Art Extravaganza

For Saffryn's 2nd birthday I really struggled with how to celebrate. I didn't think she was ready and could fully enjoy a party at gymnastics/ymca/etc...plus they are so EXPENSIVE! But I really wanted an interactive party for her and her friends because I really felt like that would be so much more fun. I had gotten her some art supplies as a present for her and just kept wanting to do something art related. It just didn't seem feasible at first...2 year olds (some 3-4 year olds also) with paint in my house...umm NO.

But the thought just kept nagging me. Saffryn just loves art. And it would be so much fun. So I started talking about the idea with Dan and some of my friends. They were so great and encouraging and helped me start brainstorming how I could do an art themed birthday party for her!

I decided it had to be outside...then it morphed into our garage. We could move the cars out and make a space for it to happen. Then I realized it needed to be sooner rather than later with the weather so we made it on the weekend before her birthday. We planned it for Sunday (Saturday is football day...). I made the invitations and started planning the activities.

Here is the invitation I sent out (with my address and info whited out. Of course I trust you..just not the creepy ones :))

After it got sent out I started panicking a little...LOL! What did I get myself into??? But then I started planning it all out and getting excited. So like I said we had it in the garage...who cares if that gets messy! Then I planned out some different areas for them to play.

SENSORY: I got our water table out from this summer and filled it with 15lbs of rice! Then i got some old plastic spoons/cups/etc from goodwill for a few dollars. And presto a perfect sensory activity. I decided not to go with water because it might be too cold.

DOPPERS: Yup bingo doppers. I placed 8 of them on a table with some paper and let them have fun playing and exploring those.

CAR PAINTING: Big thanks to my friend Joy for letting us borrow cars (we don't have any yet). I have a kids table I got from a garage sale and covered it in paper. Then I put little tin trays out from the dollar store with paint and cars and let them drive the cars around.

NYLON DROP ART: I filled some knee high stockings with beans, macaroni and corn kernels. One item per stocking. Then I tied it off. Dip the nylons in pain and drop it on the paper for a fun splash of different sizes and textures depending on the materials.

EASEL: This is self explanatory. I found an easel at a garage sale for $5 this last summer and put paper on it and gave the kids brushes and paint to let them paint.

SPRAY PAINT: I got 4 spray bottles from the dollar store and filled them with water and food coloring. Then I got a white sheet from goodwill for another 1 and cut it into small pieces. We put some plastic from the dollar store (shower curtain) and put the fabric on the wall. The kids could spray different colors on the fabric and it starts to look like tie-dye.

PAINT: I just got a picnic table from my friend Joy again and put some paint and brushes on it for more painting!

I had some wipes all around the garage along with some paper towels and extra t-shirts for them to wear (hello goodwill again). Then I just gave the kids freedom to come and go to whatever station they wanted. It was SO much fun!!!!

I didn't get any pictures because my hands were pretty painty but my Mother-In-Law was so amazing and took some for me!!! I stole these from her!

This day was all about Saffryn...but of course we cant forget about Pierce who was there celebrating his sister's big day!

Painting at the picnic table with one of her best friends!

Enjoying the rice table!

Working hard at the spray paint

Saffryn sprayed herself at the "spray paint"...hahah!

Saffryn and some of her friends playing at the rice table

Oops got some paint on her face!

Along with the arts and crafts we had a snack table (thanks to my Mother-In-Law).

The crafts lasted about an hour. Then the kids started to drift away and want to eat and run around. So we cleaned up the painting and brought out the cupcakes!!!!

The cupcakes!!! So fun and colorful...added to the art theme for sure!

Daddy and Birthday Girl!

Analyzing the cupcake and everyone singing!

Cheese!!!!

A good shot of everyone who came!!! Thank you all!

It was such a fun party! The weather was perfect...we got so lucky!!! Saffryn absolutely loved having her friends come and create with her! She actually keeps asking about doing it again! Once I got organized and planned everything it wasn't that bad setting up and supervising. The other adults were SO helpful in supervising and refilling the paint/paper!!!

Happy Birthday to my 2 year old (on Saturday)!!!! I love you so much. I am glad you had fun at your party. You enjoying yourself makes it all worth it! Also thanks to my awesome husband for being so supportive and patient with my WILD ideas!!! He is truly amazing! I could not have done this without his help! Thank you LOVE!!!