under the sea birthday party

Birthday Party Planning: So exciting yet so stressful with our busy lives! Here’s a theme I used that was easy and something you can get super creative with and not gender specific..it’s called “Under The Sea.” This theme can be used for both an indoor and outdoor party, but I threw an outdoor “Under the Sea” theme party.

Throwing an outdoor party is an amazing way to avoid any mess in your home. It is just so much easier to tidy up after a party in your backyard! That being said, if you are going to be hosting a garden party, then investing in a portable toilet is essential. For our “Under the Sea’ themed party, we were able to find a great portaloo hire price by comparing a few different portable toilet hire companies online. We even decorated the door of the portaloo with some pictures of colorful fish. Above all, getting a portable toilet was a fabulous idea as it eliminated the need for any of our guests to go inside our house.

So, what else do you need to think about when planning an “Under the Sea” party?

Decor:
For colors, I kept it simple, bright orange and ocean blue with hints of grass green. Those colors compliment each other very well while still keeping a fun birthday party vibe!

Yummy Eats:
It was hot outside that day so for the food, I tried to stay away from anything dairy and things that would melt easily. Also I wanted to be as healthy as possible since the kids were going to have cake that day.

• Shrimp cocktail skewers: Skewed with cooked shrimp and baby tomatoes and served with an all natural cocktail sauce
• Spinach, glazed walnuts and strawberry salad: Served with raspberry vinaigrette dressing on the side
• Tuna salad pinwheels: Made with multigrain tortillas
• Veggie dip pinwheels: Made with multigrain tortillas
• Whale and octopus shaped strawberry cream cheese and fresh blueberry sandwiches
• Whale and Octopus shaped peanut butter and apple sauce sandwiches
• Goldfish Bar: Full of five different Goldfish flavors. This what a huge hit for both the kids and adults believe it or not! The Smores Goldfish were by far the best ones according to the guests!

The highlight of the party was the the watermelon carved turtle fruit bowl filled with watermelon balls, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and green and purple grapes.

Desserts

• Sharks on the bay: Fill half a plastic cup with a layer of sugar free vanilla pudding. Top half the pudding with crushed vanilla wafers to represent sand, half the pudding with blue sprinkles to represent water and two gummy fish on top.
• Clam Cookies: Layer 1 round oatmeal cookie with pink frosting. Lay three yogurt covered raises in the middle of the cookie to represent the pearls in the clams mouth. Place another cookie on top with some candied eyes. The kids were obsessed with them!
• Mini cupcakes: These mini desserts are a prefect way to satisfy a kids sweet tooth without having them eat a large sugary cupcake

Party Activities:

Keeping the tension span of 15 2 year old kids can be challenging so I decided to do a bubble activity for the kids. Parents this is a great idea for just a backyard playdate in the summer. I placed bubble solution and water in large trays and gave each child their own bubble wand to make large bubbles. The kids loved it because they were able to do it on their own and the parents loved it because it was something safe and fun for the kids to do. Turn some music on and watch their level of excitement go up!

Favors:

For the favors the kids made fishbowls with fake fish. Using real fish seemed to be every parents nightmare according to the lady at Petco..and these were way more fun and less maintenance! I supplied a small glass fishbowl, a ton of difference colors of gravel, under the sea stickers, fake starfish and a unique assortment of small plastic under the sea animals such as whales, octopus, reef, and eels. The kids chose their own supplies and made awesome fish bowls that they can keep forever without having to clean out the water every week or worry about feeding the fish. These fish can take care of themselves 🙂