This Tween Watercolor Painting Birthday Party by Darleen Meier of Darling Darleen is filled with a rainbow of colors, jumbo confetti balloons, and the most adorable little hand-painted owls! For all of the little Van Goghs, da Vincis, and Picassos out there that love to dive into their paints, there’s lots of inspiration to soak up here. I especially love the idea of teaching the kids the basics of painting one subject (in this case a cute little owl), then seeing how they each put their own unique creative spin on them. Such a hoot! ;)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Painted teal ombre cake filled with rainbow layers + pastel candies & simple swirled cupcakes
• DIY monogrammed apron party favors & paint sets for the kids to play with and take home
• Large, confetti filled balloons with metallic tassels + bright tulip & gerber daisy flower arrangements
• Rainbow painted ‘9’ birthday sign & mini owl masterpieces made uniquely by each party guest

PARTY DETAILS as told by Darleen…

Let’s play with color! Stella is the little artist in the family. Always drawing, painting and creating. So she was right on board when I suggested having a painting party for her 9th birthday. She’s hit the pre-tween stage so she wanted to be involved in all the planning. Cool with me to have a helper! We are lucky to know a professional artist who teaches children’s art class, and she was excited to teach a step-by-step art class at the birthday party. Painting little owls and mixing colors to make the perfect shade of pink, purple or orange was a great idea for a bunch of pre-tween girls.

Invitations

To set the stage for the party, I printed off the party details on a white 5 x 7 invitations, then Stella added watercolors in pastel blues, purples and pinks. She also painted watercolors onto the envelopes.

Decorations

We made up a few jumbo confetti balloons that floated around the party room and hung paper mobiles in the party colors to add to the festivity. I then watercolored a large number 9 that we had hanging up at the party. Since we lined the table with butcher paper, Stella watercolored place settings of place mats, plates and cups for each of the girls to add color to the table.

Project

The art teacher had a step-by-step tutorial on painting little owls. She showed the girls how to draw a draft owl on paper then transfer their design on canvas. They also learned how to take primary paint colors and mix to make purple, pink and orange. I was impressed with their mixing skills. I bought the art supplies at Blick and the girls were able to keep them as party favors. They also received a monogrammed apron that Stella and I painted prior to the party.

Cake & Candy

The ombre birthday cake was made by Miss Mamie’s from Cupcake Wars with a rainbow surprise inside. It was beautiful and tasted amazing. All of the candy was bought at Whole Foods. I love the pastel colors of their candies. Cake was served on white painted plates.