under the sea party

The Divine Miss O celebrated her birthday in true mermaid style. We invited her friends over for a swimming good time under the sea. The day of her actual birthday, she took treats to school and then we whisked her off to the most upscale of restaurants, Red Robin. Ahem. Her choice. She very much wanted the RR cast and crew to sing her Happy Birthday. Which they did while she acted embarrassed.

The big shin dig was the day after her birthday. We got the house ready with decorations which consisted of lots of paper mobiles and green tulle. Blue table covers and fish netting. Plus lots of seashells to complete the look.

Oyster cupcakes for dessert anyone?

Of course no sea party would be complete without blue ocean water to drink. (blue Gatorade) I had tried to get the girls believing if they drank enough, their teeth and tongue would turn blue and when they went to sleep, the metamorphosis would start to take place of their turning into mermaids. But they never fell for my trickery. It was fun trying.

Here is something I've seen at many fancy party blogs. Custom labels for the water bottles. I did this the night before the party. It was super easy. I just cut paper into 2 inch strips and used double sided tape after wrapping around the bottles. This is my new favorite trick for parties.

After all the girls arrived, we had ourselves a mermaid feast. It was a fancy affair as you can see all the girlies are wearing their mermaid crowns.

After we ate, we played: going on a swim under the sea seeking out treasures from sunken shipwrecks.

I haven't opened gifts with the party guest for a long time. When the kids were younger, the process was pure chaos and I always felt like it was cruel to set all the little kids in front of someone opening presents all the while telling them they can't get involved. So we've always skipped the torture and trying to give all the party goers a good time instead. However, this year, Miss O really wanted to open her gifts with her friends. And since everyone is older now, I obliged making sure I took pictures of each of the girls with their gifts. If they wanted to, we also gave them a little time to explain why they like this gift and that made them feel special. Then I added their photos into their thank you cards. Even Grandma got her picture taken.

Then we sent all the wee mermaids home with their tails and this little favor bucket filled with their very own mermaid soap.

Fin.