Making Number 2s

There are so many different children's birthday themes and ideas for decorations that it can become an expensive exercise for something that usually all gets thrown out the next day (or the same day if you are really efficient). So I took DIY to the next level and had Harvey create some of his own decorations for his second birthday party.

So here is my tutorial on how to get a 2 year old to make number twos:

All you need to get started are some number 2s (I purchased these ready made from a party store very cheaply, or of course you could cut out some yourself), paint, brushes etc:

I set him up outside on his play table with some butcher paper taped to the table (although he did not end up getting any on the ground, so we could have done it inside). Then you let the little master do his work:

I had purchased an Art smock for him to wear but couldn't find it at the time, so I let him go topless. If you use acrylic, or even better poster paints, it washes off easily with soap and water. His little belly became a canvas all of its own:

To prevent everything going a lovely shade of brown from all the unrestrained mixing I followed a fantastic tip that I got from a fabulous blog called Lil Blue Boo.
The secret is to not cross the colour wheel. I made sure to keep the colours simple and to not let him have any colours at the same time that would make brown. Once he was finished with the reds & yellows, I turned the numbers over and he painted the other sides in blues and greens. That way he could mix to his hearts content and only ever made ever changing shades of orange and green:

I then simply put ribbon through the holes and hung them along with primary coloured balloons. They looked fabulous and got lots of comments. Harvey was so proud of his number 2s 'two, two!' and  he had a great time making them!