Is it just me, or do your kids’ birthdays sneak up on you every year, too? I always start thinking about birthday party planning months in advance and tell myself I have plenty of time. Then I blink, and their birthdays are here! Every. Single. Year. Our plan this year was to have a joint pool party for our little boys. Their big days are only 34 days apart so it just makes sense. Unfortunately, our pool water got too chilly about 3 weekends too early. My little guy was content with an impromptu dinner, swim, and cupcakes with a couple friends on his special day, but I still needed to figure out a plan for my almost 8 year old. After brainstorming for a bit, we decided on a painting party! He’s artsy and creative, and totally loved the idea!
We only had 2 weeks to plan, and with a long road trip coming up, we couldn’t spend a lot of money. I found some awesome companies online that will send you all the supplies needed for a painting party, but they just weren’t in the money or time budget. So of course, it turned into a DIY painting party- which is totally me anyway! Thank goodness for Amazon Prime and 2-Day shipping!
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DIY Painting Party Supplies
- DIY Stencil (see below)
- Tabletop Easel Multipack
- 11″ x 14″ Stretched Canvas Value Pack
- Acrylic Paint Value Pack (plenty of colors for creative little minds)
- All-Purpose Brushes
- Paint Palette (one per party kid)
- Canvas Drop Cloth (to protect your table from spills)
- Disposable Cups (for water, one per party kid)
- Paper Towels
- Plenty of snacks!
I’ve linked all the painting supplies for easy one-stop shopping, but make sure to check out your local craft stores (and use their coupons) to get the best deals.
The first thing I did to get ready for the painting party was create a stencil. My birthday boy wanted his friends to paint kitty cats. We searched Google Images until we found a fun kitty design we loved. I used Silhouette Studio to create a cut file using the image we picked and then cut it out on thick cardstock with my Silhouette Cameo. That was the easy part. The hard time consuming part was tracing the stencil on 12 canvases. I used double sided tape to secure the stencil and a pencil to trace.
Our outdoor dining table and benches were the perfect spot for the party kids to sit and paint. My husband covered the table with the canvas drop cloth and stapled the overhang on the underside. I set each kid up with an easel, canvas, paint palette, water cup, paper towel, and 3 brushes (1 flat & 2 different sized round).
We had a couple younger siblings tag along for the fun, so I set up a small table with washable finger paint and blank canvases for them.
Before party day, I painted my own kitty on an extra canvas so the kiddos would have an idea of what their finished painting would look like. I referred to my painting when asking them what colors they wanted for different parts of their cat. I kept extra paper towels and all the paint on a separate table so I could easily distribute both when needed.
Instead of just turning the kids loose, I gave them a few directions. They started with the inner ears, mouth, and nose. Next, they painted the kitty’s eyes. Then the stripes. I loved this part! It was fun to see their creative minds turning when choosing paint colors. Some kiddos kept it mellow, and others chose wild rainbow kitty stripes.
Once all the stripes were painted, we went inside for a snack to give the paint time to dry before finishing with the main face color.
After refueling with some snacks, the party kids were ready to get back to work! Everyone put the finishing touches on their kitty cat paintings and we let them dry while our birthday boy opened gifts.
They all did an amazing job and it sure sounded like they had a lot of fun! They were full of giggles the whole time! Each party kid went home with their finished painting and a paint palette cookie.
Our birthday boy talked about his party for days and it’s definitely a theme we’ll have to repeat! Except next time, it will be moms only and wine instead of cookies! Hopefully this little tutorial will give you the confidence to throw your own DIY painting party. With a little bit of prep work, you can put together a party that’s sure to impress!
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