Sydney's 6th Birthday, A Mermaid Party

Today my oldest baby turns six.  SIX!  That's two hands!  Before I start bawling like a baby and bemoaning the fact that she's growing up way too fast, let me tell you about her birthday party that we had last weekend.  When I asked her what she wanted to do for her party, she told me she wanted to be a mermaid.  Not, "have a mermaid party," but be a mermaid.  I found inspiration in this picture:

So last spring I set out to throw the best mermaid birthday bash Sydney could ever ask for!  I decided to have the first part of the party at home, which was decorated with an under-the-sea feel, and then take all the kids to the pool for some games in the water.

My sweet six year old.  I found that frame at Hobby Lobby (totally worth the 3.5 hour drive, I got so much stuff for the party there). 

I wanted to have an underwater feel at the house.  Here's how it turned out:

3 yards of tiered ruffle fabric from Hobby Lobby (with a 40% off coupon, hooray!) and about a million tissue paper poms strug together to look like jellyfish.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out!  I loved all the decorations.

That fabric was the perfect backdrop for the cake.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out!  I made that cake, and a practice one two weeks ago, so we've been eating cake non-stop for a while now!  I was going to make it from scratch, but Sydney's favorite cake is Funfetti, so I used 3 boxes of mix split between 6 pans and 5 containers of cream cheese frosting.  I really wanted to do a pink ombre cake and I was pretty please with how it turned out.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the top layer is a light pink and then it gets progressively darker to a bright pink on the bottom layer.  I was extremely pleased with myself for making this cake.  I'm glad I did the practice cake so I could work out the kinks, and it was unbelievably cheap for how cute it was!

I ordered the fondant toppers from this great company, Sugar and Stripes Co.  They packaged it up really well and it held up great!  I was very happy the topper, I think it just completed the cake!  I will definetely use them again.

When the guests all arrived, we got pictures of Sydney with all her little friends.  I love frame pictures like these!

 Of course I had to get a few pictures of my girls.  They are getting so big!

Once we had pictures of everyone we did cake and presents.

Next all the guests got to get their party favors.  I had seen the idea of a favor bar in June, and I really wanted to try it out, but the cost can really add up.  I found some amazing deals and worked hard to keep it modestly priced.  Here's the favor bar:

I love all the varying heights of the different favors.  These were a ton of fun to put together!  All of the paper products were from a 5M Creations new printable line.

These little mermaid body washes were my favorite party favor.  I looked forever for those little round bottles and finally found them at Hobby Lobby for PENNIES!  They were so cheap.  3 bottles of ocean breeze scented bpdy wash for $1.19 each and it was a fabulous, inexpensive favor that was so cute.  And those cake stands...oh my gosh, fabulous!  Part of the new Christmas line at Target and they were only a few dollars each.
Now, what says beach more than smores?  I love the idea of a smores kit for the guests to take home and enjoy.

 Some graham crackers, marshmellows, and mini Hershey bars on top of tinsel in my party color and voila, smores kits!  The bakers twine to hold it all together is so stinkin' cute, too.

Bubbles are always a kid favorite.  Melissa designed these little stickers and it made such a cute display of bubbles.

My next favorite favor, after the body wash, were these adorable little sand shovels filled with candy.  So simple, so easy to put together, and when you buy the shovels after summer clearance sales, it's pretty darn cheap, too.

Last summer when we went to the coast for family vacation I picked up some salt water taffy for the party.  At the time Chris thought I was crazy for planning that far in advance, but I think it adds just the right touch and taffy just screams beach, you know?

 I fell in love with these little rock candies on wooden dowels and I found a lady on Etsy who sold them by the dozen, complete with ribbon, clear bags, and shipping, for $10.00!  Amazing!  Click here to see her store.

Swedish Fish in these adorable little chevron bags from Melissa were a nice little touch.  I love those bags!

Finally, some hairbows from Halo Heaven, and a pirate patch for the one boy at the party, completed the favor bar.  All of the starfish and sand dollars I found on an auction on Ebay.

After the favor bar we loaded all the guests up and went to our local indoor acquatic center.  At this point I gave our one boy a pirate hat and sword and all the girls got to have mermaid tails.

 I picked up those beach towels at an end of summer clearance sale for so, so super cheap.  My mom added some velcro to the waists so the girls could wear them.  Then I took clear, plastic pony tails holders, two per towel.  Pull one holder over each corner until they meet together and it makes it look like a mermaid tail!  The girls were all so excited to be "real" mermaids and our lone pirate was a pretty good sport!

After we made them they were done posing for pictures they got to swim for an hour in the warm water pool with an instructor leading them in games.  There was lots of happy yelling and splashing!

It was such a fun party!  I'm already thinking about next year's party.

Happy, Happy Birthday to my sweet Sydney!  Mommy, Daddy, and Savannah love you so much!  Here is the birthday girl on her first birthday and then this year.  I can't believe how much she's grown!