• Theme: Magical Mermaid Party
• STYLED BY: Krista O’Byrne of Hoopla Events + Jennifer Carver of Banner Events
  
• Occasion: 5th birthday
• Location: Discover Aquatics – Olympia, Washington
• Photography: Lauren Oliver Photography

(selected & edited by HWTM | explained by Krista)

#1 – Mermaid Party Invitation

This gorgeous invitation by Err Designs inspired the overall look and feel of our mermaid party. We loved the ethereal quality of the mermaid and the beautiful color palette.

#2 – Mermaid Cake Pops

Bella’s Bakery and Bowtique designed the most exquisite mermaid cake pops. Just look at the detailing! I don’t think we’ve seen more beautiful cake pops. We displayed them on a bed of brown sugar sand.

#3 – Gold Treasure Chest Favor Boxes

We painted paper mache treasure chests gold and filled them with imitation seashell bracelets and a fun variety of treasure from Oriental Trading (gold coins, pearl beaded necklaces, mermaid characters, taffy and lollipops).

#4 – Giant Oyster Shell Photo Prop

Kamryn had so much fun posing with friends in front of an oversized oyster shell prop from Shindigz! It was filled with pink gossamer and a white 36″ balloon “pearl”. The girls also loved wearing their mermaid tutus and waving their starfish wands – which were an easy DIY project using pre-made ribbon wands from Oriental Trading Company. (We just glued the starfish on top.)

#5 – Gorgeous Mermaid Sugar Cookies

The Sugar Canvas Boutique Bakery prepared these beautiful custom sugar cookies! Colleen made several gorgeous cookie designs for our event. Featured on the dessert table are the 3-D oyster shell cookies with edible candy pearl and the under-the-sea cookie vignette including seashell, sand dollar, mermaid tail, mermaid, and seahorse cookies.

MORE PARTY DETAILS from Krista:

Turning 5 is a magical milestone! We threw my daughter a magical mermaid birthday party full of girly and glam details to celebrate her 5th birthday. Jen Carver of Banner Events and I had a lot of fun teaming up on this party, especially with all of its sparkly decorations, gorgeous sea-inspired desserts, beautiful costumes, and thoughtful party favors!

Mermaid Costume:

A mermaid party definitely needs some mermaids!  Thanks to Chasing Fireflies, our guest of honor felt like a princess wearing The Ultimate Collection Disney Princess Ariel Costume for Girls.

Mermaid Dessert Table:

We wanted the dessert table to mimic the gorgeous iridescent scaled look of a mermaid’s tail. First, we hung iridescent floral sheeting from Shindigz to serve as a sparkly backdrop.

Next, Lauren from Ten23 Designs created a custom gold glittered wood name sign to help highlight our guest of honor. The sign was beautiful and easily hung on our backdrop with clear fishing line.

Finaly, we used a variety of latex balloons to create a “bubble” balloon garland around the backdrop. These garlands are surprisingly easy to create! First, blow up your balloon mix, being sure to inflate some more and some less. Next, attach the balloons in random color and size order to fishing line by tying them directly to the line. Finally, use strong clear packing tape to hang the garland from your backdrop.

The table was draped in a white petal taffeta tablecloth and aqua colored “mermaid scales” fabric runner. Jen also strung lengths of white pearls onto faux coral and scattered gold starfish around the table.

Christina of 4 Kids Cakes designed the beautiful mermaid inspired cake, which came complete with an ombre-ruffled bottom tier! She also crafted a 6″ mermaid tail for the cake topper. It was a definite show stopper!

Mermaid Tablescape:

Beautiful tablecloths were sewn from sequined, turquoise “mermaid scales” fabric and topped with a lilac satin table runner. Blue Mason jars filled with pink roses and gold paper mache 5s served as the centerpieces. Finally, the center of the table was sprinkled with pearl beads, faux coral, gold flecked mercury votive holders, sand dollars and gold.

Mermaid Place Settings:

The place settings were our absolutely favorite element of this party! Lovely shell plates were layered atop fancy gold chargers and a pink satin napkin. Plastic square bottles from our shop were embellished with “Magical Sea Water” labels. We also filled gold treasure boxes with strands of pearl beads and a delicious seashell cookie.

Shopping Resources (Non-custom items):

• Oriental Trading Company: Starfish, Genuine Sand Dollars with Basket, White Spool of Pearls, Gold Flecked Mercury Votive Holders, White Battery-Operated Votive Candles, Mint Green Ribbon Wands, Seashell Punch Bowl, Pink and Purple Salt Water Taffy, Hot Pink Mini Twist Lollipops, Shiny Gold Coins, Pearl Beaded Necklaces, Mermaid Characters, Larger Shimmer White Gumballs, Paper Mache Treasure Chests, Balloons
• Shindigz: Iridescent Floral sheeting, Oyster Shell Prop, Imitation Seashell Bracelets, White Paper Dinner Plates, Candy Pink Beverage Napkins, Gold Plastic Cutlery, Giant Shells, Pink Gossamer, White 36″ balloon
• Hoopla Events Etsy Shop: Square plastic bottles, turquoise paper straws
• Bella Cupcake Couture: cupcake wrappers