Art Party: The Big Reveal

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We've covered some of the snacks, and the favors, but there is still lots of "Art Party" to see! The choice for the theme was a no-brainer: my niece not only loves to appreciate art, she is quite the little artist. Her art was the inspiration for the party and also served as the bulk of the decorations!

I set up a backdrop for the "gallery" by using brown kraft paper behind the table. I taped three pieces together on the wall, and then placed different works by my niece on them and free-handed "frames" with a black Sharpie. It was a great way to show off all the pieces that she is so proud of!

She is so prolific I also had enough pieces for another "installation"! I ran a line of string and used clothespins to display more. She has taken several courses of art classes-and it paid off! I also put up a few actual canvases that she painted.

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I wrote up a little "critique" for her party as a joke. I had set up the wall and titled it "Gillyan's Gallery" and so I figured any major opening deserved a little press!

We set up the food nearby, and used some more art to anchor it. We found paper fans that coordinated with the party colors and hung them above.

For the food we kept it simple, it was an afternoon party, so we didn't need anything too extensive. We did fruit and dip, and pretzel rod "paint stirrers", cheese sticks "crayons"-they came in packaging that had crayons on it! I served the Rice Krispy "paint brushes", and mini cupcakes as sweets. We offered them bottled water (I wrapped it with scrapbook paper) and mini orange sodas.

The girls each had painter's palettes to use as plates. They were $1 each at Micheal's and so perfect! Josie had no problem loading her's up!

 Each girl's place setting consisted of her favor box, the painter's palette plate, and a tiny canvas on a stand. That was the first activity-they used Sharpies to "paint" their canvasses.

We set up a long table and covered it with kraft paper for the other activity. We hung up this cute pre-made banner (I think this it the only banner I've ever decorated with that I haven't made!) and some whirly streamers that we got from Target.

The girls decorated their canvasses, and also the aprons that were part of their favors. We picked up the canvas aprons at Micheal's and it was so great that they were dual-purpose: activity and favor!

Wearing their freshly decorated aprons, each girl painted a little ceramic figurine. They were incredibly detailed and it was another great take-home project.

The last activity was a clay-modeling game. The girls created different things with their dough-they had a great time. This is Josie's pizza-I think!

The girls all had a wonderful time creating and crafting and everyone went home with lots of personalized goodies! Everyone loved all of Gillyan's art, and I think she was very pleased with all the recognition and compliments. It was the perfect party for a budding artist!

Want the rest of the "Art Party" details?
-Art Party Rice Krispy Treat Paintbrushes
-Art Party Favors

Linking Up:
"Thrifty Thursday" at Living Well, Spending Less
"Craft Frenzy Friday" at Craft Dictator

Art Party: "Creative" Favors!

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Ever since I was little I have *loved* party favors. Probably for a couple of reasons: they include candy, they are a reminder of a fun time, and the usually including "mini" items! I love anything tiny.:) I usually try to stick pretty close to the theme when I do party favors, without being boring. The favors for my niece's "Art Party" were definitely not!

We really wanted things that inspired creativity and fun-and were also colorful, just like the party. My sister and I decided to put in lots of fun things.

From the Dollar Tree:
-a mini note pad
-candy in little "paint pots"- these containers were sold several to a package and we split them up and filled them with Nerds and Jolly Ranchers
-Pixie sticks

From Party City:
-a mini stamp
-a mini stamp pad
-mini colored pencils
-Fun Dips (as close as you can get to "art" with candy!)
-a stencil
-Bendy sticks- these are wax covered, bendable sticks that have a light tackiness so they will hold to surfaces, they are really fun!
-the polka dot/striped gable boxes

I believe we bought the mini Play-Dohs from Walmart or Target-they are usually in the party section.
I would have totally been thrilled to take home a box full of cool stuff like this when I was kid! We also had plenty of creative "outlets" during the party, too-and *tons* of totally "original" decorations. I can't wait to show you the rest! But here's a sneak peek of the boxes as part of the table setting:

 It was so festive and colorful-any little artist's dream!;)

Linked up to:
"Thrifty Thursday" at Living Well, Spending Less 
"Craft Frenzy Friday" at Craft Dictator

Art Party: Krispy Treat Paintbrushes

I realized recently that I had never posted about a party that is a particular favorite of mine: my sweet niece's 10th "Art Party" birthday! I am going to post a couple of different parts of this party but I thought I would start off with a little tutorial about one of the snacks we served: Rice Krispy Treat "Paintbrushes"!

For the treats you'll need:

-Homemade Rice Krispy Treats (You'll get the best results for this project by following the original recipe. I usually add extra marshmallows to mine, but that will make them a little too soft.)

-"vanilla" flavored almond bark candy coating (find it at Walmart on the baking aisle near the baking chocolate)

-wooden popsicle sticks

-various icing colors

 I used these "AmeriColor" icing tints from Hobby Lobby. They are really inexpensive ($1.49 each) especially if you use a 40% off coupon! They provide amazing colors, and you don't really have to use much at all-only a few drops.

First, cut your treats into the size you want your "brush" part to be. I did mine about 2" x 3".

Then insert a popsicle stick into each treat on the narrow rectangle side, about 2 inches in. These are your handles. Leave these to sit while you melt your candy coating. I did mine on the stove top, but it is microwaveable, too.

 

Then, divided the untinted coating amongst bowls and tint it the desired colors. My sister had these little glass prep bowls that worked perfectly. You want them to be deep enough that you can dip in about half of each treat. If your coating starts to harden, just pop it back in the microwave for a few seconds to make it liquid again.

After you have dipped each treat place it handle side up on waxed paper to allow the coating to harden. It also gives a kind of "paint pooling" effect that worked great for our theme!

Then, display "artistically" on a plate!;) We got these cute painter's palettes for $1 each at Micheal's. We bought enough that each girl used them as plates and then they got to take them home.

They were a huge hit with the birthday girl! I can't wait to share the rest of this adorable party with you.

Linked up to:
Thrifty Thursday at Living Well, Spending Less 
Homemade by You at Made to be a Momma