When my daughter, a very social, creative, and rainbow loving kid, was about to turn 4, I automatically knew what kind of party I wanted to put together for her… An art party! The main drawback I had was that we weren’t making a lot at the time which meant I’d have to throw the Art Party while on a budget.
We were also living in a small, dark apartment, but I wasn’t letting that hold me back!
I knew I would have to DIY most of the party, so I started getting things together over a month early.
There are many things I knew I wanted for the party, balloon garland backdrop, food table, and a craft project. I started researching different options and ideas and was able to put together a pretty awesome party for around $160. (You can easily go cheaper if you cut out some projects)
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The Rainbow Backdrop
My first (and most important in my mind) priority was finding the right backdrop for my art party theme. I knew I wanted balloons. And rainbows.
I ended up getting a rainbow balloon kit off of Amazon (if you buy from my affiliate link, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you), made a shimmery white fringe backdrop (check out the full blog post here), and made a paper garland to match the Art Party theme.
Side note… This was my first time making a balloon garland, so I didn’t realize how big it was going to end up. It would have been perfect if I would have made the white fringe section bigger.
If you just LOVE the printable garland, you can find it here. It is easy to edit, print, cut out, and hang!
The whole project cost me under $30!
Food Table
I absolutely love being able to tie the menu into my party themes!
For this Art party on a budget, I went with simple sub sandwiches, chips, potato salad, fruit, veggies, and lemonade. My desserts included some homemade rice crispy treats in the shape of watercolor paint and cupcakes.
Here is the instructions for how I made my paint palette treats!
Of course I was needing to keep prices down, but I wasn’t sure at first how I could tie in cheap sub sandwiches with an Art party. Then I realized I could make some printable signs!
I made these super awesome food labels to match my theme and then researched different artists’ names to make it all work together. I ended up with “Dali’s Deli Sandwiches”, “Paint chips”, “Pollock Potatoes”, “Van Gogh Veggies”, “Fresh Coat Fruit”, “Munch-ies”, and “Creative Juice” for the lemonade. (You can easily use this same idea to fit any food theme you come up with!)
Thankfully, my mom helped buy the fruit so that cut my costs even further!
The cupcakes were made simply, with vanilla cake mix and a rainbow swirl designed frosting. (Full tutorial here). They were absolutely perfect!
Total costs (including paper/plastic items): Under $70
Our Art Party Craft Project
The next important thing on my list was finding an art project the kids could do. I had kids aged 1.5 to 9 to consider which made things a bit tricky.
While perusing Pinterest, I came across the idea of bubble paintings! Thanks Living Well Mom!)
It was easy, didn’t require a lot of time to set up or materials (I got the main items at Dollar Tree), and what kid doesn’t love bubbles!?
Plus, at the end of the day, all of the kids had a cool painting to take home with them!
Awesome, right?!
Total cost: Under $15
Party Favors
Party favors can easily cost a lot so in order for me to be able to do the Art party within my budget I went in search of items on sale.
Since the party was in August, I knew school supplies were on sale. Perfect!
I found boxes of crayons at Walmart for only $.25 each!
With these as my main focus, I decided to make little coloring books for party favors.
I bought some coloring pages from Etsy (The shop is no longer open for me to be able to link), resized the images to fit the size of book I wanted to make, and then made my own front and back pages personalized for my daughter.
It took me a little bit to figure out how to turn a picture into a coloring page (there are many different tutorials on YouTube), but I love how they turned out!
Throw them in cute cellophane bags (found at Hobby Lobby), tie them up with these awesome printable Thank You party favor tags, and …TA DA! Fun, personalized party favors to fit the Art Party theme!
This project cost me under $5!
The rest of the decor
I may have been creating an Art Party on a budget and living in a tiny apartment, but I didn’t want to stop at only a backdrop and food table.
My wall above the couch was the first thing someone would see when walking in, so I made a pretty rainbow fan display to go there. -Around $3 to make
The number 4 I made was created by simply cutting out cardboard and melting crayons on it with my heat gun! (Let me know if you want a tutorial on how you can make one too!) -Practically free!
I also made a fun hanging decoration above my counter where we were serving the desserts. These were made out of paint samples (FREE!), tissue pompoms I found at the Dollar Tree, and string. -Around $3
By reusing an aluminum can, I was able to make a utensil holder with crayons and a ribbon for around $.50!
A rainbow garland was made out of paint color samples and tape- FREE
The most expensive item for the party was my yard sign. I had it printed by Office Depot and attached a couple balloons to help the party guests find our apartment. -Under $25
Finally, I wanted my little artist to stand out and feel special so I designed an outfit for her as well! We had the awesome tie-dye skirt already, but I made the shirt by using my printable iron-on Art Party design, then added a flower crown I had previously made for her. She definitely loved it all! -Around $5
Other Art Party Printables
All of these items are the rest of the printables I made to tie the party together. It’s all a matching Art Party theme so you can easily mix and match any of the printables from this post to make your own budget friendly Art Party!
- Invitations
- Cupcake Toppers
- Treat Bag Toppers
- Water Bottle Labels
- Party Signs
- Bunting Banners #1, #2, #3
- Straw Flags
- Picture Frame Designs #1, #2
- Vertical Welcome Sign
Conclusion
All in all, this whole party came together easily after I figured out what all I could DIY.
The biggest thing to consider when doing a party like this is time… It took quite a bit of time to do all of these projects and then get it all set up (especially with 3 little ones running around!)
If you are on more of a time crunch, you may want to cut some projects out of the plan or buy already made items from other crafty people to save you time and effort!
Either way, you can absolutely make a fun Art Party for your little one while on a budget, too!
Please leave a comment and let me know if you use any of these ideas for your own party!
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