THROWING A MERMAID PARTY

Well before our daughter, Penny, turned 6 she had expressed that she wanted a mermaid-themed party. I wasn't surprised given her fascination with these mystical half-woman half-fish creatures. After hearing her ideas about how she wanted the party to look and what games she wanted to include, the Pinterest trawling commenced and I begun planning the party.

The Invitations

There are a variety of customisable, printable mermaid party invitations available for purchase online. It would have been quicker and easier to go with one of those options but I enjoy the process of creating so I set to work making my own mermaid birthday invitations. I wanted the invites to be simple and beautiful with minimal wording.

The Party Table

The food table is typically the focal point of a party. It is where the birthday cake takes pride of place as well as any themed party supplies and decorations. It is for this reason that most of the planning for my children's parties centres around how the party table will be styled. Typically I prefer a minimalistic aesthetic with the cake as the centrepiece.

For Penny's mermaid party the plates, cups, paper straws, confetti, balloon garland and food were all in shades of pink, purple or green. Only food that coordinated with the party colours was placed on the party table. All other food was set to the side on our kitchen island. The DIY balloon garland and large helium-filled seahorse balloon were the gorgeous backdrops to the simple table layout.

 

The Party Food

It is without doubt that the most important food on any party table is the cake. Not only does it reference the theme of the party but it is also the food item that everyone gathers around to celebrate the birthday girl or boy as they blow out their candles.  

The mermaid cake that I had planned to make for Penny's party was completely wrapped in fondant scales with mermaid tails projecting from the top. What I achieved was pretty close but I had underestimated the work it would take to make and attach the scales and, as a result, the top was covered in mermaid-themed sprinkles rather than scales. The fondant tails were made using a mould and they were brushed with some edible pearl dust to give them a shimmery finish.

Other party food included doughnuts, mermaid-themed cookies purchased from a talented cookie maker in NZ, popcorn, marshmallows and cupcakes. The cupcakes were made using our mermaid cupcake kit and they were topped with mint buttercream icing and a mix of clam shell toppers and handmade fondant mermaid tail toppers.

The Party Decorations

Balloon garlands are a simple way to make instant impact at a party. When you use a balloon garland to decorate a party space, little else is required to bring the room to life.

Using individual balloons in shades of purple and teal, I made a balloon garland to hang over the party table. Having it suspended with clear thread created the illusion that it was floating and that was the comment made by the birthday girl when she saw the balloon garland for the first time. Hovering proudly next to the party table was a large foil seahorse balloon which added some fun and additional colour to the space.
 
To complete our under the sea look, I handmade some clam shells using small white balloons and tissue pom poms in a range of colours and sizes. These were placed around the party room as beautiful decorative touches.

The Party Games

We had planned three mermaid-themed games to keep our party guests entertained. If we had we been able to count on the weather, we would have included a mermaid piñata. But because we were having the party during an Auckland winter, we decided not to take our chances.

Stick the tail on the mermaid

This take on the classic 'pin the tail on the donkey' was an absolute hit! Even a couple of adults joined in the fun. We used this mermaid game version, which includes 8 mermaid tails, a cardboard blindfold and a large game sheet that we attached to the wall with blu-tack. There were a number of children who didn't want to be blindfolded so they were invited to stick on their tails at the end of the game. If you are artistically inclined and have some time on your hands then this is a game that you could try making up yourself.

Pass the parcel

What party is complete without pass the parcel?! It is a game that is fun for children of all ages and can easily be coordinated with any party theme - from the prize in the middle to the paper that is used as the wrapping layers. Our mermaid-themed version was the highlight for a number of our party goers who bopped along to the music while the parcel circled.

Treasure hunt

Hunting for treasure of any kind is one of my children's favourite pastimes. For the party we had a treasure chest full of gold chocolate coins. These were hidden around the yard (yes, the weather held up so we could have had a piñata after all!) and the children were sent hunting. There were many squeals of excitement as coins were discovered in all sorts of nooks and crannies. Undoubtedly we will find some undiscovered chocolate coins hidden behind a plant pot long after they are safe to consume. 

The Favours

We thanked our party guests for coming to join in the fun by sending them home with one of these gorgeous iridescent mermaid tail treat boxes. They were filled with mermaid stickers, lollies and mermaid balloons. We try our best to be kind to the earth and avoid plastic favours that will only provide fleeting joy and inevitably end up in landfill.