We have an explosion of colorful party ideas to share that will make you and your guests want to bring out the party popper streamers over and over again. Well, maybe not! Lol! But your guests WILL be eager to pull out their sunglasses from the vibrant and colorful party décor they see when they come into your dining room. We are excited to share with you some easy, as well as color-themed, birthday party ideas that you can use at your next birthday or celebration.
This post is all about colorful party ideas.
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Colorful Birthday Inspiration
My daughter, Abby, is celebrating her 11th birthday and we decided the décor needed to be fresh, fun, and full of color. She originally wanted a watermelon theme, which morphed into a colorful melody once we started finding table décor pieces that we fell in love with. Sometimes you just have to roll with the “finds.” I almost said, punches, but finds sounded a little more special.
The “Sweet Summer” paper plates that we scooped up from Kroger were majorly on sale for even better than Dollar Tree prices. You know that’s saying a lot because Dollar Tree’s prices, rock.
I don’t like to overlook a good sale, and because of the extreme discount on the paper products, it made us totally change the direction of our party planning. I’m so happy we did because this color-themed birthday party turned out to be darling.
1. How to Style Multiple Colors and Patterns
When it comes to adding multiple colors, the key is to make sure all of the shades complement one another. Start with an inspirational piece and build your table and party décor around it. Stick with the colors behind your “inspiration” and you will be set up for a successful color combo.
We like to bring our inspirational item with us when searching for other decorations, in order to create a full tablescape and party ensemble. Even if it’s just a picture on the cell phone, we regularly refer to it when adding in the other layers of décor, to make sure the colors are similar.
With multiple colorful prints combined, it’s helpful to include a few solids. This helps balance the busyness of the prints so the eyes can have a resting point in between the layers of patterns. Take a step back and look at the prints to make sure they all seem to flow well without seeming too busy.
For example, the gift bags came in multiple patterns and we had to decide which one worked best. One had polka-dots, another had stripes, and the next had a chevron print. In order to decide which print flowed best, we placed each of the designs next to the picture ensemble on our cell phone. Because the “table runner” already had dots and the gift bag had candle lines mimicking stripes, we thought the chevron pattern would be the best fit because this print had not been incorporated yet.
2. Sweet Summer Table Setting Décor
The “summer” plates were layered on top of bone china dinner plates to give it a little extra UMPH in terms of size. If you want to use larger plates as chargers, go for it. Layering is always best if you want a full-looking table.
Mix and Match Place Setting Materials
If you need to mix paper with china, and it coordinates with the colors, I say do it. You can also use melamine plates or larger coordinating paper plates underneath if you want to mix and match materials a different way.
Table Runner
The colorful plates were used as our “canvas” to build more layers of color upon. The table runner came into play when we noticed how well it complimented the plates. Can you believe, it’s actually a roll of wrapping paper? The EASIEST and most versatile idea for a table runner is wrapping paper.
Solids and Prints
As mentioned before, it’s best to add in some simple solid pieces when there is a mixture of patterns. We did this by incorporating the solid bright green tablecloth, solid white dinner plates, and solid hot pink cups.
Sparkly Flatware
The flatware was super sturdy and super sparkly. Do you know about the strong plastic silverware that doesn’t feel like it’s going to break when you dig into your food? This is “that” kind of silverware! Lol!
3. Super Easy Tablescape Centerpiece Details
You can make a gift bag your centerpiece and have it fit any party theme. It just takes a fun bag to flow with the colors, and some coordinating tissue paper. If you want to go extra “fancy” you can add balloon numbers (like we did), pinwheels, garden picks, plants, faux florals, DIY pool noodles turned into candles, and so much more, spilling out. Just use your creativity and add the items on top of the tissue paper.
A little side note; if you decide to use the balloon number ideas, have your child hold them for a quick picture before the arranging. Such a cute photo opportunity!
A good thing to keep in mind is what you’d like to place on each side of the centerpiece. These are areas that can be easily overlooked, but need to be included in the design planning if you want the full-table look. Here, we used tissue honeycombs that had all of the fun colors incorporated from our table.
4. Birthday Bar Cart Styling
I always say, “Bar carts are like an extra pair of hands.” It holds true for this color-themed birthday party as well. We used the bar cart to hold the gift bags and styled it with a Happy B-Day banner. You can do the same for yours, or style however you see fit.
It’s also helpful to have a space on your bar cart for the birthday cake. Display it on a dome-topped pedestal cake stand and turn the dessert into artwork. Abby’s birthday cake was too tall to fit inside one so we let it stand alone.
Abby’s birthday cake was an Italian Cream Cake with a watermelon twist. Not in terms of flavor, just with food coloring, and some added chocolate chips to mimic the seeds. This was the ONE area where we kept the watermelon theme alive. You can find the recipe here.
5. Goodie Bag Details
The chevron party bags seemed like they needed a little extra flare, so we added some wrapping paper fringe. The same paper from the table runner to tie everything in. We will sometimes use a retired piece of fabric, like from a bed sheet (with a cute pattern), and make fringe embellishments for our bags and gifts. If you want to find out more about “sheet fringe,” check out this post where you can see pictures of how this idea was incorporated at another party.
Inside the gift bags, we added candy that coordinated with the color scheme. It’s the little details in party planning that can take a celebration to the next level. Feel free to add whatever treats you and your guests prefer to your goodie bags.
Conclusion
We hope you gleaned some fun and colorful party ideas for your upcoming celebration. Feel free to think outside the box, mix and match patterns, and always have a blast when designing your party.
P.S. A Note of Encouragement
We all have special gifts inside of us, placed there to be a blessing for those around us. Have you ever pondered what gifts and talents you have in YOU that are maybe lying dormant? I want to encourage you to search for what they are and look into seeing how they can come to life.
Maybe you like to draw, paint, write, organize, help, serve, garden, cook, bake, dance, fix or do a multitude of many other things. No matter the simplicity, it IS considered a “gift” and a talent. Make no mistake, God put that in you for a reason. It’s to be used to fulfill His will, your purpose, and also to bless others.
Many times the talent comes packaged as a desire. What God-given desires do you have deep inside of your heart? I believe it’s time to see those gifts and talents come alive. Dig deep in your pondering and talk to God about what He’s called you to do.
There are great things in store when you start to actually use what is in your hands and heart. Today is the day to move forward in the calling you have on your life. You will see great dreams fulfilled and desires met when you step out and use those gifts that God put in you.