Girls Painting 8th Birthday Party

My daughter is obsessed with painting!  And I have to say that I am too.  Although I am no artist - I do find a sense of peace in painting!

My daughter's 8th birthday seemed like the perfect time to host a painting party with her friends.  There are places near us that offer these services.  It would be awesome to use them but the reality is that it's way more than my budget would allow.  Especially for the number of girls my daughter planned to invite.  So, I put my "skills" to work!

The invitation:

I found this idea on Pinterest and LOVED it!  I purchased the paint sets during back to school sales.  Next, I typed up the "invitation" and added some clip art to spruce it up.  I decided to send them to school with my daughter to pass them out since mailing them would have been difficult.  This worked out fine since she was inviting all the girls in her class (no girl was left out).

I did have two parents ask me if they needed to bring the paint set to the party.
I did not need them but thought I would mention it incase you want to add a note for your invitations.

I always love to offer themed treats :-)  But, I have learned to go easy on myself by taking shortcuts.  This is exactly what I did with these paintbrush treats!

Pre-made and pre-cut Rice Krispies Treats.

Unwrap.

Popcycle sticks inserted in tops.

Chocolate (this brand melts great).

Melt the chocolate.

I use this "homemade" double boiler.

Dip the brushed in the chocolate to make it appears as paint on a brush.

Place brushes on wax paper until the chocolate hardens.

I shared my shortcut for these cake pops earlier.

These cookies and royal icing are a favorite of mine.  

I simply used a heart shaped cookie cutter (I needed two sizes) and a small circle cookie cutter for the hole in the palette.

I had a local bakery make the cupcakes and I added my small cookies to the top.

The extra small cookies.

I just can't get enough of this sweet & salty treat!  I added some pink and purple chocolate with pink and purple M&M's to keep with the theme.

The treat table!

I used plastic pink and purple table covers to create the backdrop.

Very happy birthday girl!

And then it was time to paint!

My daughter picked out this beautiful picture.  I was the "instructor" for the painting so it was important that I felt like I could teach it to a group of fourteen 7-8 year old girls.  I started by looking at it in layers and shapes.  Then I practiced it on my own.

This is actually my practice painting.  Not bad but no where near as pretty as the original.

The kind of paint we used.

Table set-up.  The cups have water in them to rinse the brushes.

To make it easy - I purchased extra brushes and palettes to use at the party (will keep at my place for future painting).

In the gift sets I provided the girls with new (not the stuff we used at the party) paint, palette, easel for their picture (since I did not use canvas paintings that they could hang), drawing paper, pen, pencil, and paint brushes.

The birthday girls masterpiece!

My son felt left out of the "all girls party" so I worked with him on a boy colored painting. 

Not bad for a little boy that just turned 6!

The painting all took place in our garage (to keep my sanity).
I did put up this rainbow wall (used plastic table covers) to provide a fun backdrop.

I always take a picture of the birthday child with each gift and the giver.  That makes it super easy to remember who gave them what.  It's sometimes also nice to add to thank you cards.

Charades (not painting related but to add some extra fun and burn some party time).

Next party?  My son wants a Lego Chima party.  He is turning 7 next summer.

What party themes have you had success with?