Rainbow Unicorn 7th Birthday Party

Rainbow Unicorns & Gymnastics.  They go together, right? 

In our world, I guess they do.  My *almost 7* year old daughter Ayla asked months ago to have a Rainbow Unicorn birthday party.

Actually, she hijacked a Oriental Trading catalog and circled and wrote down all the rainbow unicorn items she wanted for her birthday party so I could get the *right* thing.  Why fight it?  Rainbows are fun and easy to decorate with, Oriental Trading is inexpensive, and I'm all for easy birthday parties. :) I convinced her that a gymnastics party would be a lot of fun for her and her friends, and we just threw in the Rainbow Unicorns for some eye candy!

Here's how the Rainbow Unicorn Gymnastics party took shape:

INVITATIONS:

We found some super cute 5" x 7" Rainbow Unicorn birthday invitations at Zazzle, so that was a no-brainer. :)  They were easy to customize, shipped quickly, looked great, and I didn't have to design or print them!

DECORATIONS:

Since we were having her party at a Gymnastics gym, we didn't need to do much in the way of decorating, so I kept it very simple.  I picked up 7 balloons at the Dollar Tree in rainbow colors (the purple one didn't make it to the party) and used rocks and tulle to anchor the ribbons to the long tables, and put a couple of long red plastic table cloths from Dollar Tree underneath.

We ordered the Rainbow Unicorn dessert napkins from Oriental Trading and used solid purple dessert plates from Dollar Tree, but only because these plates were out of stock when I needed to order them.  Actually, the napkins worked out better since the plates ended up covered in cake & icing. :)  Okay, some of the napkins did too!

Rainbow Unicorn Dessert Plates

I ordered a unicorn cake topper from Birthday Express because I couldn't find any unicorn cake designs at my local grocery stores -- and I don't bake cakes.  So I went the semi-homemade route and we ordered this pretty pony to sit on top of a plain white cake:

Unicorn Cake Topper

But I gave her a little acrylic paint makeover so she'd fit into the party a little better:

FOOD:

Since it was an afternoon party, we only served cake, bottled water and Smarties.  Easy.  So easy. 

Our cake was a 1/4 marble sheet cake from the Target bakery with white and yellow icing and rainbow sprinkles.  They wrote "Happy Birthday Ayla" for me, and I added the cardboard "grassy meadow" and unicorn.  I was afraid the unicorn's feet would sink into the cake.  Word of warning -- cardboard sticks to icing.  We just scraped it off and cut into the cake after she blew out the candles and we were ready to cut -- didn't matter how the icing looked then!

The unicorn was a big hit.  The girls passed it around the table so everyone could rub the unicorn's horn for good luck. Plus, it's sturdy and durable enough, that now Ayla can use it as a toy with her Barbies and dollhouse dolls.

GOODY BAGS:

Oriental Trading made the goody bags really easy.  We ordered rainbow unicorn necklaces for each of the girls (which arrived as a tangled mess of chains, but once I got them untangled, were a really AWESOME party favor for a bunch of little girls - and better quality than I expected).

Unicorn Rainbow Necklaces - Oriental Trading

We also included a sheet of stickers, that matched the theme perfectly:

Unicorn Party Sticker Sheets (set of 12) - Oriental Trading

And multi-colored glow sticks that Ayla spotted at the Dollar Tree -- but they're available from Oriental Trading as well.

Bi-Color Glow Swizzle Bracelets

Plus, we added a few packages of Smarties for their sweet tooth. :) Sort of rainbow-themed, right?

We put the whole lot of goodies into a clear party bag and sealed it with some rainbow striped cardstock and staples:

ACTIVITIES:

The best part of this party was that I didn't have to plan any activities. The girls played on the gym floor and the coaches guided them through the different stations (trampoline, floor, bars, pit, etc.) They had 45 minutes of activity....then a little bit of cake, opening presents, and we sent 'em home! 

Oh, and of course at our house, we like to dress for the occasion - we'll take any excuse to wear something special. :) Ayla requested rainbow nailpolish...