Vintage Rainbow Party

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I  have been sitting on this wonderful vintage rainbow party for some months now. Our son’s wedding kept my blogging at bay for a good while, but I am excited to finally be able to share this very special party with you. 

In July our vibrant fun loving daughter turned 10. We have four family birthdays in three weeks (!!) around that time, so it’s a tricky balance trying to celebrate everyone accordingly. As neglectful as it may seem, this particular daughter had never had a real party before. I need to clarify that I don’t feel bad about this. Her birthday has been celebrated every year, with lots of love and presents, but somehow the big party had eluded this sweet child. In an age of instant gratification and spoiled children, it’s not a bad thing to have to actually wait for something! And I can tell you that this made her party even more special.

The rainbow party theme was a challenge for me. It has been done so well by so many amazing Pinterest worthy party stylists and wealthy mothers. Firstly, I didn’t have a fortune to spend on it, and secondly, I didn’t want a party that looked like everybody else’s.  I wanted to put a twist on the rainbow theme by keeping to my first love of vintage styling. I am crazy about chenille bedspreads. They flood my memory as a 70’s child who had a bright orange one, and they make the BEST vintage tablecloths! I based the whole theme on my sunshine yellow and bright blue chenille cloths. I also wanted to use coloured wool and ribbon to satisfy my love of texture, and also because they are cost effective. I spent many a night wrapping wool around my vintage milk bottles. I  brought out my lovely white milk glass cake stands and hobnail dishes and sweet little ferris wheel cupcake holders for all of the treats.  As Miss Charlotte is our flamboyant, dramatic child, I wanted her name to be a feature of the dessert table.

The backdrop was made up of cheap paper like coloured fabric from Spotlight, that I picked up for less than $2:00 a metre. I bought white paper pom poms on Ebay. The sweets included an array of cloud cookies, coloured lollies, white chocolate Tim Tam pops, my own Hummingbird Cupcakes and a rainbow cake hidden inside an unassuming white buttercream cake. 

I’m not really into party games. By the time I bake and set up the whole dessert display, I just want to sit down, talk to the mothers and drink tea. The last thing on my mind is Pin the tail on the Donkey ( I’m a bit slack like that!) I’m also a firm believer in old fashioned  play, and like to give children unstructured time to just enjoy each other and be. However, I did want the children to have one activity to do, so each guest was given a cupcake to decorate. This was a real winner. As it was our Charlotte’s first real party, I did splurge at the local discount shop and bought a range of colourful hats for the kiddies to dress up and take home. They were all very proud of their creations…and my hope is to instill a love of cake decorating into the next generation! 

My own children helped me with many of the handmade elements. Our invitations were made of hand sewn felt clouds with rainbow ribbons hanging down. We also carried this design through to the Thank you take home bags. The girls made all of the clouds.

As you can see, the birthday girl was beaming all day and had such a wonderful time at her party. I probably say this often, but this party comes pretty close to being my favourite. I hope you enjoy looking through the photos and get inspired to give your next Rainbow party a vintage twist!   XX

 

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5 thoughts on “Vintage Rainbow Party

  1. This is one of the most darling party celebrations ever! You have created a delightful display of treats for the lucky attendees! So creative and colorful, Anna!

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