Splish splash, it’s an under the sea bash! I recently threw my eldest daughter an Under the Sea party for her 7th birthday. She’s animal obsessed—as in, asking me every day “Can we get dog?” full well knowing that the answer is still a resounding “no.” I decided to indulge her animal-loving instincts this year for her birthday, especially when she came to me and said that she wanted to have a mobile aquarium at her party!
So, under the sea we went! I knew I wanted the party to be brightly colored—fluorescent even! The brighter, the better, in my opinion. I purchased a ton of neon spray paint and basically had a spray paint party with myself and the decorations a few days before the party. I also incorporated iridescent silver accents, along with the bright aqua, coral, neon yellow and hot pink color scheme!
To get the party started, I mailed out these watercolor-like under the sea invitations to our guests. Call me old fashioned, but I still LOVE sending out hard copy invitations via snail mail. And, I have to say, many of the parents told me how excited the kids were to receive mail with their names on it!
I loved how the kids’ party tables turned out! I was envisioning an under the sea coral reef oasis, and I think I was able to achieve the look I was going for. I found aqua-colored tulle, embroidered with sequins (it looked like coral and sea grass) and laid that on top of an aqua fabric that had a mermaid-like sheen to it. I used my spray painted starfish, seashells and coral as table centerpieces and finished the look with sea animal and blue marbled balloon bouquets.
Here’s a closer look at the place settings on the tables!
Now for one of my favorite elements of the party—the cake! I was beyond thrilled at how the cake turned out (insert small squeal here!). Liz, at Les Pop Sweets, did a phenomenal job of executing my initial sketch and did the majority of the fondant work, and A Cake to Remember and Fondant Fantasy 15 provided additional fondant decorations as well. One of the best parts about making this cake was that it was pretty hard to mess up. I’ve assembled my share of cakes over the years (just gluing on fondant items to the cake with edible glue). I am in no way a professional when it comes to cakes, but I actually had fun with this one! I just kept adding more and more fondant pieces everywhere for a layered ocean effect.
But our dessert table didn’t stop there! Check out these beauties (and yes, they are 100% edible!—A Taste to Remember created these silver gilded clam shell sugar cookies that featured gumball pearls inside. I put them on a bed of brown sugar to resemble sand. They were gone like hotcakes!
The buffet table was filled with under the sea delicacies, and I created some graphic signage for the table, which let our guests know where they could find the “Reef-Freshments.” I loved this play on words!
I can’t take credit for creating this idea as I saw it somewhere on Pinterest, but I loved the idea of creating “fish and chips” out of potato chips and goldfish crackers. It’s a genius idea for a kids party!
Who wouldn’t want to eat from a starfish filled with “seashells and cheese.”
Guests received these adorable party favors at the party. I also created ombre watercolor thank you tags that read “it’s great to sea you” and featured a seahorse that matched the party’s color scheme. The kiddos received a real sand dollar, shells and a bean bag sea animal in their goody bags!
To keep the kids entertained, I set up a “Seashell Excavation Station” and created some tabletop signage for the area as well. I found these seashell gem excavation kits in the dollar bin at Target this past spring!
Speaking of entertainment, the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific rolled up with their mobile touch tank in front of our house, and it did not disappoint! It was Liesl’s sea life dream come true! The kids were able to touch sea anemone, sea cucumbers, sea slugs, starfish and a small shark. It was the definite hit of the party!
Happiest of birthdays to our little fish, Liesl! I hope you’ve been inspired by my Under the Sea party! Now it’s time to get planning one of your own!
