My sweet little mermaid turned 4 and we celebrated with an under the sea splash-tastic party!
I had been planning this party for months, as I always do. We went to Disney at Christmas and I encouraged her to choose a girly, fancy, Cinderella/princess party where her friends could all come dressed up and I could plan an elegant party. But Kerigan decided that she wanted an outdoor mermaid (Ariel) party with her pool and all her friends, so I went with it. Even though I was fully aware that it could rain. It was July, right? What were the chances??
Well.... the forecast all week was for rain the day of her party. I had spent months planning, making decorations and preparing for this to be outside. We even had Ariel coming to the bash (because what's a mermaid party without a mermaid??) and it would be too hard to try to reschedule her. To say I was stressed at the last minute would be an understatement.
The morning of her party came and it was downpouring rain. Like, it was coming down in heavy sheets. Luckily I had a back up plan to go swimming at a hotel and then come back to our house for cake. But I really wanted to use our backyard and pool, as Kerigan loved the idea of having it at her own house.
So, we waited it out. I had already done the indoor decorations so while I waited I was checking weather updates and texting friends, trying to decide what to do. It was definitely a last minute decision, but it looked like it was going to clear off, so we took a chance and had it at home. And I'm so glad we did.
I made these jellyfish using a tutorial from Pinterest, and they turned out so cute! They definitely tied everything together.
It stopped raining literally an hour and a half before the party, so my mom and I were frantically setting up decorations outside up to the very last minute. Whew! It definitely wasn't ideal, but we made it work!
And this sweet face when we brought her outside to show her made it all worth it!
She played the mermaid role perfectly! Ha!
We decided since we have a walkout basement, it was a perfect idea to close off the upstairs and just have the whole party in the basement and outside. I loved doing it this way because it kept the upstairs clean!
My mom and I made the shell background out of a cardboard box, and I made the "Under the Sea" banner.
Kerigan with one of her presents from us- a personalized mermaid towel!
This was the treat table! I bought fabric at Hobby Lobby 40% off that looked just like waves! The fish nets are from the dollar store and most everything else was either from there, the good will or hobby lobby on sale. Also, I grew up at the lake in the summers and my mom had a TON of nautical themed stuff that I borrowed! So it really worked out perfectly to do this theme!
I loved this idea from Pinterest- I found this candleholder at the good will and spray painted it. Then I spray painted plastic silverware and hot glued them inside. Like Ariel's "dinglehopper" and other human treasures!
The cake and treats were simply amazing. My nephew's wife, Jenny, made everything and she did an incredible job.
These sugar cookies were almost too pretty to eat!
I made all these tags for the food- I love how they turned out!
Jenny used graham crackers under the cake to look like sand!
The past few years I have liked doing a cake for the family party and then cupcakes for the little kids. It works out perfectly because I don't have to cut cake while the little girls are waiting! And then we always have plenty of cake for our family party.
I definitely don't think the little girls were too disappointed to eat these! They were so amazing! Sugar cookie mermaid tails?? Yes, please!
I loved this- cheese cut into teeth shapes!
And the gummy sharks were a must! So yummy!
The old steering wheel was from hobby lobby and it was broken and on the clearance aisle- score! You couldn't even tell it was broken and I spray painted it and it turned out perfect.
My little mermaid with another gift from us- a mermaid outfit for her baby! She loved it!
We set this sign up by our front door so everyone would go straight to the backyard since our upstairs was "closed." Ha! It worked great! It was so fun doing this mermaid party for my girl. It turned out to be the perfect theme, and the perfect day!
Party update coming next!
