A themed birthday party is what I live for! I love incorporating the theme into every detail from the food to crafts to favors. My daughter loves princesses and mermaids, so we have pretty much done one or the other for all 5 of her birthdays (with the exception of a Minnie Mouse party when she was 2). However for her 4th birthday, she really wanted to add pirates into the mix of her mermaid party. She had started Pre-K 3 earlier that year and made quite a few “boyfriends” and so she was determined to have pirates aboard the party ship!
We had an “under the sea” party for her 1st birthday (I also love mermaids!) so I had some things already in the works, but now I had to add the pirate component. And let me tell you, it turned out to be my favorite kid’s party yet! There are so many creative ways to incorporate land and sea with pirates and mermaids and I had so much fun doing it. So lets get to it!
My favorite part of a party is the decor. And I usually go way over board, but its so hard not to! I made a tulle table skirt for my buffet table for my daughter’s 1st birthday and actually kept it because I just had a feeling we would have another mermaid party. Now making your own tulle table skirt takes time and patience but I think is always worth it (just don’t ask me for my opinion while I’m making one though!) The tulle skirt was meant to look like an ocean, so the top of the buffet had seashells, pearls, crates and a ship wheel. I also made a backdrop for the table with a wooden laser cut-out of her name with little bubbles floating above it and these amazing paper sea flowers. It turned out better than I imagined!
I wanted the dining room to have an “under the sea” feel and so I hung these perfect paper jellyfish from the ceiling. I also added tissue paper poms and strings of paper dots (for a bubble effect). I used sea foam colored linens and added more seashells and glittered fishnet to the main table.
My absolute favorite part of the decor was the flowers! I worked with a great florist in Houston to come up with “under the sea” inspired flowers. Purple, blue and teal are not easy colors to use for arrangements but they rocked it!
My husband and his friend made these gorgeous floor seated tables for a previous party but they are a perfect size for kids. I had a vision to make the table into a pirate ship but needed sails! Luckily I have a husband who can build pretty much anything and he made my vision come to life. We placed the sails on top of the table and scattered pirate treasures and skulls in between the sails.
We kept with the pirate theme for the gift table as well. I found this cute wooden treasure chest at Hobby Lobby and we stained it, added some tissue paper to the bottom and then stuffed it with jewels, gold coins and pearls. I hung a pirate map as a backdrop and added an adorable gift table sign “leave ye treasures here!”
I think a craft table is always needed for a young childs birthday. It can even be really simple with just themed coloring sheets and crayons. But for this party, I also added some seashells to paint and bedazzle and the kids loved them. Another fun idea was having a sandbox full of treasures for the kids to find with shovels!
Now on to the food! I love incorporating the theme into the food and drinks. It’s such a fun little detail to add to your party. We had starfish sandwiches and hot dog pirate ships (these were a big hit!) We made grape “seaweed” skewers, mermaid much (candied popcorn) and also put the veggies into cute containers and added food tent cards. You can take the most simple food like olives and make them into “cannon balls”. Try to think outside the box!
As the kiddos left, we gave them bubble wands with the cutest tag ever “life is the bubbles!” I always like giving party favors that kids will really use and the parents can toss when they are done. Think bubbles, chalk or play-dough!
Our little mermaid had the best time and I hope this post has given you some inspiration for your little babe’s next birthday bash. Until the next party! xo, Amanda
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