We chose not to do kid/friend parties this year, but we did have a few celebrations over the weekend (our family dinner & two parties for family), so I took the opportunity to add a little rainbow theme to the fun. We had an awesome rainbow party weekend adding just a few simple and inexpensive touches...
1. Dress the part - Obviously Miss EJ wanted a special outfit (she toned it down from
last year) and Liv got in on the action too. Super cute, but easy to play & have fun in too!
2. Use food/snacks as decor - The rainbow theme made it fun and easy to theme the party food. The glass jar (filled with
Jelly Belly candies &
Rainbow Twizzlers) was the perfect centerpiece and we placed small bowls of the remaining jelly beans out as snacks. The rainbow fruit tray worked well with both our evening party and our breakfast party, so I made two!
3. Share the work - This awesome cake
(idea from Family Fun) was purchased frosted, but undecorated, from our local market. We (well mostly Matt, who has much more patience than I) added the Jelly Belly rainbow and the mini marshmallow clouds. The perfect
semi-handmade cake!
4. Keep the decorations simple - Rainbow pinwheels outside, a silver glittered
Happy Birthday banner and a balloon number 4 were our main decorations. We used a simple white tablecloth which really helped the food and rainbow tableware stand out.
5. All girls love manicures! - And what could be easier? I spent $5 total on rainbow nail polish colors and created this crazy fingernail look for my girls and nieces. EJ is STILL talking about her special nails (and they are still in perfect shape too)! I covered our coffee table with Kraft paper to ensure we had a safe area for the manicure station and later the table became a drawing station for the kids. Definitely an idea I'll use again (with washable crayons only though...just in case)!
6. Fruit Loop Necklaces - Simplest craft ever! We set out bowls of the rainbow-colored O's and some bright lengths of yarn (wrap one end of the yarn with masking tape to make threading easier). The kids were eager to make their necklaces (and sneak some
Fruit Loops to snack on too).
and last, but not least...
7. Get ready to be the center of attention - For our birthday girl, that isn't a problem! EJ loved blowing out the candles on cake after cake (after being sung to again and again!). The two round cakes are Jack's traditional
rainbow cake for EJ and the
doughnut tower is our version of cake for breakfast.