Rainbow Birthday Party

Here are some of the details from Miss D's 8th Rainbow Birthday Party. I already described the cake in all it's glory in a previous post.  So now I want to share a bit more.  The bunting for the party was really simple to do with a stack of  rainbow colored felt from the craft store.  I bought two of each color and then a couple of white as

well.  I cut each 8" x 12" sheet in two and then notched out a triangle on the bottom of each.  I cut out the lettering from white felt and just used a little craft glue to attach it.  I then used a hole punch at each top corner to make a hole to thread some ribbon and there you go!

On to the food.  Of course the rainbow theme needed to continue to the food.  I decided to do a rainbow fruit tray in lieu of the skewers.  I knew there would be some younger siblings present and I always worry about those sharp sticks in young hands.  

We also had some veggies and snack mix.  Somewhere along the way it has become tradition to have veggie sushi as well for birthday celebrations.  This recipe is the one I basically follow.  I usually do veggie sushi because it's not as intimidating ( for those that haven't yet tried sushi) and it also holds up well on a buffet table.  

Meringues with rainbow sprinkles.  I love meringues.  They're light and sweet and just fun to have at a party.  The only issue is the weather.  Humid summer birthdays means that they need to be kept in a sealed container until right before the party.  Even still, they may get a bit sticky and soft by the end of the party.  As a side note:  those sticky, soft meringues are perfect with ice cream- trust me :)

Rainbow Jello.  Yes, I realize I painstakingly made the cake with all natural dyes and then go and add multi-colored jello to the mix.  I know.  I really couldn't help myself.  There are many recipes for this layered jello around.  Basically it involves making a batch of each color and layering it with a lighter version of the color and letting it set up in the fridge.  It's not a difficult dessert at all, but it TAKES TIME!  I used small (4 oz.) jelly jars and only used a tablespoon or two of each color to layer.  You need to wait in between the layers until they are set before adding the next, but it will go a bit faster with each progressive layer as it chills. This is the recipe I based it on - minus the alcohol of course!  

I have mentioned before how it has become a tradition at each birthday to have these shortbread cookies. I made two versions for this birthday.  Number eight ones and a "color your own cookie" variety. The eight cookies were frosted and decorated with sprinkles.  I used these for the favor bags.  The rectangle cookies were simply frosted with royal icing and allowed to dry firm.   I placed some food writer marker next to the plain rectangle cookies so that the children could decorate their own (although I think perhaps the adults had more fun with this activity).

And just in case there wasn't enough, I made cupcakes as well.  These were strawberry cupcakes with a strawberry cream frosting.  YUM!

The decorations outside kept with the theme.  I used bandannas folded as pinwheels for each place setting and rainbow pinwheels as the table decoration.

And a rainbow pinata I made with a balloon base and a paper cone attached to the bottom.  Always a hit with the kids - HA!    

Thanks for checking the party out.  If you would like, you can check out the cake I made for the party too!