An Under The Sea Party

I have to admit, Haley's 3rd birthday party was quite the undertaking.  I wish that I could say that I did most of it myself, but I'm just not that good :)

Once we decided on the Under The Sea theme, I was online seeing what was out there.  I needed decoration ideas, games, food, anything I could find.

I was thrilled when I found ReadyMadePartyParade and saw all of her fabulous decorations.  Needless to say, Haley's party wouldn't have been nearly as great without Party's help.  I'm pretty sure we got all the under the sea cuteness she had.

 

 Then came the food.  I searched everywhere for some creative ideas and came up with some great finds.

Fan-Sea Treats- cupcakes.  Haley picked out yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  I spruced them up a bit and added cookie dough to the middle making it a little hidden treasure.

Fruit of the San and Crunchy Coral- fruits and veggies

Turtle Eggs- meatballs

Chicken of the Sea- chicken salad sandwiches cut out with a fish cookie cutter.  I would have preferred Peanut Butter and Jellyfish, but we had a peanut allergy.  Still turned out great!

Next up was trying to find clever (and cheap!) activities to keep a bunch of 2 and 3 year olds busy.  I found a great suggestion for a craft- paper plate jellyfish!  Talk about super easy.  All you need is half a paper plate, some crepe paper, construction paper, glue, and paint if you want. 

Another idea we came up with was digging for treasure.  Luckily, we already had a "treasure chest" hiding out in our guest bedroom.  So we just put a piece of plywood in so the kids didn't have to reach down too far.  Then we added treasure (rings, necklaces, and chocolate gold coins) and mixed in some gold paper shred.

The final touch was an under the sea photo cut out.  We just got some inexpensive wood and traced some pictures on there and painted.  It was pretty time consuming, but totally worth it!  The kids loved it!

Everyone left the party with a small little thank you.  I made sugar cookies and royal iced them.  I think they turned out pretty cute for a first try.



Last up was the birthday girl's attire.  Haley loves seahorses and I thought she just needed a seahorse dress for the big day.  I was in luck when I found Bugs & Beez.  She had the perfect dress, simple and cute.



And I hit the jackpot when she offered to make a pennant banner for the big day.  It turned out super cute and was the perfect way to welcome everyone to the party.