I'm back - let's party!

A certain someone turned 4 recently.  FOUR!  The last couple birthdays have been pretty tame (last year she specifically said that she didn't want a party), so I decided to go all out this year.  After deciding on a rainbow theme, ordering invitations, and buying party gear all to match, Phoebe exclaimed "I think I'd rather have a kitty party".  So hence, the Kitties and Rainbows party was born!



The decor was pretty simple, rainbow garlands that I made with paper punches and my sewing machine (I swear, my sewing machine is my number one tool when it comes to party planning!), and white, cloud-like pom poms.  Here's a nice shot of the room before anyone arrived.  I love Penelope's little "who me?" pose in the background.  I also went so far as to order my husband a sweet shirt that I specifically made forced him to wear for the party.  Thankfully he knew what he was getting into before he married me.



Aaaaaand, insane birthday craziness. 



I kept the dessert table pretty simple (at least when compared to Phoebe's first birthday and my sister's wedding).  It's pretty easy to find rainbow party inspiration a la Pinterest (more like inspiration overload), so I just picked a few of my favorite ideas and went with those.



I.  Love.  This.  Cake.  Best part?  Craaaaazy easy.  Well, aside from the fondant cats and rainbow - those are equally easy to make, just a bit more time consuming.  For the cake, I made two batches of white cake batter and divided it into six pans (I think it comes out to about 1 1/4 cup of batter per 9" pan).  Mix in some food coloring and pop them in the oven.  I didn't assemble it until the morning of the party because I didn't want the cake drying out since the edges were going to be exposed, but it honestly took me about 15 minutes to frost and stack.  I did go ahead and trim around the edges of the cake - just to get a more vibrant color since they did brown a bit during baking.  The frosting is a swiss-meringue buttercream that I had whipped up the night before.



Unlike my 15 minute cake, these jello cups took forEVER.  They turned out beautiful and the kids loved them, but they definitely sucked up an entire day that I'll never get back.  If I ever did them again, I would leave out the white layers in between each color section.  It's a mixture of coolwhip and gelatin, and it doesn't spread very well, so you have to go back in with a spoon and even each layer out.  If you want to give them a shot, the diy can be found here.





I needed something to go with all of those cute paper straws, so I purchased two cases of the small sized bottled waters and refilled them with Kool-aid that I made in an array of rainbow colors.  Oh yeah!



We had a kitty dress-up station right when you walked in, so everyone could look the part.  The cat print is by Katie Daisy and usually resides in Phoebe's room (I know someone is going to ask!). 



I bought some cheap socks from the dollar store and hot glued pink felt paw pads onto the bottoms, and made kitty ears from headbands (found at Target) and more felt.  Whiskers were drawn on with eyeliner pencils. 



In lieu of party favors, we had an adopt a kitty station, which was an idea I found from this adorable kitty party here.  The stuffed cats were purchased from Oriental Trading, and were only $20 for 12 kitties.  Each child could personalize their kitty with a collar that I made with some ribbon, velcro, and a paper tag.  That way we would avoid any mixed-up kitty fights! 



And since I didn't have enough to do before the night of the party, I decided to whip up a new dress for Phoebe.  I saw this fabric when I was at QuiltCon and almost died from cuteness.  It's by Kokka and it's called Candy Party Cutie World.  I used the Smocked Sundress pattern by Heather Ross, that is also available online for free!  See the little kitties hiding in the flowers?



I'm four!  Meow!






Thanks to Rae for capturing so many great party pics while I was running around like a crazy person!

I think all of these kitties had a great time!  Check out my IG feed for more detail photos of how this party actually came together!  IG name - Emmmylizzzy #kittiesandrainbowsparty