THE HIT OF THE PARTY:
At Jill Driscoll's party for her son, Christopher, the guests especially got into mural painting. "As soon as I said, "Go for it,'" says Jill, "I knew it was going to be a hit." Instead of using butcher paper, Jill went to her local newspaper for end-roll paper (long rolls of paper that many newspapers give away for free or just a few dollars) and stapled it to a fence outdoors.FUN & GAMES:
Remind guests to dress in old clothes and give them large tube socks to roll up over their sneakers.•Make artist's hats. Buy some inexpensive painter's caps, which arriving guests can decorate with fabric paint.
•Chalk the walk. At Edith Gholson's party for four-year-old Meg, guests were each assigned a square of the front walk to decorate with chalk.
•Paint with water. Little kids don't even need paint to keep them happy. Hand each one a brush and a bucket of water and have them paint your fence or deck.
FAVORS:
Fill a paper paint bucket with a paintbrush, balloons, a recipe for homemade play dough, and a coloring book.EATS:
Even lunch had an artistic flair at the Gholsons': The kids painted ketchup on corn dogs with basting brushes. But the real masterpiece was the sheet cake, which Edith brought out frosted white. She told the kids she was too busy to decorate it, so they had to. Naturally, the finished art looked good enough to eat. For another inspired cake idea, check out the Artist's Palette Cake.
