of my favorite pictures of L from this year.

Cardboard birthday sign

I super glued a bunch of arty/crafty materials to stick with the ART theme and 

traced the letters using ABC cookie cutters 

SEE LOTS MORE AWESOME 

PICTURES OF THE PARTY

HERE

The internet was an amazing resource for this party. I used some ideas I found from others who have braved this party before me and some ideas I created on my own.

You can view my inspirations on my PINTEREST Board!

If you loved themed parties, come see the Pancake Party we threw for L's 2nd birthday!

Pancake Party

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Shaving Cream and Powdered Paints

We did another shaving cream activity yesterday. Shaving cream is a favorite messy play activity here, and we've done so many things with it, including put wet paint in it, but this time I let L use the powdered paints for a different painting experience.

Painting the deck now of course

and a bit of sliding going on

I don't think we'll ever tire of the fun of shaving cream, nor will we run out of ideas for it's play use.

It is the ultimate messy play/messy art item! 

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Food Coloring Bottle Monsters

I emptied two food coloring bottles today while making my Firecracker Cake for the 4th, and not wanting to throw away the bottles (i'm a craft hoarder), I washed them out and laid them to dry. After drying I replaced their caps which all the sudden reminded me of gnome hats! Well, I have a bit of an obsession with adding googly eyes to objects, but I couldn't figure out how to make them look "gnomish" after adding the eyes so I just followed the lines on the sides of the bottles with a sharpie and made little monsters.

So simple...but they make me smile.

Think I'll suprise L by putting these in his outdoor kitchen to discover next time he plays.

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The Firecracker Betty Crocker Cake

I made the Firecracker Cake from Betty Crocker!

It was super easy and looks so pretty!

I'll be taking it to the 4th of July party tomorrow.

Thought I'd post just in case someone is looking for a quick and festive dessert for the 4th.

Here's how mine turned out

Here's what I brought to the same party last year

Star Studded Blueberry Pie.

It was a huge hit!

Recipe HERE

 

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Thrift Found Candle Holder Turned into Crayon Holder

Ok, I am NOT a project person hardly at all, but when I found this candle holder at Goodwill I knew exactly what I wanted it for....

A CRAYON HOLDER

So, with a little bit of scrubbin and some spraypaint, the result was just as i'd hoped

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