BELLA'S HELLO KITTY ART PARTY

Saturday was the big day of Bella's long anticipated Hello Kitty party.  She picked the theme, and because it was a party for her, I ran with it, though I would rather not have thrown a Hello Kitty party.  However, it ended up being a lot of fun.  (For a behind the scenes look at how I feel about parties, you can read this post.)  And, because Hello Kitty stuff is EVERYWHERE, which you would know if you had someone constantly pointing it out to you, it was a bit easier to just pick things up at the store.

I decided to add "Art Party" to the mix to give us something to do and level out some of the Hello Kitty madness, especially since I knew we would be inviting boys.  Here's the invite that I purchased from an Etsy seller.



There is an enormously wide variety of Hello Kitty birthday decor available, but of course, I wasn't wild about most of it.  So, I stuck with mostly balloons, rolls of Hello Kitty coloring paper, a bit of bunting, and stickers, which are plentiful.

We had lunch ready for everyone, which was a simple meal of CFA Nuggets (what else?) and fruits and veggies.  I was really truly and honestly trying to keep things easier for this party, and this fit the bill.  I arranged the food by color, which made for a fun look to match the artsy theme, and there were little cards labeling most foods.  I forgot several of them when I was making the labels before, but that is just how it goes.  Most people know a sliced cantaloupe when they see it.






When kids arrived, we headed to the back deck for painting fun, which Bella loved.  A friend's older daughter was able to come help with this part, which was really great.

Kids went in and out to paint as the urge struck them, and quite a few masterpieces were created and then set to dry on the canoe.  Naturally.

We did find Hello Kitty cartoons on YouTube which we had playing during the party, and the kids enjoyed taking them in while eating.  A life size Hello Kitty balloon that I purchased from Amazon (also available locally at Party City, I later discovered) made her way around the party.  She felt quite at home.

After lunch, we headed to our other party activity - a Hello Kitty pinata.  We tried to line the kids up from shortest to tallest, which was apparently a very tall order, and the birthday girl did not want to hit the pinata at all.  But, it was fun, and Hello Kitty was finally knocked down to much screaming and delight.

Then it was time for Hello Kitty cake and Happy Birthday singing.  Bella was a little subdued, but did seem to enjoy it.

So many sweet friends came and celebrated, as well as my Mom and stepdad, which made it extra fun. Gran Gran came wearing a red bow to match Hello Kitty, which was just fabulous.  She helped a bunch by keeping twinsies happy, though Violet did sleep through almost the entire party.

We wished everyone a fond farewell with a set of watercolors and some pictures with Hello Kitty.

It is safe to say that this precious birthday girl had a great time.  Every time she was asked what she liked about the party, she said, "Hello Kitty," so I think it was a hit!