10675

Art Theme -11yr- Paint with Your Feet Race

March 2005

Janelle in San Angelo, Texas USA

Special Mention

My daughter wanted an art themed party for her 11th birthday. 

The invitations were made on the computer w/ a clip art artist's palette on the front.  Inside went something like this:  Art Gallery Birthday Party - you have been selected to attend a special unveiling of Savanah's latest masterpiece.  Premiere event will be on...(date, time, location).  RSVP to gallery owner at...(parents and phone number).  Then we did a little artist bio about my daughter (make it as serious or funny as you want).  No she is not a famous artist, but we acted like she was.  Guests were instructed to bring their invitations to the party for entry (due to the high security required to protect such priceless works of art).  When guests arrived, my husband was dressed in dark clothes and sunglasses on the porch posing as security, asking to see invitations.  If guests did not have their invitations he radioed into the house w/ the baby monitor and announced the guest and asked if they were cleared for the party. 

We decorated the walls of the living room w/ artwork of my daughters from the time she was a toddler (using scotch tape or poster mount tape).  We also had a chair with a fabric drape over it (the "masterpiece" to be unveiled).   I took on the role of the gallery owner.  Mother-in-law played the lady wanting to buy some art from the gallery.    

We made a craft for the first activity.  It was just before Valentine's Day so we had some craft foam, sequins, glitter, and edible candy conversation hearts.  The girls all made something different. 

Then we went outside to play the toe painting game.  2 teams.  Take socks and shoes off, roll up pants.  Each team had to draw a picture of the outdoors on the patio w/ their feet.  We specified what items each picture had to have. First girl from each team would stick their foot in some green paint (on paper plates masking taped to the ground so they wouldn't blow away) and draw some grass on their team's picture.  Next two girls would draw a sky with blue, next two a yellow sun, next two a flower, etc.  First team to finish the picture won. After washing and drying feet outside, we came in for snacks.   

As the gallery owner I served the girls a mixture of sprite and apple juice (looks like champagne, but cheaper than sparkling cider) in plastic champagne glasses on a silver tray.  Cheese and pretzels were served the same way.  Then it was time to unveil the masterpiece.  We pulled the fabric off and it was missing!  The next game was in preparation to locate the missing piece of art.  We played a balloon pop relay (2 teams).  Inside the balloons were written clues on paper which eventually led the girls to the masterpiece.  After the balloon pop was over, they read the clues and started searching for the masterpiece as 1 team.  It was found.  Instead of giving prizes at the end of each game, we gave monopoly money to ALL who played the games.  The winning team from each game got a little more than the losing team.  As an added bonus, while all the girls were sitting down we threw a handful of more Monopoly money in the air for them to catch.   

Then it was time for the art gallery auction.  We purchased different items for the girls to "buy" while trying to keep w/ the art theme(ranging from scented gel pens, notebooks, iron ons for t-shirts, a couple posters).  We tried to give nice, but inexpensive prizes which was hard when you have 12 girls at the party.  I suggest planning ahead and catching sales.  Most items were bought from Hobby Lobby, which puts different things on sale each week.  Unfortunately we did our prize shopping the morning of the party, so our sale options were limited.  We made the things you hold up at an auction (don't know the official term) out of paper plates w/ a paint stirrer taped on (paint store or Walmart will give you free stirrers to you w/o actually buying paint).  We used marker to write different numbers on each paper plate, like you would see at a real auction.

We let the girls see all the items they could bid on before starting.  Each girl only got one prize.  Of course highest bidder won the desired item (and yes it depended on how much Monopoly money they had).  My husband acted as the auctioneer.  Our tip:  start w/ what you think the most popular item will be.  We started w/ the smaller things and nobody wanted to bid at first because they were holding out for the coolest items.   

For cake we made a rectangular cake and then my husband cut it and shaped it freehand until it looked like an artist's palette.  Frosted the cake white.  Then we took small amounts of frosting from the jar and colored them blue, green, red, etc.  We plopped a bit of each colored frosting to look like paint on the palette.  Then we took some new paintbrushes and draped them over the cake.  It was a great time for all.  We try to make birthday parties a big deal and creative too. 

My daughter loved it, her friends thought it was cool, and the other parents were super impressed w/ our ideas and plans.  We take pictures during the party and then e-mail them to each guest w/ their thank you (that way the parents can see what went on also).  Have fun and make your party a hit!

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