Jayci's Rainbow Party

Jayci turned 5 while we were traveling home from our family reunion last week.  This was her year for a friend party, so yesterday was the big day! I spent the morning at soccer games and pictures (which started at 8:25!) and sped home to get ready for the party.  By some small miracle, Nate's attending was super fast rounding yesterday and he made it home by 1!!! I am SO glad he did, because there was no way I would have survived the 15 little kids by myself. I really dodged one, there.  Anyways, I spent most of Thurs and Fri night enlisting Nate to help me decorate and get everything as ready as could be. Jayci had been begging me for a rainbow party for the last year because she was dying to make a rainbow out of fruit...go figure. So, that is what she got! Here are some of the decorations:

Jayci and Treyton spent some time making decorations on our chalkboards, so I incorporated those, too. They were pretty excited to feel like they contributed and their work was on display.

The Entryway

An overall picture of the party area

The Mantel with the pinwheel  banner that said Jayci

Jayci's rainbow contribution

I loved how the tablecloth "canopy" turned out

We had coloring sheets and crayons for after we read "What Makes a Rainbow"

Next, we played "Pin the pot of gold on the rainbow" with reeses minis. Next up, I had different color of the rainbow necklaces for everyone. I handed them out and we went out back to play "Rainbow Tag".  There as a rainbow catcher in the middle who called out colors and if your color was called, you had to try to run from one end of the backyard to the other without being caught. The kids LOVED this and everyone wanted to take a turn in the middle.

Then we came inside so everyone could make their own rainbow skewer, complete with "clouds" (aka marshmallows) on each end.

We also made rainbow catchers to hang up at home

Next, Jayci wanted to do presents, and since it was her party, I let her do it! I love how little kids crowd around to see what she got. People were so sweet and she got some really fun gifts!

Next we did cupcakes.  I made this really great "cloud frosting" that I found on pinterest. It was SO good. Really marshmallowy and perfect! And I found a cake "misting" spray in  blue that I could spray them with. I love how the mist made them look. I'll be using that stuff again for sure.

Next up was making rainbow necklaces.

This was definitely a hit. The kids had fun making all different patterns with their froot loops and licorices.

The birthday girl!

We bought a special rainbow shirt a few months ago that she has been saving for this occasion. Jayci was so excited to wear it with her matching bow I made this week.

The two hours went by really fast and we had lots of fun. It was super crazy, but I'm glad I planned more activities than we actually needed.  There wasn't a dull moment! And Jayci told me this morning, "It was even better than I imagined it would be!", which was about the best thing she could have said. I seriously love this little girl and am so glad we had such a fun, memorable party for her! Thanks so all who helped out, who came, and who made it so great!