I’ve been teasing about this event for a couple of months, but I finally got some pictures and can show you the ice cream party we threw for the kids at our church on a teeny-tiny budget, and what possessed me to spray paint a plastic tablecloth.
I currently work as a leader in the Primary (the childrens’ organization at church). The kids had earned an ice cream party through their behavior on Sundays, and since it was January–when they move to the next class–we decided to combine the ice cream with activities designed to help them“Get the Scoop” on their new teachers (get it?).
Instead of a free-for-all ice cream party with dozens of children running around the gym on a frenzied sugar-high. I envisioned recreating a visit to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.
We assigned each class an ice cream flavor (based on their teacher’s favorites), and used my Silhouette to make the cute ice cream posters that served as their class gathering place, and later as a pin the cherry on the ice cream cone game. Each class had coordinated name tags, with the same flavor of icecream.
Then we began a rotation, so that we would only have two classes visiting the “ice cream parlour” at a time. The other groups were playing getting to know you games in their classrooms, or fun out-door games. (If you want more details about the games and rotations, let me know. And I can do another post).
(My Kira picks the perfect toppings for her ice cream sundae!)
The three of us in the presidency donned these cute caps I ordered from Bake it Pretty, and took turns serving the ice cream to the kids and their teachers.
It was fun to serve them, and hopefully have them see us in a bit of a different light. The rotation worked really well, and having the kids in their smaller groups helped keep things calm and pleasant for all involved!
For tutorials and more details about our the ice cream party–including the spray painted tablecloth, click “Read More”
So how did we make our cute ice cream stand? (And did I mention that we were working off of a TINY budget here?) I did a tutorial about our party backdrops on the UCreate Party blog. We used the same basic materials for this stand…
…Including BSB. Of course, I had to bring him along to figure out how to make my vision come to life. We were fortunate to have found these thin tables in a room at the church. we propped the wood supports in between the tables and placed them in #10 cans filled with rocks for stability. I honestly can’t tell you exactly how he made my awning stand out. I know it had to do with wire hangers, but he took it down before I could get a picture of the underneath side.
I can show you how I made the awning, though!
It is simply made from two pieces of poster board. I did a little measuring to determine where to fold it and how wide I wanted my scallops. The scallops were made by tracing the bottom half of a bowl along one side of a the board, and cutting them out. I carefully taped my striped using the least sticky painters tape I could find. I did have just a couple of small tears in the paper when I removed the paint, but it actually worked quite well for this project.
I sprayed the whole thing with Rustoleum aqua spray paint, and when I removed the tape, had my super-cute awning. It’s hanging out in my kitchen right now, because who knows when you will need an a candy-colored awning for an event?
But that wasn’t the only spray painting going on. I told you that we had a tiny budget for this party. Well, I had my heart set on the ice cream parlor feel, and I couldn’t find what I was looking for in stores, or even on-line. I just wanted striped plastic tablecloths for the round tables where the teachers and kids sat. I could not find any anywhere, and so I decided I would create my own stripes, although I knew people would say “you are crazy.” And they most certainly did!
It really was a bit of a pain in the behind, if I am being honest, but the stripes added a lot to the atmosphere! So I think it was worth it. It actually wasn’t a tablecloth, but technically, a shower curtain liner from the Dollar Store. The shower curtain was square and just the right size to fit over my round tables.
I taped them off, with the kind of painters tape that I used on the awning that doesn’t adhere too tightly to the surface. You can probably see how mush the plastic is crinkly. I was a little panicked that it was going to be a disaster, because I couldn’t keep all of the lines perfectly straight, but it honestly didn’t make a huge difference. The effect was still clear.
I also painted this plastic ice cream cone, also from the dollar store. This table cloth and the cone were painted in Rustoleum’s Sweet Pea. Another table cloth was painted in aqua.
Don’t love this picture, but it is probably the best one I have of the set-up.
Since we had four groups rotating through each table, they had to be easily wipeable (especially when the 3 year olds got finished), so I just turned the table clothes up-side-down. The material was so flimsy that the paint showed up great on the non-painted side! Another time, I might invest in a better base for the tablecloth if I’m going to go to that much work. Who am I kidding? I don’t have plans for spray painting a plastic tablecloth in the near future.
The napkins are all skiwampus in this picture, and the stripes doing show up well, for some reason, but you can see that we had a cute sign on each table and napkin holders and aqua napkins from IKEA. I really wanted to do helium ice cream balloons on each table, but ran out of time and budget.
You can get a better idea about the stripes in this picture (the far table was just plain white. I only had two striped tablecloths in me).
I put cute labels on the toppings, but kept them in their original containers. Hershey’s syrup, caramel syrup, whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, and colorful sprinkles. The tray in front (dollar store) hold tiny spoons (courtesy of our friends at Scooptacular), maraschino cherries, and wafer cookies. My spray painted ice cream cone (originally a dark blue), holds larger spoons, for those who don’t like the sample size.
Since we didn’t get any close-up shots of the ice cream and toppings, here are some of the labels I created for the occasion.
If you have any questions about anything, let me know. There is probably more to say about this party, but I’m pretty sure the blogging police is going to haul me away if I make this post any longer.
Have you ever done anything like spray paint a cheap plastic tablecloth? Would you under the right circumstances? Are you crazy like me?
UPDATE: Just posted all of the ice-cream-themed games and activities we did at this party! Go here to read all about it!
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Up early and saw this on twitter! Love it…the awning is just adorable…I'm thinking my granddaughters 3rd birthday…!
Wonderful~
xo
Robin
All Things Heart and HOme
Adorable!!!
And I love it because and only YOU and Martha Stewart would spray paint a shower curtain!! ; )
xoxo
love,
MaryLea
Super adorable! Love the idea of an ice cream parlor party! I bet the kids LOVED it! And, yes, I think you are a wee bit crazy for spray painting shower curtains…but, it just adds to all the wonderful "insanity" here! 😉
I think it is fantastic! And YES, I will be happy to paint tablecloths with you anytime! I too tend to get myself into extensive projects because i am excited about the potential results. Once I'm in it, I begin to think, "Why did i want to do this?" It always ends up with a great feeling of accomplishment and it's always great to go the extra mile to make it extra special! Great job!
Ummmm can I just completely copy this entire idea?! I just got called into the Primary presidency and have no clue what I'm doing! This is darling!
How cute is this party! Ok wait…you painted the plastic tablecloth? They came out great!
So cute and clever! I have seen these Ikea frames on several parties. I need (want) some for some b'day parties coming up, better get my butt to IKEA! THanks for the inspiration!
I love the tablecloth idea! For my daughters birthday I couldn't find a table cloth that I wanted so I had to make my own… always on the look out for clever ideas 😉
I love the tablecloth idea! For my daughters birthday I couldn't find a table cloth that I wanted so I had to make my own… always on the look out for clever ideas 😉
so sweet & I love the awning!
I would LOVE any more information that you would be willing to provide about the games. We are doing an ice cream party (in May, when it will hopefully be warm enough in Idaho) for our kids who have memorized even 1 article of faith.
What a great idea! My sister is in the Primary now and I am passing this on to her. All the details are perfect!
I'd love more details about your activities! As Primary President, I decided last week we're going to have an ice cream party after we fill a jar with pom poms for good behavior choices.
Thanks, everyone! We are working on some posts about the specific games and activities we did. Planning to post in the next week or two. It was a fun activity. I think the teachers even enjoyed it! 🙂 @The Dunnams, that is exactly what we did (the pom pom jar)!
I love this idea. Everything turned out so adorable. If I ever serve in primary again I will have to remember this idea
So very cute!
What a cute little party! Especially considering Primary budgets…I will definitely be bookmarking this one!
I love this idea!! Only problem my ward would have is that our Primary has 90 kids. This would work though for any kid party, and sometimes donations from parents is what makes it work. Kudos to you for all the time given to come up with creative solutions!!
Any chance you would share your printable for “primary is sweet”? SO cute! We are copying this entire idea for our primary social next week. THANK YOU!!!
LOVE IT ALL!!! Any way you could share you adorable Primary Is Sweet Printable with us? We are doing something similar next Friday. We would appreciate this so much!
GREAT JOB!!!
We are having an Primary Ice Cream Social. Just wondering if you still have the cute card table decoration “Primary is SWEET”. Can I get a copy? Super cute idea. You are so creative….
Adorable! Where did you get the table top sign holders? And what are they called to search for them?
Those are a favorite IKEA find. They are only 99cents and are so versatile! Look for them with the picture frames.
Love it! So cute.
Thanks, Tara!
What an ADORABLE idea! I love it & I’m pinning for future inspiration.
Warmly, Michelle
Honey I’m Home
Thanks, Michelle!
gonna try it.. thanks for sharing..