Ever since I was a little girl I have had a deep love for Mermaids. Growing up in Denmark, it is a really well known thing, Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid. Andersen grew up in the same little town of Odense, that I myself was born and raised in. So I have always had a special place in my heart for the Mermaids. I remember being only 3 or 4, and my mother reading me the story. It always brought me to tears even at such a young age. {FYI, the original story is sad at the end...because she DIES!}. Anyhow, so when I had a little girl myself I wanted to share my love for Mermaids with her:-) Last year, we had to do a very simple birthday party for my girl, because my little boy was only a few weeks old. And for that fact I didnt want to do a Mermaid party, because I wouldnt be able to put my heart and soul into the thing!lol. Thus last years was a store bought Tinkerbell theme. Wonderful, for such occasions! So I was eagerly looking forward to throwing this theme this year for my princess:-) She loves mermaids too, like me, and thus my daughters "Mystical Mermaid Party" was born:-)
I was inspired by Kate Landers party that she put together, because hers simply floored me! Stunning! And so I wanted to try and recreate the same style for this party with my own twist. It was important to me to make this as special as I could. {I sometimes feel limited because we live in a apartment and and with that, do not have a yard or a lot of space. So my motto is "Make your house beautiful no matter where you live"} With that in mind I set out on this project. So, here it goes....take a look, enjoy, and really....if you feel limited too because of space or "presentation", follow your creative intuitions...no matter where you live, big house, yard or not ! ;-)
{click on photo for larger pics}
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| It all started with my custom mermaid invite. For the color scheme I used whites, pinks {corals}, and anything natural. Important to keep it simple...simple is always "more". |
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| And of course...THE CAKE! Strawberry...YUM! |
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| I used buttercream frosting to cover it. No fondant this time, I wanted to try something new. I LOVE how the texture turned out so smooth! |
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| The cake topper is a Lladro knockoff that I bought 4 yrs ago from Ross for like $5! {I actually bought it on my due date for my daughter...last minute shopping trying to get her here faster...didnt work..she came 3 days later!} |
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| All of the white and clear vases were things I already had on hand, so that cut the cost down A LOT! I also made the white backdrop to give it a "waves" kind of feel. |
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| Homemade chocolate shells with pearl dust and added pearlized sprinkles for some umph! |
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| My homemade vintage inspired birthday banner. I had fun making this one up! I just love how the "clam shells" turned out! |
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| Octopus cupcakes. Strawberry with a cream cheese frosting:-) |
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| As you can tell all of the treats were ocean inpired, these are my "Coral". Marshmellows dipped in white chocolate and sprinkles on a stick. They were a hit! |
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| Seacreate Shortbread cookies. I made them the day before so I had time to frost and decorate them. |
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| As a party activity I got these cute $1 wood craft kits for the girls. To make a more unified effect I made "Mermaid Fun" labels {above} and stapled them onto the original packaging. I had all of these darling things place in a large sea glass bowl with brown paper bag crinkle confetti in the bottom. Sorry, I didn't get a Before pic, you know how these kids parties can go! So, you will just have to imaging it! lol |
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| "Sea foam"~pop corn. "Geode Crystals"~ vintage rock pops. Everything was placed on a bed of raw sugar, to make it look like sand. |
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| This was the centerpiece for the table setting. I used a TON of real shells, sand coral, drift wood etc. Anything natural. Lots of jute and burlap too. Most of it all was displayed in glass apothecary jars. A piece of fisherman's "net" and tulle brought is all together. |
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| This was hung over the table. To hide our lovely industial ceilings. It made things real cozey and magical for the girls. White fabric and tulle. {shhh its a new flat sheet we never use}! |
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| Gave the girls fancy plastic fluite glasses {for their pink lemonade}. As party favors I made them each their own mermaid crowns, and tails. Each girl also got a vintage mermaid frame and art to take home, with a "silver" {plastic} shell plate. |
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| Pin the flower on the Mermaid! I had fun drawing this one! Can I just say I was in coloring/drawing bliss!lol |
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| My Darling Little Mermaid! |
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| And here are all the sweet Little Mermaids in their crowns and tails. I wish we could have invited more of her friends, but as you can see, our place is tiny! |
Seriously, I had the time of my life planning this! And gettin' my craft on to make all the decor from scratch and on a budget:-) {well, I did use a box cake mix and a little secret for the bottom of the cake...hehehe}. With all the work and thought that was put into this, I can say hands down that it was WORTH every minute of it. Why to do you ask? I know what you are thinking, THATS crazy to put all that work in to a 4 yr olds party. Well, my answer is this "This age is so precious, their innocence are just like "little mermaids"! And having the chance to make something magical is perfect for this time.
The look on these little girls faces throughout the party were priceless! They sat and took it all in like they were in a magical mystical Mermaid grotto, and that my friends was THE BEST Reward EVER! :-)......mission accomplished!
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