Arts and Crafts Themed Birthday Party
The day after the Groundhog excursion for my daughter’s birthday, the traditional caffeine and sugar sponsored madhouse (AKA the birthday party) occurred. Don’t worry, the caffeine was strictly for the adults who were silly enough to stick around to help (thanks for being silly enough to stick around and help! :D ).
Inspired by our recent jaunts to Kids’ Club at Michael’s, we decided on an “Arts and Crafts” theme for the birthday party. Each child was given a canvas tote bag to decorate with fabric markers, a zoo animal magnet to assemble, and a felt pillow to stitch, fill and decorate. The girls were given heart pillows, and the boys were given a variety of sports balls to make (how very non-gender neutral of me, I know).
The kids all had a blast. The magnet crafts were fairly easy to accomplish by most of the kids, and the tote bags were almost as simple as coloring a piece of paper with markers. We thought the fabric markers were better for this setting than fabric paint (no drying time with the markers), and we just used cheap cookie cutters in a variety of shapes for the templates.
The pillows were a little more time consuming for the kids to complete. Most of the kids who were around my daughter’s age were able to complete the project once they got help getting started, and some without any assistance at all. We did have a few younger kids (mostly siblings of the older kids) who only got part way through the project before it was completed by an adult or taken home to finish.
Part of the reason for hosting this at home rather than at Michael’s was that, for the number of kids we wanted to include, I think our lowest price option would have been (if I’m remembering the figures correctly) just over $100. That’s with no food or anything else included, just the most inexpensive craft. Now, we were inviting 12 kids, in addition to our two oldest, which means that’s a party for about 14 kids.
Instead, we ordered all of our crafts from Oriental Trading Company on-line, and used the code from one of their catalogues that I got from a friend (thanks friend!), which qualified the order for free shipping b/c the total was over $60 (I had to order a $3 item to get to that $60!). They have some fantastic arts and crafts kits for kids at great prices. That $60 paid for the bags, the animal magnet kits, the pillow kits, a little bottle of glue for each kid, and three sets of fabric markers for the kids to share. And there were several extra of both the magnet and pillow kits. I think that would make those Thrifty Mommies proud, what do you think? ;)
I do have to say, though, that I’m not the kind of person who minds a mess (you’d only have to meet me once to know that was true!), so hosting a party where there’s going to be scraps of yarn and spots of glue and scribbles of marker around when the party is done just doesn’t even phase me. I can see how it would be worth paying an additional $30 or more if it would bother you to have the mess in your house.
I’m sure that some of the additional money at Michael’s is also for paying the helpers that would be there to assist the kids in their projects. My solution? Grab a Bald Man and some great, but nutty, friends who are willing to hang around and help you out for free!!! Thanks, nutty friends. Couldn’t have done it without you. ;)
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POSTED IN: Arts and Crafts, General Play Library Goodies
14 opinions for Arts and Crafts Themed Birthday Party
Michelle
Feb 6, 2007 at 2:54 am
Those are great ideas. My kids love anything to do with glue and scissors.
Kerri Aldrich
Feb 6, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Michelle: Thanks. :D There was at least one craft that appealed to each kid. And, of course, the balloon fight at the end was a hit with them all!
Play Library » Kids’ Birthday Gifts Spending Poll
Feb 6, 2007 at 3:37 pm
[…] We have a new poll up!!! My daughter’s party, and all of the gifts that she was generously spoiled with, got me curious as to what parents are spending these days on gifts for their kids’ friends. […]
Local Girl
Feb 10, 2007 at 5:15 am
I think creative parties where the kids can actually make something are the best kinds to have. Those crafts are adorable!
Thank you for sharing this with the Carnival of Family Life.
JHS
Feb 11, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Sounds like fun! (I would have had the party at Michael’s, though. :-) )
The Carnival of Family Life will be posted later today so I hope you stop by and read some of the many wonderful submissions!
Kerri Aldrich
Feb 12, 2007 at 12:03 pm
JHS: It was fun, though I think I need to plan for help if I ever try this one again. The mommy friends that chose to stay saved my skin! :D
Mary (Mert)
Feb 12, 2007 at 1:10 pm
great idea! i was thinking about something like this for my daughter’s 6th coming up… maybe next year ;O)
Lisa
Feb 13, 2007 at 8:33 pm
An arts and crafts birthday sounds like fun.
Here via the carnival of family life.
Kerri Aldrich
Feb 13, 2007 at 11:34 pm
Local Girl: It is fun for them to go home with some things they made, and they have fun creating together. I think it’ll be a fun memory!
Mary: It was a fun time, but there’s no party that they’ve ever not had a blast at!
Lisa: It was. Thanks for stopping by. :)
Play Library » Zoo Animal Craft Kit
Feb 14, 2007 at 12:03 am
[…] One of the crafts that we had for the kids at my daughter’s birthday party was Zoo Animal Magnet Kits from Oriental Trading Company. I always wonder how the crafts are going to be shipped, and how much assembly will be required when they get here, so I thought I’d lay out a before and after of one of the magnets. The black rectangle is the magnet that gets glued on the back. All of the pieces can be assembled with standard school glue. Isn’t he a cute little monkey with his curly pipe cleaner tail? […]
Play Library » National Geographic Kids Magazine
Feb 21, 2007 at 11:38 pm
[…] I’d headed over there because my super cool awesome former nanny friend bought my daughter a subscription to the National Geographic Kids magazine for her birthday, and we just received the first issue yesterday. What a fun magazine! In this first issue we’re already finding great photos, fun joke pages (you know kids love a good joke!), features on animal rescue shelters, and a chart to help you pick the perfect pet (my daughter was really excited about that!). The last page included a Mad Libs type activity, and also featured some original drawings from their readers. […]
Alphabet Cookie Cutters
Jun 10, 2007 at 12:11 am
[…] Stencils to use with fabric markers on t-shirts or canvas totes […]
Dennis J. Cole
Jun 15, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Thanks for the ideas. This made me remember back when I was a kid about all the birthday party’s. The ones that I remembered most was always the ones where you were involved in some kinds of games or doing something creative. The best part of doing a craft project is that every kid will have a chance to take a keep-sake home and they will remember that day for the rest of their life. Just how this article makes me think about how I enjoyed those type of birthday parties like that. Great article, look forward to looking at the rest of the site.
Kerri Aldrich
Jun 15, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Dennis: Thanks so much for visiting and commenting. :) That’s one of my favorite parts, too, that the kids have a handmade keepsake to take home. They all seemed to enjoy it.
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