Drinks

Party Recap

When I decided to throw my kid's a combo birthday celebration at a local aquarium, I started scanning the internet for ideas. Wow, I couldn't peel myself away from the inspiration. Every time I saw a picture, it led me to
another idea and another. I quickly fell in love with the idea of party styling and knew I wanted to do this for
my kids! (Not to mention all the fun I had planning).

What's special about this party is it was all DIY and (fairly) budget conscious! I purchased most of the food,but otherwise, I made all printables on my home computer, borrowed things when I could, and made MANY trips to the my local dollar and craft stores!

Since this party celebrated my two kids - Paige turning 1 and Nate turning 3, I wanted a great color palate appropriate for both kids: purple, blue and grey with some polka dots thrown in the mix. Once I decided on that, I ran with it.

The aquarium itself provided lots of activity, visuals, colors, etc. The kids had story time and art projects provided by the aquarium and lots of time exploring the fish!

I focused the details on the tabletops and menu. The party was at 10 am so we served breakfast!

Main Menu (with food labels to match):
-Bagels (Lifesavers)
-Coral Cream Cheese (Lox Spread)
-Seaweed Spread (Chive Cream Cheese)
-Fruit of the Sea (watermelon shark instructions found online)
-Parfait Bar - Vanilla yogurt with toppings including raisins, granola and sprinkles labeled "fish food"
-Peanut butter and Jellyfish sandwiches (Bread cut with starfish cookie cutter)
-Coffee (Ocean Potion)
-Orange Juice and Juice boxes

Sweet Treats (The hit of the party):
-School of fish cupcakes (homemade)
-Starfish and Whale cookies on a stick with candy eyes (homemade) (Even adults couldn't get enough of these!)
-Sea creature jelly/candy lollipops (added a ribbon)
-Cotton Candy (Sea Foam) in a fishbowl
-Brownie Bites (from Costco)
-Saltwater taffy

Party Favors: Sea animal loofah sponges with a homemade tag that read: "The aquarium is so much fun. Scrub-a-dub-dub when the party is done!"

Tables and Centerpieces:
- Buckets & shovels filled with goldfish crackers (of course). I added a "fishy" quote on each bucket for fun!
-Bought fabric in coordinating colors for table coverings.

Other creative touches:
-I bought and painted wooded initials, added a stick and stood each in a vase I already had filled with loofahs to match the favors.
-Made my own banner and added ribbon to hang over the table.
-Treasure chests from my own stash.
-Made and printed my own matching water bottle, favor and food labels
-Wrapped foam in coordinating wrapping paper for the cookies and lollipops.
-Hand sanitizer on deck that read "Clean your fins!"
-Added quotes like "It was lovely to SEA you," "Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?"

Lesson for the next time: Buy a little less food....we had WAY to much!

Photography: http://www.hannahwardphotography.com/

💬

1 comment

  • Sabrina P

    Sabrina P wrote:

    Great party!