A few weeks ago, my daughter, Ava, had a mermazing birthday party with her closest friends to celebrate her 8th birthday! Ava has loved mermaids for years now and after her 7th birthday party, she immediately told me that she wanted to have a mermaid party for her 8th birthday. Once she mentioned this to me, I knew I had plenty of time to come up with a bash that would make a total splash!
Ava has always been a big fan of getting her nails done and just being pampered. She loves bath bombs and all things girly. So several months back I decided that we wouldn't have just a typical mermaid party, but it would be a mermaid spa bash where the girls could get a little pampered.
Our main color palette consisted of pink, purple, and blue and I
designed an elegant mermaid themed printable collection that featured a
beautiful mermaid and sea creatures using water color illustrations.
Every party I have more my kids, I always create decorated sugar cookies and chocolate covered Oreos. This year I made under the sea cookies featuring a mermaid tail, starfish, shell with the birthday girls name, a number 8, and a magical mermaid cake. I kept the Oreos relatively simple by created a gold mermaid scales pattern and adorning them with purple and blue white chocolate flowers.
When I am designing my table scapes and dessert tables, I try to reuse what I can from previous parties so that I can keep to a budget and make use of the items I already have. If you have seen my previous parties, you may actually recognize some of these items, such as the pearls, white ceramic serving dishes, sign holders, floral centerpieces, white crates, glass jars, kraft paper backdrop. I always recommend taking a look around the house before purchasing anything and then if you need additional decor, always start at the dollar store and don't forget to shop holiday clearance sales!
A couple years ago I made my daughter mermaid tail cupcakes for her 6th birthday. Because they were so cute and I didn't want to reinvent the wheel, I made them again! They really added so much color to the dessert table and added to the overall mermaid theme.
Right after Christmas ended and everything went on clearance, I purchased numerous plastic ornaments. I thought that I could get them to look like bubbles by hot gluing them together in groupings. I placed them around the tables and I just loved how they turned out!
Once again my friend, Natalie, created an amazing cake for Ava's birthday! She really outdoes herself every year! The detail work on this cake is impeccable and the best part is it is even more delicious than it looks!
Each girl was given a place setting with all of the supplies they would need for their spa day. Walmart clearanced out plastic dishware a few months ago and my best friend grabbed some to use as their water bowls to soak their fingernails before their manicure. Inside the bowl I placed a hand mirror, cloth headband, toe spacers, and a kraft container with some special party favors. One of my favorite dollar store finds was a plastic cup with infuser. It was the perfect way to add that spa feel while providing reusable cups to the guests and offering different fruits to infuse their beverage!
Inside the kraft containers was our special thank you party favors. Each girl received a pocket mirror, small loofah, a mermaid tail bath bomb, and a little nail polish to continue to their spa experience at home!
To celebrate the birthday girl, we created a special table that had decorations and accessories that were only at her table. Particularly, my best friend created the most gorgeous sea shell crown for her to wear! It is just breathtaking!
When I originally thought of the spa party theme, I knew that we had to have the girls dressed the part, because what is a spa party without a robe?! I found these girls' satin robes on ebay of all places and got pink robes for Ava's guest and she chose a pretty blue to stand out from her friends.
I always have kraft paper bags on hand for when I package cookie orders, so it was easy for me to create these simple bags for the girls to take all of their party favors and accessories home. I even was able to reuse the pink doilies from one of Ava's previous parties to help decorate the bag.
I love to have a game or two for guests to play and win prizes. This year I created a pin the fin on the mermaid tail. It made for a pretty decoration and a fun game!
Photos in front of her dessert table and decorations is always a MUST! Especially photos with mama, grandma and grandma, Gabby, and her Aunt Kathy who made a special visit from Chicago!
I wanted to add to the spa experience with a water bar where the girls could choose to infuse their water or fresh lemonade wit strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cucumbers, or lemons! I even had a small adult station so they could infuse their lemonade as well and make a "Siren Song Cocktail".
The festivities started with the girls changing into their spa attire, then shortly after that, the girls applied a cucumber yogurt face mask and placed cucumbers over their eyes. This was probably the cutest thing ever! Some girls loved it and others weren't so fond of how the mask felt.
Once they completed their masks, it was on to mani and pedi time! Thankfully I had a lot of helpers to assist with this part!
Last year the kids had so much fun with my friend turning them into
puppies with incredible face painting, that we had to have her back
again, but this time she transformed Ava and her friends into mermaids! Her painting skills are just off the charts!
Musical chairs is a game that we just don't see played very much anymore. It was always played at birthday parties when I was a child. When I introduced Ava to it a couple years ago, she found she liked it so much that she wanted to play it at her parties. The kids had a blast!
Because we didn't want to ruin the girls' freshly painted faces, we had to ask them all to play pin the fin on the mermaid tail using the honor system and they just had to shut their eyes.
Cake time and singing happy birthday to our little mermaid, Ava!
A group shot of the beautiful mermaids in their spa attire!
This party definitely made waves and was absolutely magical! Here is to mermaid kisses and starfish wishes for a wonderful 8th birthday! Happy birthday, Ava!
