We threw a party for my daughter’s 7th birthday this weekend with a Mermaid theme. My sweet daughter has been a bit obsessed by mermaids recently, so I was really able to have some fun with the theme! We were aiming for an elegant feel … more like a casual beach wedding than a Disney mermaid party. We tried to pull in the elements of ombre blue/aqua, pearls, and starfish. Please feel free to leave comments…I’d love feedback! You can see the inspiration for a lot of these ideas on my Pinterest Mermaid Party Board.
The invitations, shown above, featured an ombre mermaid scale pattern on the back and had aqua and honeysuckle on the front. The invitations are available here.
The cake was simply divine…and all due to the amazing talent of Noi at Noi’s Gifts and Gourmet. Every time I tell her an inspiration for a party, I’m just amazed at what she does The cake stand was decorated with a sheer aqua ribbon, strands of pears, and starfish.
The party was held at our country club pool, and we welcomed the guests with a hand painted sign inviting them to Mermaid Lagoon. We made the sign using by painting the boards white, letting it dry, and then painting aqua over. Once it was dry, we sandpapered it so the white “worn” paint showed from underneath. I used my Silhouette to cut out letters, and used them as a stencil. Then, I finished the sign by hot glueing starfish to it.
My favorite party feature was actually the hardest to photograph: jellyfish party lanterns. We hung them all over using clear fishing line, so they seemed to “float” about. They were made from paper lanterns, crepe paper, and strips of plastic table-cloths. You can learn how to make them here. (The tutorial is from Party City, and you can get their coupon codes here for the supplies.)
The girls were served a full hamburger lunch poolside, but for the munchies we wanted to keep with the under-the-sea theme.
I made “clam cookies” using shortbread cookies and pink buttercream frosting. I added a small candy pearl to each. The clams were sitting on a bed of sand, which was actually just crushed graham crackers.
I filled a fishbowl with pearl gumdrops and blue and aqua rock candy, both of which can be found on amazon.
I made peppermint sea shells using chocolate molds. For each set, I used 1 bag of white chocolate candy melts and one drop of peppermint oil. The chocolate shells will melt quickly, so they were a little difficult in the heat. You can see from the photo that we ended up putting them on a bed of ice, which helped some.
I actually tried several recipes trying to come up with a tasty sand dollar cookie. In the end, the best tasting option was a basic snickerdoodle recipe. I flattened the cookies and then pressed on sliced almonds just before baking.
The food tables were filled with all sorts of underwater treats. In this case, we filled clamshells with salt water taffy.
I love having healthy options at a party, so we made a cute octopus out of 2 red peppers and floated in him in a sea of hummus. We had sea-salt pita chips available, but the girls had more fun eating his legs! Definitely bring a few dozen extra legs so you can keep replacing them.
The octopus eyes are candy eyes from our local cake decorating shop. I attached them with a little melted which chocolate as the glue. On a funny note, after the temperature hit 90F, the eyes started melting, and the black ran down his face like octopus tears. One of the girls saw this, and said, “Look, he’s inking!”
The plates and paper straws were all in an aqua and white them. We used seashells to weight down the napkins so they wouldn’t blow around in the breeze.
Now, for the party activities:
Obviously, since it was a pool party, we knew the girls would be swimming most of the time. Before they got in the water, though, we told them about a secret “mermaid potion” that would give them mermaid tails when they were in the pool. They had to sign a contract saying they wanted to be a mermaid, and then they all drank the magic potion (which was seven up with a few drops of food coloring).
As soon as they jumped in the pool, they all figured out that it was a make-believe game and their tails started growing! Since we humans couldn’t see their tails, they had the best time describing them to us: purple, pink, glittery…and one little girl apparently had a tail covered in peace signs!
After lunch and cake, we had another activity ready. We purchased a tiny mermaid charm for each girl, and the girls got to make either bracelets or necklaces out of them. We had all sorts of colored embroidery floss for them to choose from.
At the end of the party, we had “treasures” for each girl to take home. The treasures were waiting for them in a treasure box, and tied up with a cute note thanking them for coming to the party. All the printed party goods are available at www.SwankyPress.com.
The party favors were rice krispie treats in the shape of starfish. I added candy eyeballs (using a little melted white chocolate as the glue).
