Everly's Under the Sea Mermaid Theme Party

My sweet little girl turned 2 and we decided to do a mermaid themed party! She has loved mermaids (The Little Mermaid in particular) for the last few months so it was a no brainer on which the theme to choose. I started brainstorming as soon as I decided on the theme and I knew there were 3 things I wanted:

mermaids
seashells
starfish

But how exactly was I going to put everything together and make it flow? Easy. I will show you exactly how we pulled off the best mermaid themed birthday party ever!

DECOR

This served as the backdrop for the main entrees and sides inside of my dining room. I found these amazing fans from Pleats on Sheets that I fell in love with. They had so many different themes, but this was my favorite because the colors were perfect for what I wanted to do. I bought some green streamer paper and twisted it up the walls to create “seaweed.” You can get the green ribbon here!

To create the backdrop outdoors for the cupcakes and sweets, I decided to get some metallic purple and teal ballons and place them on the wall using netting and command strips. I got the balloons here and the netting here!

Once everything was set up, it turned out quite well! I stuck a few starfish on the netting for a more nautical vibe.

On one table I had the cupcakes, cake, seashell suckers, ocean pudding, and a bucket of goldfish. On the other side of the table, I had the handmade starfish wands, glitter cups, pineapple water, ocean water, straws, and gifts. To improve the presentation of the goodies, I suggest incorporating grazing boxes for a more appealing display.

FOOD

Whats a party without good food?? I had a blast with this part as I love cooking, but I also got to try some new things. I have seen the watermelon shark a lot on Pinterest and I dared myself to try it!

Here’s how to make it:

Wash and dry the watermelon.
Cut off 1/3 of the watermelon at a diagonal angle.
Stand the remaining 2/3 upright on your work surface and use a dry erase marker to draw the mouth line and eye sockets.
Cut out the mouth. Trim back a ½” line of the green part of the rind for the teeth area.
Use a large spoon to scoop out the watermelon flesh, leaving 3″ intact at the base.
Cut out the teeth, using a smaller utility knife.
Stick two toothpicks on either side of the watermelon for the eyes. Place a blueberry on each toothpick.
Use the carved out rind from the mouth to make the dorsal fin. Attach the fin using toothpicks.
Fill the watermelon with various fruits!

This cold spinach dip was the easiest thing ever to make and it was soooo good. Here’s how to make it:

In a mixing bowl, combine 1 packet of vegetable recipe mix and 1 packet ranch mix with 16 oz of sour cream and 1 cup mayonaise.
Let the mixture refrigerate for 2 hours up to overnight to allow the soup mix to soften and the flavors to blend.
Stir in the spinach, chopped water chestnuts, and green onions (optional) a few minutes before serving.

Everyone loved the shark and I got to brag on myself a bit. This was my first time doing it and it turned out quite well, I would say. Whatcha think??

For the main course, I made crabwiches. For the kiddos, I did peanut butter and jelly on croissants and for the adults I did an easy (but ahhhhmazing) chicken salad. For the eyes, I hot glued craft wiggly eyes on toothpicks.

For the chicken salad croissants, I used this recipe.

For the side, I made simple shells. I boiled them until al dente and then seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian herbs. I added in some butter as well!

The cake and cupcakes were the grand finish to the food. I had a local bakery make them and I could NOT be happier with how they turned out. The forks are an adorable touch from the movie The Little Mermaid as they are called “dinglehoppers.”

Isn’t this the cutest cake you’ve ever seen?? Totally makes a perfect mermaid smash cake for a 1st birthday party.

For the party drinks, I kept things super simple. I made pineapple water which had cut up pineapples infused in it. The ocean water was a copycat of the popular drink from Sonic. To make it, I basically mixed blue food coloring, Sprite and coconut extract together. It really did taste like the real thing!! As for the water dispensers, you can find similar ones here.

I made these little ocean pudding cups in addition to the cakes and such. I mixed vanilla pudding with blue coloring and added a layer of crushed sugar cookies. I topped them off with a Swedish fish!

The seashell lollipops were also a hit and I got them from Candied Cakes.

Here’s a better view of them:

DIY

A couple of extras that I did for the party were hand-making starfish wands and the glitter cups for guests.

I made the wands by first purchasing the starfish and the wooden dowel rods. I attached a starfish to each dowel rod using a hot glue gun. Then I spray painted each rod gold while spraying the star fish with spray adhesive. I then sprinkled purple glitter over the starfish and attached ribbons for a nice final touch.