When your little girl asks for a rainbow birthday party but you weren’t planning to throw a BIG party, then you find fun ways to keep the party theme small and simple. Easy and affordable, too!
My little girl has always loved rainbows so it wasn’t surprising when she asked for a rainbow birthday party. GREAT! I love a fun theme, and I love to plan birthday parties! But there was a small problem… my husband and I had agreed to keep this year’s birthday celebrations small and simple.
You see, in years past, we have always had BIG birthday parties that included grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and some classmates. I put together fabulous goodie bags and planned fun themed activities. But those parties lacked intimacy. So we decided to pare down our guest list to grandparents only this year.
It was our intention to just serve dinner and cake, and then, open presents.
With no party games or goodie bags, I wondered how I would be able to pull off the themed party my daughter was hoping for.
The solution ended up being pretty easy. We incorporated a couple simple decorations and some rainbow food dishes. (Served on rainbow striped paper plates, of course!)
And in the end, our little girl was delighted with her Rainbow Birthday Party!
Super Simple Rainbow Decorations
Our party decorations were super affordable. For only ten dollars, we were able to put together some high impact party decor. The birthday girl was thrilled!
Rainbow Curtain
On a visit to the party section of our neighborhood dollar store, I picked up a few party streamers with pompoms – five different colors. The night before our little girl’s birthday, we fluffed up the pompoms and hung the streamers from an entryway opening (creating a beaded curtain effect in a rainbow of colors).
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Fluffing the pompoms was a lot more work than we had anticipated so I ended up cutting each streamer in half. This still created the overall look we were hoping for but with only half the work. Win!
Our little girl was thrilled to discover this rainbow curtain when she awoke on the morning of her birthday. She squealed with joy as she walked through it again and again. (In a way, it very much reminded me of when she was a baby and would joyfully run through sunbeams.
The grandparents were all impressed with the rainbow curtain as well. And days later, our daughter continued to enjoy her new rainbow curtain because we moved it to her bedroom doorway after the party. Bonus!
Affiliate Links: (We used hanging tissue pom poms from Dollar Tree, and it was a lot of work to fluff each individual pom pom. If I was to do a rainbow theme party again, I would probably use one of these decoration options from Amazon instead.)
Rainbow Projector
A couple weeks before the party, I purchased a rainbow projector at the Five Below store. It creates a pretty impressive light show in a dark(ish) room, and best of all, it only cost us a few dollars.
Rainbow Party Food
Our daughter wanted pizza as the main dish of her birthday dinner. (What child doesn’t want pizza on her birthday, right???) So we applied her requested rainbow theme to side dishes and dessert. Here’s how.
Rainbow Jello
When my little girl requested a rainbow theme for her birthday party, I immediately thought of my grandmother’s jello. I had a beloved grandmother who used to love to bring rainbow jello as her dish for potluck celebrations. (This is the same special grandmother who loved Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and bought me my first set of Little House books.) I’ve tried Grandma’s recipe over the years but my jello never turned out as well as hers… but with a little help from the internet, my rainbow jello dish turned out great for this party.
I followed a recipe for rainbow jello from the Together as a Family blog. It is exactly like my grandmother’s recipe except for two things – this recipe flip flops the creamy layers and the clear layers, and this recipe suggests using the freezer (instead of the fridge) to set each layer. In years past, I think I didn’t allow each layer enough time to set fully.
The Jello flavors I used this time were Pineapple, Orange, Cherry, Grape, and Berry Blue (in that order). Then, I topped it off with a layer of cool whip topping. It turned out beautifully!
Fruit/Veggie Platters
If you are doing a rainbow theme for a party, another easy side dish would be to line up fresh cut fruit (or veggies) into rainbow-colored stripes on a platter.
Picture this for a fruit platter. A stripe of blue berries going across a platter. Above that, a stripe of green grapes. Above that, a stripe of fresh-chopped wedges of pineapple. Next up, a stripe of orange wedges. Followed by a stripe of strawberries. It creates a visually stunning rainbow display of fruit. And, it is so easy to do! Healthy, too!
For vegetables, you can use a variety of different colored veggies laid out in rainbow stripes. Think of all the veggie combination possibilities – different color bell peppers, radishes, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and more!
While we have laid out fruit and veggie platters like this for previous parties, we did not do that this time. I had asked grandparents to provide fruit salad and veggie platters for the meal, and I didn’t want to be that mom – you know, a party-planning momzilla who can’t let a few minor details slide. 🙂
Six Layer Rainbow Cake
Our grand finale was a SIX LAYER RAINBOW CAKE for dessert. I’m not much of a baker but this Betty Crocker recipe was super easy to follow, and it turned out pretty amazing!
I used food coloring that I already had at home instead of purchasing the gel food colors recommended in the recipe. My layer colors were not as vibrant as the recipe’s picture. But I think my pastel version worked just fine.
I frosted it and added multi-colored sprinkles to the top. The finished product turned out well. My little girl was impressed by the sheer height of it all, and she was delighted to discover the stripes of colors inside once we cut into it.
And if you are wondering if it tasted good, everyone (children and adults) said that it did.
For more rainbow-themed food ideas, check out this fantastic post from Busy Being Jennifer that I discovered online!
OTHER FUN PARTY THEME IDEAS:
Small, Simple and Successful
I was pleased with how our rainbow themed birthday party turned out. More importantly, the birthday girl was pleased with it!
Even though we kept the party small and simple, I am declaring it a big success.
Happy birthday, sweet little daughter of mine! We love you lots!
DO YOU LOVE RAINBOWS, TOO? Then, you might enjoy reading this blog post about Rainbow Displays All Around the World!
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Looks like fun! I’m impressed with your Jello and the cake! I made a rainbow cake for Laura last year, but with only four layers. It didn’t look very good, but she liked it anyway!
Happy birthday to your little girl!! That cake is so awesome. And I bet that rainbow curtain sticks around for some time 🙂
How adorable!!! I want a pretty rainbow birthday! Your cake turned out amazing and I’m betting your daughter was thrilled with it all!
Rainbows are awesome. Makes everyone happy. A successful party for all.
Very cute! I have never thought of looking at a projector for party deco before!