Alex loves painting and asks to do it very often. He used to ask every day but I think I crushed his painting spirit a little because I do not allow him to paint every day. It is so messy! I proposed the idea of having a painting party to him and he was all for it. First thing was to make the invitations. Normally I make digital invitations but I wanted to give the paint splotches some dimension so I made them with real paper during nap time one day.
Alex painted names on most of the envelopes for his friends. My favorite is Collin's. I asked Alex what was written under the name and he said, "A cross. So Collin can think about Jesus." It was hard for us to narrow the invitees down to only six (plus Alex and Edison) but I really wanted the party to be manageable and I wanted the friends to be Alex's age. This was our first party where the parents dropped off their kids and it was a huge success.
I wanted Alex to be involved in this party as much as possible so I got food markers and had him decorate his own cake. He made a very awesome Batman on top.
I bought a newsprint roll from the local newspaper for $5 last year. It has lasted for more than a year and I use it for everything, including wrapping gifts. I stapled strips of it to the top of the wall in the garage and then splattered paint and scribbled all over it.
Alex got to work coloring the party favors.
The night before the party, we finished setting up the garage and Sam hung up tablecloths to block all of our garage-y stuff that lines the walls.
The next morning, I made the food and then headed out to the garage for the party. It was so amazing that I did not have to worry about having a clean house.
About two minutes before we were expecting guests, Declan walked over to the tablecloth and ripped it down. So Declan was banished to the stroller and Sam climbed the ladder to re-staple.
I was very specific about having eight kids at the party. But five
minutes before the party, I learned that one boy was sick and would not
be able to make it. I was pretty bummed because I had made Alex cut
other kids off of the list.
As the kids arrived, they put on aprons and got to work painting bags that eventually became their party favor bags.
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| Alex |
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| Evalet |
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| Dahlia |
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| Tucker |
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| Edison |
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| Kaleb |
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| Jiahs |
After they decorated their bags, I gave them each a canvas to paint. It was so cool to see the different things they each did. Some kids covered the entire thing with paint while others did a few lines and were done.
Alex's friends brought him such amazing gifts. They really knew what he would like and brought those things. It was very sweet.
After presents, we had cake and ice cream.
Then they painted the driveway with cornstarch paint that I made way too runny.
Before the party animals went home with their parents, I made them show off their masterpieces.
Their party favor bags had their aprons, watercolors, palette suckers, paint spill puzzles, and they of course took their canvases home. I liked that their party favors were things they made themselves.
Alex is such a crafty, fun little boy. I was happy we got to celebrate his 5th birthday in a way he loves and grateful his friends came to party arty with us.
The aftermath...
Alex immediately wanted to play with his gifts so over the next few days we played a lot of mad scientist, he painted his little car, and Batman zoomed all over the house.
