Mermaid Birthday Party

If you're new to this blog, welcome! If you have a mermaid loving kiddo, you're in the right spot! This post is packed with lots of fun and easy ideas and details, so hang tight, and feel free to browse the sections you're interested in!

Parties take a village, and I'm so thankful for mine helping make this one such a fun memory! Special thanks to my mom and amazing friends Michelle and Cinthia for all their help ahead of time as well as my mom and mother-in-law for helping with cleaning up from the chaos!

Lately my daughter has been all about mermaids so when she asked if she could have a mermaid themed birthday party, I wasn't surprised. I scoured the party totes in our storage and to my surprise, found quite a few things I could reuse from her Princess Party the year before, so I was thrilled and got onboard.

ATTIRE:

I went to work on my favorite Silhouette Machine to make her custom mermaid shirt and found this adorable Mermaid Tutu Skirt to match. I ordered these beautiful Rhinestone Crowns to use as a base and then used Aleene's Rhinestone Glue to glue and secure mermaid type embellishments like these iridescent, resin Mermaid Tails and Seashell Charms to the crown. These would also make a beautiful party favor if you had time.

I also made a set for her friend who also had a birthday on the day of her party so we could celebrate both of their sweet 6th birthdays!

If you don't have the crafty thumb or time, one of these Mermaid Crowns is also a great option!

I went with a simple, yet adorable "Mermaid Squad" T-Shirt and also bought a shirt for my mom and mother-in-law to wear too.

ARTS & CRAFTS:

When the girls arrived, I had stations set up for them to create some personalized mermaid type favors. They rotated to other stations when they were done with each one. One station was mermaid slime making. I found the perfect size Plastic Mini Containers with Mermaid Stickers that I placed on top to bring their slime home with them.

The Mermaid Stickers fit perfectly on the lids and looked so cute - sometimes I get lucky!

I found the easiest way to do this was to use leftover party cups and numbered them. I made 5 sets and had 4-5 girls at each station. For the slime we mixed together 1 cup of Elmer's Clear Glue, 2 tablespoons of Contact Solution, and 1 tablespoon of Baking Soda. Then we added 2-3 tiny drops of teal food coloring and mixed with a fork. After the color was absorbed, we kneaded the slime and then added glitter. I love this Gel Food Coloring for all things baking, and it worked in the slime too!

Each girl took turns pouring in the ingredients, mixing, and adding their own special glitter. If you look closely, you can find some 1990's glitter from Hot Topic... not sure what I used that for back in the day or why I still have it, but it was a hit with the girls! Apparently I'm a craft supply hoarder.

After they were done, they placed their slime in their mermaid container to take home! I used these Plastic 2oz Jars and they were great, but you could also use these Plastic 4oz Jars if you want a larger jar.

At another station we had the girls make headbands. I found this awesome set of 30 Colorful Headbands for a great price (there are a few options to choose from too!).

I had lots of fun mermaid decorations like these resin Mermaid Tails and Seashell Charms to attach to the headbands.

The kids loved the Resin Starfish Decorations too!

The girls used Aleene's Rhinestone Glue which worked great for the headbands. It sets up in about 30-60 minutes so they were dry and ready by the time the party was over. I also had this ultra low temperature Cool Shot Hot Glue Gun too for the moms to help their kids. This is a low temperature, cooler hot glue gun, that is still warm enough to attach the items quickly, but not as hot like standard hot glue guns. I use this when making crafts with my 6 year old too! If you're a crafty mom, this is a great tool to have!

These Mermaid Flatbacks and Rhinestones were the perfect addition to the headbands,

We also had a mermaid bracelet making station complete with fun mermaid beads, ocean beads, and Iridescent Letter Beads to personalize their jewelry!

My trick was using alligator hair clips on the ends of the Stretch Magic Jewelry Cord to help the girls make their bracelets and avoid the beads going everywhere!

Girls had a blast making their custom bracelets and headbands!

ACTIVITIES:

There was also a "Mermaid Makeover" station complete with mermaid hair and hair clips, Body Glitter, Mermaid Tattoos. personalized Mermaid Sunglasses, and a bedazzled Mermaid mirror to check out their transformation!

The Mermaid Tattoos with glitter were an easy win with the girls, and I had so many extra that the girls could take home with them too!

For the Mermaid Hair, I just used sequin Mermaid Hair Clips with the hair extensions.

These were sold out but this Mermaid Hair is also a good option or you could use these Hair Tinsel Extensions too.

The girls loved their personalized mermaid sunglasses. I started with Pink Flower Sunglasses then used Aleene's Rhinestone Glue to attach the resin Mermaid Tails and the girls' names with the cute Alphabet Letter Beads to the sunglasses.

We hired Ariel to be the surprise mermaid guest for the party (who was planning on helping with the "Mermaid Makeovers") though there was some miscommunication so Ariel thought the party was the next day. Needless to say, we had so much going on that the girls didn't seem to notice thankfully!

It was originally supposed to rain on party day, so I always have a few extra back up plans, so we had these Seashells ready to paint for an extra craft and also a Mermaid Piñata in case we needed another activity.

We also had a "Mermaid Nails" station with mermaid colored nail polish and glitter polish. I covered the table in mermaid wrapping paper which was an easy, inexpensive, festive touch.

We also had Pin the Tail on the Mermaid. I wrote the kids' names on each tail ahead of time so that avoided everyone wanting the pink or purple tail. If you play games, don't forget the prizes! I will say for parties with 3-7 year olds, having a consolation prize for everyone seemed necessary and is definitely worth it. Everyone wins and everyone is happy! Dollar Tree and Target $1 bins are a great place for prizes or even just have candy in a fun bowl as that's always a sure win. I had these Mermaid Shell Bracelets to give to everyone who played Pin the Tail on the Mermaid but then couldn't find where they were (found them in a drawer the next day of course) but no one seemed to notice.

If you needed another fun mermaid activity, you could create your own Mermaid Treasure Hunt similar to the one I made for my son's Pirate Birthday Party. Check out ideas on the post!

Since we got lucky with the weather, we were able to have the pool party after all. These Mermaid Tail floats for $10 each were a great end of season deal. I found these 6 Glitter Seashell Pool Floats as well which were a hit with the kids and a decent price too.

If you wanted a cute mermaid setup for pictures, you could order this large Seashell Pool Float with a Mermaid Balloon Arch and have Ariel or another mermaid posed and ready for pictures with the birthday crew!

FOOD:

One of my favorite aspects of party planning is coming up with party-themed food. I forgot to print the food labels as time ran out, but I'll include the names below.

Party-themed cookies are always an easy win! My super talented friend Lauren made these mermaid cookies from Paisley's Sweets!

She does such a great job and they are always a hit!

These delicious cupcakes were decorated with Mermaid Cupcake Toppers and Wrappers and complete with mermaid fondant made with these Silicone Mermaid Molds and topped with Mermaid Sprinkles.

Making the fondant molds was WAY easier than I expected. More on that in the Cake section!

The cake stands came from HomeGoods!

I also experimented with multiple colors of frosting for fun as I always love to try new techniques. I placed turquoise, pink, and lavender frosting side by side in a row on plastic wrap, then twisted the ends to form a little bag and cut the end off of one bag, then placed the plastic bag inside an actual Icing Bag with an Icing Tip to pipe the frosting. I topped the cupcakes with sprinkles and white chocolate molds tinted with a tiny bit of Gel Food Coloring. I found these after the fact, but how cute are these Iridescent Mermaid Cupcake Wrappers and these Mermaid Colored Cupcake Cups?

These chocolate covered "Mermaid Tails" are one of my party go-to staples. They are fun and easy to make and bring in the colors of the party! My kiddos love helping with these too.

I love using melted white almond bark with these Gel Food Coloring colors to make the right color combinations. A little goes a long way, so start with a small drop and add more as you need. Add a couple drops of either vegetable oil or coconut oil to make it more liquidy and easier to drizzle. When melting almond bark, use microwave at 50% power and heat and stir every 30-45 seconds to make sure you don't overcook it.

These "Mermaid Ocean Cups" were fairly easy to make. They consisted of jello, cool whip, crushed graham crackers, white chocolate mermaid molds, and Mermaid Sprinkles.

I made two batches as one was pretty cerulean in color. I learned adding more cool whip to the jello and stirring them a few times while they were setting up in the freezer helped to make the more turquoise color.

I'll make a separate post soon on how to make these!

This "Chocolate Mermaid Bark" was an easy win!

I made this a week ahead of time since it's basically just white chocolate almond bark and sprinkles.

I'll make a separate post on how to make this too! I just love the colors and how it turned out!

The kids thought it was pretty fun and tasty too!

For super easy and last minute ideas, use goldfish with a few blue jelly beans or blue gummy sharks for "Ariel's Friends".

Another easy idea is having chocolate gold coins, Rolos, and Hershey's Nuggets for the "Mermaid Treasure".

The "Mermaid Party Popcorn" was another party hit. This idea came from my friend Kendra who had this at her little girl's party.

Make popcorn (or use pre-made popcorn). Then spray it lightly with Pink Edible Food Spray. Make sure to do this outside as the color can and will get all over... ask me how I know... You can do the same thing with the purple food spray too or use purple candy melts. Then use turquoise Candy Melts and drizzle the melted colored chocolate onto the popcorn and mix well.

I drizzled some melted white chocolate on the top and dusted the cups with edible gold dust/glitter and some Mermaid Sprinkles to complete the look.

TIP: Using a little vegetable or coconut oil will help to make the candy melts thinner and drizzle easier. You can also use white almond bark and use the Gel Food Coloring to color the almond bark to avoid using candy melts or food spray. That's what I did! After placing the popcorn in the container(s), drizzle a little at the end and top with fun Mermaid Sprinkles to see more of the fun colors!

One way to make sure the kiddos eat some healthy options is to have "Sebastian's Coral Reef". This was so fun to make. I'm crazy and love a good food art challenge. I mixed cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch dip together to make a thick base layer to help the veggies to stick up and then wedged them together closely. For the actual dip in the bowl, I added spinach artichoke dip with a pepper cut up like a crab with fun googly eyes.

Since googly eyes are so much fun for kids (and adults), we made crab sandwiches with mini croissants from Sam's, mayo, turkey, and cheese slices. Major props to my mom for making all 40 of these!

We had a few leftover so I added one to my daughter's lunchbox, and she and her friends thought it was the best thing ever! We also heated them up and added an egg to them to make yummy breakfast sandwiches the next day.

CAKE:

Since I'm a nut and like a good Pinterest challenge, I decided to try making a cake from scratch for the second time in my life. I figured I could always run to Publix and get a cake if it turned out to be a flop.

I always say a quick prayer before I start any new challenge and so far, I've been very lucky with these baking challenges! The cake turned out awesome and actually received tons of compliments on how good it tasted too, so I'll call it a huge win!

I let the kids help me make the fondant a few days before and to my surprise, it was much easier than I expected! Basically 2 ingredients: powder sugar and melted marshmallows! We started with making 4 colors of the fondant and then using these Cookie/Biscuit Cutters to make the circles. We blended a few colors together to create some cool designs too!

The consistency is like a smoother play-doh so the kids had a great sensory experience with it. We used the Silicone Mermaid Molds to make the different mermaid designs and mermaid tails for the top of the cake.

I usually just google the best vanilla 4 layer cake and buttercream frosting and use whatever recipe has the most and best reviews. I made a modified cream cheese buttercream frosting for in-between the layers and on the outside of both cakes and then covered the bottom tier in fondant circles. I used both buttercream frosting with different Cake Tips and Silicone Mermaid & Seashell Molds for the top tiered cake. This Mermaid 6 Candle was the perfect touch with the fondant mermaid tails.

The inside of the cakes were colorful, moist, and tasted amazing! I used 4 layers on the bottom and then used 3 of these 6" Cake Pans for the top tier.

When I get a little free time, I'll make a DIY how-to video for this cake and post it on my @lifewithlittlez Instagram account so make sure to follow along!

BEVERAGES:

For beverages, we had "Ocean Water" and fruit-infused water for the kiddos and Bubbly's and Truly's for the mom's. Last year my husband was on Marg making duty, but he had his work cut out for him with all the craft stations this year so I cut him some slack. ;-)

I also found this Mermaid Plate and Napkin Set and these Holographic Shell Plates for dessert/cupcakes, but I forgot to put the dessert plates out. I made a table runner from mermaid wrapping paper and repurposed the pink glitter mason jars I used from 3 of her previous parties to hold the utensils. The Mermaid tail decor is from Hobby Lobby. The "Hydration Station" sign was a DIY project from our wedding, and I've used it many times since!

FAVORS:

I always have fun with favors! It's an easy way to teach my kids a way to give back to their friends too and a little "thank you for celebrating with us!" My kids love helping me make them. These are another cute Mermaid Gift Bag option too. For a semi-splurge option, these Mermaid Favor Bags are adorable!

Each girl already was taking home personalized mermaid sunglasses, custom mermaid bracelet and headband, mermaid hair clips and extensions, and mermaid slime, but I decided to add a little extra to their bags. I included a Mermaid Notebook (the ones I included are sold out, but these are cute too), Mermaid Pencil, Ring Pops, Candy, Mermaid Tattoos, Mermaid Stickers, and a Mermaid Lip Balm.

DECOR:

For the kitchen table, I used this Iridescent Sequin Sparkling Tablecloth that I used for her unicorn and princess party, and it worked great for the mermaid party too! I used these Purple Sequin Table Runners along with a few Fishing Nets to give it a mermaid feel. The Jellyfish Paper Lanterns were the perfect way to hide the large chandelier and make it more festive.

I had this Mermaid Banner made and ready to go but forgot to put it up. Life happens! My mom gifted me a set of pink dishes that I never thought I'd use, but I've used them 3x now! I used a Mermaid Backdrop and thanks to my mom and my amazing friends, they created this beautiful Mermaid Balloon Arch. I don't have patience for balloon arches so it was a real treat to have them make one for my daughter! The backdrop I used is sold out, but this Mermaid Backdrop is a similar option.

To create levels, I used cake stands from HomeGoods and these clear Acrylic Risers to add height and depth to the table. I found the Mermaid sign decor at Hobby Lobby.

I added a few extra balloons to the arch and some seashells to the table to create a little more of an under the sea touch.

I had these Door Foil Fringe Curtains that I put in the doorway of my daughter's room. It's become tradition now for each kid's birthday. My kiddos love running through these in the doorways, even a month after the party. We move these to the unfinished basement then so the kiddos can ride their bikes through them.

I taped plastic balloon rods from the Dollar Tree to these Mermaid Balloons and put these outside by the mailbox and doors to let guests know where the party was.

That's a wrap! Special thanks to my hubs who puts up with my outlandish ideas, helps during party week, and ends up helping with all the last minute things so the party can start on time! I couldn't do it without him! This may seem crazy, but before I get started, I always say a prayer for ideas, to help me find fun things, decorate quickly, and pull the party off in a super short time frame, and with God's grace (and after the kids go to bed), I'm able to throw it all together in a few days. Down the road, I may start a party planning company, but for now, enjoy all my best kept secrets!

Thanks for checking out our "Mermaid Party"! Hope to see you again soon! Follow along @lifewithlittlez Instagram account for all the latest adventures as I'll be rebuilding that page since my last account got hacked! Hope to see you there! Happy party planning!!