Rainbow Birthday Party

by Megan Berry
(Washington State)

Ever notice how sometimes papercrafts can get a little too "busy," like there are just too many embellishments? Maybe I'm the only one with this issue. Either way, I tend to lean more toward simple designs - it's really hard to do with all the cute ideas and supplies out there...I just want to do them ALL!

I came up with an invitation for my daughter's upcoming rainbow-themed birthday party that encompasses this simplicity that I'm talking about. I used the "Spring Fling" paper pack from Oriental Trading to decorate the white cardstock invitations that I printed out with this wording: Somewhere over the rainbow...there's a birthday party! I used a circle punch to cut out the rainbow detail from one of the paper designs in the pack and then attached it with a foam square so it's kind of raised up a bit.

I also used a balloon paper punch to make two coordinating balloons for the front of the invitation. A glue stick is what worked best to adhere paper to paper.

The inside is even more simple. Just a line of dots in each color of the rainbow, again using the gluestick. Beside each dot (in coordinating pen color) I wrote the party details. Bright and cheery, yet not too overwhelming.

To add an extra touch, I lined the envelopes some of the more busy, vibrant papers. The tutorial I used is linked from my blog post about the invitations (as well as more pictures and details): http://fowlsinglefile.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-invite-you-to-check-out-these.html

Overall, I'm really happy with how they turned out. The plain white background really makes the colors stand out - and that's what this party is all about...a rainbow of colors!