Today is the 6th birthday of a very, very special girl...

Thank you, Griffin Gibson, for the beautiful pic!

Many, many months ago, Hannah declared that she wanted a rainbow party for her 6th birthday. Remembering that my dear friend Andrea hosted a little-girl rainbow party last year, I went and reviewed her old post on that topic.

I read Andrea's post and checked out all of her beautiful, crafty ideas. And, immediately, this thought came to mind: "Oh crap."

Y'all, I'm not crafty. I'm just not. I was born without a creativity gene. I am also slightly unorganized, rather impatient and completely non-detail oriented... all qualities that do not lend themselves well to craftiness.

And yet, my daughter wanted a rainbow party.

We celebrated Hannah and Joseph's birthdays last April with a huge party. The event was great fun and also doubled as their homecoming party...



But honestly, I'm not sure that either child completely grasped what was going on. At the time, neither of them were speaking much English and they'd never celebrated a birthday before. Also, while all the party attendees were family and dear friends, Hannah and Joseph didn't know any of them very well. It honestly makes me a little sad looking back on it.

But this year, they know what's up. This was Hannah's first real birthday celebration -- and I was determined that it would be all she wanted it to be.

So here's what this non-crafty momma came up with...

This is dry white rice, dyed with food coloring. It's so super easy that even Baby Charlotte was able to help. Simply dump a few cups of dry rice into a gallon sized ziplock bag. Stir a couple tablespoons of water mixed with food coloring and pour into the bag. Zip up the bag (make sure it's zipped WELL -- I learned that the hard way) and hand to a child to squish around until the color is evenly distributed. Pour into a container or onto a paper towel to dry.



Purchase some inexpensive glass containers and voilà! You have a fun rainbow craft which also doubles as a take-home/keepsake piece... thus freeing you from the obligation of goodie bags. Which I hate.




We also did this stuff...

Rainbow M & M's, by Madeline and Davis.

Rainbow shaped fruit tray by Yours Truly.

Rainbow colored egg hunt. What's that? You're wondering if I only did the egg hunt to rid my home of left-over Easter candy? I can't believe you'd suggest such a thing. I'd never pawn off unwanted items to unsuspecting guests. Not unless it was for a really good cause.

My crowning crafty achievement was for each girl to create a tutu, using strips of tule and soft headbands from Target.


I cut the strips of tule ahead of time and the girls simply tied the pieces onto the headband. This activity took up a good 20-30 minutes and when complete, they were a huge HIT!

So there you have it -- my one crafty post of the year. I knew from the beginning that adoption would call me out of my comfort zone... but I had no idea that it would require CRAFTINESS. Geesh. The things we do for our kids...

Happy Birthday, precious Hannah. You are loved and treasured.