Mermaid Birthday Party Ideas

[meira]

I am looking for help with my daughters 4 year old pool party. She wants the theme to be mermaids and pirates. I am looking for favors and plates/ decorations - but would like to avoid Ariel if possible.

Thanks for your help

Meira

[SnuggleBuggles]

Family Fun has 2 neat cakes. One is really easy- it's just a sheet cake decorated to be under the sea. The other is an awesome treasure chest that is actually pretty easy to make too. They have a cool looking sandcastle cake and a mermaid cake as well. i always start with a cool cake and go from there. :)
for the under the sea one, you could buy toy mermaids to add to the scene:
http://familyfun.go.com/parties/cake-recipes/theme-cakes-general/under-the-sea-cake-686557/
variation with cute decorated Teddy Grahams (I've done that for multiple b-days now!)
treasure chest. I've made it 3 times now. I put it on a platter that I sprinkle crushed graham crackers on to look like sand. Ring pops and candy necklaces make it a lot of fun and pretty. Each kid gets one of those good candies.
http://familyfun.go.com/parties/cake-recipes/theme-cakes-general/treasure-chest-cake-686531/
Sandcastle:
http://familyfun.go.com/parties/cake-recipes/theme-cakes-general/towering-sand-castle-cake-688671/
Mermaid:
http://familyfun.go.com/parties/cake-recipes/theme-cakes-general/mermaid-cake-686164/
finally, the piece de resistance, a beach cake that you can go crazy with. Looks hard but is easy and a huge hit!
http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Ship-Ahoy-Cake

Favors- fish in a bag soap. I was going to do it for ds1's party but lost my oomph. They are so cool. I've bought them at craft shows and farmers' markets before. Etsy has them and other places online too. Here's a pic:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2U2D6H1QVBw/S7GVXG-qKmI/AAAAAAAABjg/maNtYAgaec8/s1600/IMG_1810.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.capscreations.com/2010/03/fish-in-bag-soap-tutorial.html&h=656&w=437&sz=70&tbnid=6-FyX_diDGZjuM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=60&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfish%2Bin%2Ba%2Bbag%2Bsoap%26tbm%3Dis ch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=fish+in+a+bag+soap&docid=Eg2pgQSwxYZ7uM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cuIqTuWqJsjZgAecnuisCw&sqi=2&ved=0CFMQ9QEwBQ&dur=6139
beach balls could be fun too. I'd probably go with beachy or pool themed stuff. One year I bought neat sand buckets and put an inflateable beach ball, a splash ball and some other toy in there. Easy and cute. Oh, I think I tied a balloon to the handle for extra appeal.

I've gotten great beach/ water/ pool themed decorations at the party stores. They sell crepe paper and cardboard fish that are cute to just hang around.

Beth

[misshollygolightly]

What a great party! Oriental trading has tons of pirate stuff: http://www.orientaltrading.com/party-themes-and-events-a1-90000+1305-1-1.fltr
AND lots of beach-themed stuff: http://www.orientaltrading.com/party-themes-and-events/theme-a1-90000+1596-1-1.fltr

Seashells might be fun and easy to decorate with (or to decorate as a craft or activity--like, stick googly eyes on them or something). And a treasure hunt of some sort would work well with both the pirate and mermaid theme. Maybe have the goody bags hidden in a treasure chest somewhere and let the kids follow a few simple clues to find the treasure?

[wimama]

Try Etsy. I did a quick search on there for you, using "Mermaid Party" and there is some cute stuff on there.

[Seitvonzu]

i love the sand castle cake-- a friend posted that her facebook page a couple weeks ago (the one she made) and i thought it was so darling.... !!! my husband thought was weird, but guys never know about that stuff ;) (well, my husband anyway)

i also like the mermaid -- SO over the top and i think a four year old would be bananas for that if she was into mermaids (which she obviously is)-- my 3.5 mermaid freak would LOVE that !!!! the sand castle is "subtle" and the mermaid is NOT, but i think kids would like the mermaid the best :)

i like the beach favors idea-- sandbucket, beach ball (i'm waiting for the little tikes ones at target to go on sale...they are so classic and cute but so much more than the 1 dollar ones...). michaels had some cute blow up fish,octopus,etc for $1 earlier in the season-- my daughter loves the ones we gave her to play with in the bathtub.

i also think the treasure hut for a goody bag sounds like a great idea! if you don't want to do a traditional goody bag (aka, the infamous bag o' cr&p), and if you want to string the activity out timewise a bit, you could have the "loot" be decorate a shell "kits" -- some stick on jewels, foamies (we have some very tiny ones in our stash, so i know they make them), shells (of course), and then have glitter glue, paint, etc. for community use. at our craft area at home we have some of these materials and my daughter actually started sticking the tiny foamies on the shells herself the other day saying she was "decorating" (we'd just read a house for a hermit crab where the crab decorates his shell....)-- so i know this is the sorta thing preschool girls are into ;)

Pin the tail on the mermaid? ;)

i'm going to watch this thread--such a fun party theme! :)

[Melbel]

I second etsy for the paper goods. There so many creative, original items - anything from custom invitations, to banners, to stickers/cupcake toppers to water bottle labels. We went this route for DD2's 3rd birthday and I was very pleased.

For example:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TeaPartyDesigns/search?search_query=mermaid&search_submit=&search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5837436&shopname=TeaPartyDesigns

http://www.etsy.com/shop/andersruff/search?search_query=mermaid&search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5783916&shopname=andersruff

http://www.etsy.com/listing/76858400/complete-party-package-digital-format?ref=sr_list_31&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=mermaid+party&ga_noautofacet=1&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade%2Fpaper_goods

http://www.etsy.com/listing/76945049/diy-printable-full-collection-magical

http://www.etsy.com/listing/76725132/ultimate-birthday-party-package-rainbow?ref=sr_list_38&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=mermaid+party&ga_noautofacet=1&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade%2Fpaper_goods

This seller has a combo mermaid/pirate theme but some negative reviews:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/treasuredmoments2000/search?search_query=mermaid&search_submit=&search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_6101613&shopname=treasuredmoments2000
Note that most etsy sellers will let you modify designs, so you may be able to add a pirate motiff to some of the mermaid themes (especially if the same shop also has a pirate theme). You could also request to change the mermaid/pirate hair/skin color.

Mermaid/pirate invitation: http://www.etsy.com/listing/63799226/mermaid-pirate-birthday-invitation

Blown up beach balls in the pool are great decorations, play items and party favors. Beach buckets are great to hold the party favors.