Birthday Party Theme Idea: Do-It-Yourself!

By Tonya Steward, Gumdrops & Truffles Parties, LLC

Make This Rainbow Party Table For $50 or Less!

The rainbow theme is VERY popular this year. You can make a beautiful party table for your child without spending a fortune! By using what you may already have and doing some bargain hunting, you can even make this party for less than $50.

I recommend starting at your local dollar store. You’ll be able to find Styrofoam, tape, tablecloths, streamers, and candy for much less than you would pay at other places. Use those 40% off coupons at the crafts stores. I shopped at Dollar Tree, Walmart, AC Moore, Party City, and Whole Foods Market.

Supplies:

lollipops- 12 regular and tropical flavor Tootsie Pops were used
freezer squeeze pops in rainbow colors, frozen
1 small rectangular block of Styrofoam to hold lollipops
white wrapping paper to cover Styrofoam
gift wrap tape
your child’s choice of layer cake with white frosting
2  19.20 oz. bags of plain M&Ms
7 oz. bag of purple M&Ms
birthday candle(s) in primary colors
produce in rainbow colors such as strawberries, baby carrots, yellow bell pepper, banana, cucumber, green apple, blueberries, red grapes, and plums prepared
1 roll each of crepe paper streamers in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple
white thread
3M Scotch brand masking tape
1 plastic tablecloth in each color- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple
carpet tape, double sided
1 sheet white posterboard
1 sheet of light blue card stock

You’ll also need:

container to display freezer pops
a sewing machine
platter, bowls or plates for fruits and vegetables
cake stand

Make the lollipop stand:

Remove plastic from Styrofoam. Using wrapping paper and gift wrap tape, cover the Styrofoam just like wrapping a present. The seamless side is the top of the stand. Arrange the lollipops in rainbow color order. Then, simply poke the lollipops through the paper and into the Styrofoam. You can use a ruler to mark off even spacing first if you’d like.

Put a rainbow on your cake:

Add rows of M&Ms around the cake in rainbow color order. The icing needs to be moist for the M&Ms to stick. Therefore, this is best done on a homemade cake. Don’t forget the candles!

Make a rainbow of fruits and veggies:

Arrange your prepared foods in rainbow order on a platter or series of bowls or plates. Of course, you can substitute with other produce that you prefer.

Make a ruffled streamer rainbow:

Unroll one of the crepe paper streamers. Use a sewing machine to stitch down the middle, bunching up the streamer as you go to create the ruffle. Repeat with the other colors. Tape the ruffled streamers to the wall using loops of masking tape. It must be the 3M Scotch brand or you’ll risk damaging your paint!

Make the cloud:

Cut a lumpy cloud shape from the posterboard. There is no right or wrong here. Cut raindrops from the blue cardstock. Using the gift wrap tape, attach the raindrops to lengths of white thread. Tape strings of raindrops to the bottom of the cloud. Use two pieces of thread and masking tape to hang your cloud from the ceiling, or tape it to the wall with masking tape.

Make a rainbow ruffled tablecloth:

Center the red cloth on your table. Make sure it hangs within six inches of the floor as you will be taping the other tablecloths to this one. Make the red cloth fitted to the table by folding in excess cloth and taping with masking tape, similar to wrapping a package. Cut yellow, green, blue, and purple tablecloths in fourths lengthwise. Cut the orange tablecloth in eighths lengthwise. The ruffle layers are applied from the bottom up, starting with purple and finishing with orange. About 6 inches from the floor, apply a strip of carpet tape to the red tablecloth near the wall, across the front, and around the other end. Taking a section of the cut purple cloth, gently gather folds, pressing them onto the tape as you go to create the ruffles. Repeat process for the other colors overlapping each layer halfway onto the previous layer. About 2 1/2 sections of cut tablecloth were used to make each ruffle layer. Note: the back of the table will remain uncovered.