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Under the Sea Birthday Party

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My daughter turned four at the beginning of this month, and we threw an under the sea birthday party in honor of her big day. With bright, whimsical decorations, fun activities and tasty food galore, the party was a great success! Here are the details for how I put it together.

The Graphics

In planning any party, I have found that the adorable graphics collections and fonts from Lettering Delights make coming up with a fun theme a no-brainer. When I saw one of their latest collections, Birthday Fishes, I knew it would be perfect for this event! I rounded out my purchase with the coordinating Something Fishy Paper Pack and Alphabet. 

I knew that armed with all of these elements, putting together the decor for the party would be a breeze!

The Menu

One thing I have discovered over time in planning parties for little ones: if something works, go with it! I very nearly replicated the entire menu used for Charlotte’s Ice Cream Birthday Party last year, since it went over so well back then. 

Ribs, Kielbasa and Hot Dogs
Macaroni Salad
Corn Chips and Homemade Salsa
Herb Dip with Fresh Veggies and Chips
Fruit Tray and Creamy Fruit Dip
Sand Pail Cupcakes with Festive Cupcake Toppers
Cake Balls/Pops, inspired by the immensely talented Bakerella

Because the cake pop recipe made so many, I opted to use those for the party favors, as well as in supplementing the cake display. Using the Something Fishy Patterned Papers, I made little tags for each pop that said, “Thank you for POPPING by!” 

The Cake Display

Cupcakes baked in ice cream cones are a dream for children’s birthday parties. They make serving and cleanup a breeze, and kiddos absolutely love them! For my Sand Pail Cupcakes, I used the same method for baking my cone-cakes that I did for last year’s party. I frosted each cone with sand-colored frosting, and then sprinkled gold sprinkles on each to look like sparkly sand. I then embellished each cone with a sand pail cupcake wrapper set (my own design, which I’ll share with you tomorrow) and a cupcake topper cut out using my Epic cutting tool and Nesting Lace Circle dies. The center of the display was a mini-layer cake, with each layer baked in two ramekin dishes and then frosted in turquoise frosting. I printed a large cupcake topper for this center cake (I’ll be sharing a simple cupcake topper how-to tomorrow), and then added a bright number four candle. All of the graphic elements I used for the cakes were made using the Something Fishy goodies I purchased from Lettering Delights (linked above). 

I displayed the finished cakes on a crystal cake plate, along with my cake balls and a sand shovel to go along with the beachy theme.

The Party Activities

The themes of water and sand were the main focus of all of our activities:

Water Play – Slip ‘N’ Slides, sprinklers and pools made for lots of fun in the sun!

Buried Treasure Hunt – We filled our backyard sandbox with loads of toys and trinkets for the kiddos to dig up with shovels and sand sifters. With guests ranging in age from 8 down to 18 months, every child in attendance loved this activity!

Sponge Water Bombs – Remember this terrific post that Allison from House of Hepworths shared for the Summer Survival Guide? I made a batch of these guys, and they were a hit! 

Octopus Pinata – I absolutely love to make pinatas for my kiddos’ birthday celebrations, and I knew from the moment I began working on this sea theme that an octopus pinata would be a perfect fit for this party! I’ll post full details for how I created this Hula Girl Octopus on Wednesday.


Be sure to head over to check out my posts detailing how I created the sand pail cupcakes and the octopus pinata!

Have a great week!

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Comments

  5. Heidiopia says

    OMG, this is soooo super cute! Makes me long for the days of little girls. 🙂 Looking forward to the sand pail cupcake details ~ they’d be perfect when we do our sea curriculum in May!
    Thanks, Amy!
    Heidi @ Show some Decor

  10. Marie says

    So dang cute! My daughter would love this! I’m co-hosting a link party and I’d love it if you’d come link up on Wednesday at southernlovely.blogspot.com

    See you soon!
    Marie
    mylilpinkpocket.blogspot.com