This picture frame party banner takes a minimal amount of drawing skills, and engages the whole party in an artistic gift for the birthday child! Let me tell you the story behind how these banners became a staple at my ARt Bar birthday parties.
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For the past few months I’ve been doing some birthday parties for other people. It’s sort of low key, I don’t advertise, and it grew out of my art classes. Many of the art class moms were asking me if I would consider coming to their house to do a party. At first I just said no, it sounded like a lot of work. But then I thought, maybe I should give it a try! Now I have an official flyer with some art ideas, about 8 parties under my belt, and I can say that I am semi-experienced. It’s actually turned out to be fun! I really enjoy it because the kids who are there love doing art. And the birthday child (so far just girls) cannot wipe the smile of her face!
I set up three stations per party. One of the stations is always this birthday banner. I sort of got the idea from two places. One was from a photo that I saw on Pinterest, and the other was from my friend Jean’s blog, The Artful Parent (a must visit). I hand-draw the birthday child’s name with a pencil first, making sure it’s centered (ish). Then I go over it with a black sharpie and hand-draw the frames all around.
Supplies needed:
paint brushes
The birthday girl (left) and her friends. This party had 12 girls ranging in age from five to eight.
The banners never turn out bad. It’s a perfect station to go to when they are finished making their pom-pom necklace, or waiting to do a craft at another table. Kids keep coming back and painting more until the whole paper is covered in paint. Lately, I’ve had the kids sign their names on the painting, too.
Here’s are some more from other parties….
It’s really a perfect idea for kids of any age. I’ve done it with 4-yr olds all the way up to 13-yr olds. And I’m quite sure my almost 16-yr old and her friends would love it, too.
What a wonderful, personal piece of art for the birthday child to hang in their room all year!
xo, Bar
I LOVE this!! I’m doing a “graffiti wall” at my son’s class Halloween party, and we’re going to do it on black butcher paper with chalk markers. I’ll draw the frames beforehand (and I’m thinking lots of mason jar outlines that they can fill with eyeballs and gross stuff), and then I’ll have chalk, chalk markers, stickers and washi tape for them to decorate.
What about making this available as a printable? You could make it the size of an engineering print that could be downloaded and printed at Staples. I’m thinking something like what the Caravan Shoppe does, you know? (http://caravanshoppe.com/products/draw-together-thanksgiving-set) You could leave a space for folks to write in the birthday kid’s name. And maybe make one that’s non-birthday too? I would love to have this option.
I’ve been looking around for large-size coloring pages too. So far — I’ve found these: http://www.deliacreates.com/giant-coloring-sheet-printables-free/. I teach craft classes too, and coloring pages are so great for when kids finish early — even the older kids love the “adult” coloring pages. And the big ones are so fun because they’re collaborative. Engineering prints are so inexpensive and easy — I think they would be a great option for this project!
hi Becky, i love the idea of a graffiti wall! brilliant. can’t wait to see and hear all about it! and thank you so much for your thoughtful ideas about how to sell these. I’ve never made an engineer print and now I am super intrigued!! i’m totally digging the deilacreates giant coloring pages. i was thinking of making a coloring page of my own for Thanksgiving, but I never thought of it to do this banners. you are a genius!! xo bar
First thought that popped into my mind was to hire a friend to ship them for you 🙂 you could have a Saturday ship date each week. You could hire a high schooler. I’m always trying to think of ways to give kids a chance to earn money. Or you could ask the parents of your art students if they wanted to do it in exchange for some classes. I’m a big fan of barter.
Thank you so much, Alysa, for leaving a comment! I love this idea, the ship on Saturdays. It would make it doable. And my two teenage girls love to spend money so they might as well earn some of their own, ha! You are so nice to leave these great suggestions. xo Bar
I LOVE this idea! Thanks for sharing it! No kids here, so maybe I’ll just make one for my own birthday next month! I’d enjoy both the drawing and the painting <3
P.S. I must admit I had a little giggle at your Happy "Birtday" Cat banner! I hate it when I miss a letter like that when I'm doing something – it makes me so disappointed and cranky! But it's inevitable: brains are always having random fart moments like that 🙂
ha! Sarah, I didn’t even notice the mistake until YOU just pointed it out! OMG, I’m so embarrassed. I need to email that mom. We had a three hour party and nobody noticed…?? Thanks for being such an eagle eye! xo Bar
OK, so the point is to draw portraits inside the frames? I see in one picture where they did that, but it looks like they mostly just painted the frames and left them blank.
hi Erica, yes that is the concept – but lots of kids just paint in the squares, depending on their age. sometimes I explain to them that they are frames and they can draw pictures inside, but sometimes the party is busy and I don’t get a chance to get over to this table so they just do whatever they feel like and a lot of times that is just painting!
this is good post..thank you for share this post.