Kaya's 4th Birthday Party

I am so excited about how this party turned out! The momma wanted to be able to do the crafting and setup herself so she chose the theme and color scheme and I put a Perfect Little PartyBox together for her. A few of the DIYs I suggested to her were the starfish wands, the jellyfish and the tridents. I have to say I love them all equally. I made the tridents and although they were a bit more work than I expected, they turned out better than I had anticipated. I made them by printing out an image of a trident, cutting it, tracing it onto styrofoam (I would probably use foam if I had to do it again), using a styrofoam cutter (I used this one from Michaels:https://www.michaels.com/floracraft-styrocutter-plus/10456098.html, but you can find them on Amazon as well), painted them "Pure Gold" (also at Michaels), poked a hole with a chopstick and glued them onto a dowel, tied a bell on with twine and secured it with hot glue. These were a huge hit with the boys! The girls got the starfish wands which were made similarly, but instead of paint, we used glitter and tied ribbon on to them instead of the twine.

I found the “Mermaids This Way” sign on Etsy but decided to try to make it myself and it turned out ADORABLE! This was really easy and added a whimsical touch to the party. Go to Home depot, get one of their steaks and a 3 ft piece of wood, have them cut it in 3 relatively same size pieces, paint it turquoise (or whatever color your heart desires), let it dry then sand down the 3 turquoise pieces to distress it a bit, paint the steak white, once all of the paint is dry attach the planks to the steak, write the wording (I freehanded this), hot glue the starfish on and you're done! It took about 2 hours total. The jelly fish looked amazing in the wind. I found a tutorial on Pinterest for this...just search "paper lantern jellyfish" and a bunch of options will pop up. None of them were exactly what I was envisioning so I altered the design and materials a bit. You can also contact Perfect Little Party Planner and I will gladly make them for you;)

For food I came up with some cutesy "Under the Sea" themed dishes: "Sebastian (chicken salad) Sandwiches", "Under the Seashell Pasta Salad", "Seaweed (spinach) Dip", "Ariel's Seaweed (kale) Salad", "Seaweed" Skewers (grapes) and Goldfish Crackers.

For dessert we served Mermaid Tail Cake Pops by Cake Pop Mamma, Vanilla & Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and Seashell Sugar Cookies made by the birthday girl's mamma.

We had lots of activities for the kiddos...An Under the Sea Sensory Treasure Tub, A Crab Fishing Game, A Mermaid Crown Crafting Station, a Bounce House and last but not least...an Ariel Pinata! You have got to check out the kiddos going to town on poor Ariel!

My tips for planning any party are to get started as early as possible, look for treasures everywhere you go...my favs are Home Goods, Marshalls, TJMAXX, and Michaels, and use items you already have as much as possible rather than buying one-time use items, even if they are less expensive.

• What People Ate

  Sebastian (chicken salad) Sandwiches, Under the Seashell Pasta Salad, Seaweed (spinach) Dip, Ariel's Seaweed (kale) Salad, Seaweed Skewers (grapes) , Goldfish Crackers

• What People Drank

  Water, Juice Boxes, Wine, Beer,

• Desserts

  Vanilla Mermaid Tail Cake Pops, Vanilla & Chocolate Cupcakes w/Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, Seashell Sugar Cookies made by the birthday girl's mamma

• Party Favors

  Glittery Sand Pails w/Pinata goodies Starfish Wands Tridents

• Activities / Games

  We had lots of activities for the kiddos...An Under the Sea Sensory Treasure Tub, A Crab Fishing Game, A Mermaid Crown Crafting Station, a Bounce House and last but not least...an Ariel Pinata! You have got to check out the kiddos going to town on poor Ariel!

• Perfect Little Party Planner

  Party Styling

  We offer styling services to meet any budget, from themed party boxes to events completely customized to your tastes. Consultation is also available for those who want to create the event on their own but could benefit from styling and money saving tips. We love all things party, so be sure to check out our blog for lots of great party ideas and fun DIYs for your next bash.
  http://www.perfectlittlepartyplanner.com

• Cake Pop Mamma

  Cakepop Designer

  Cake Pop Mamma did an excellent job on the mermaid tail cake pops, not only did they look adorable but they were delicious! They were able to fulfill and ship my order across country on short notice and their customer service was excellent.
  https://www.etsy.com/shop/CakePopMamma

• Silver Line Design Team

  Graphic Designer

  Megan did an amazing job on all of the printables for this party. She customized the colors to match my client's preferences. She got the files to me quickly and made a few last-minute items for me. I highly recommend her for your design needs.
  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SLDESIGNTEAM