Mermaid Party

I can't believe my first born just turned 3! Milla had a fantastic birthday party with all her buddies. Her request: a mermaid swim party with a sand castle cake. 

Her favorite part of the party!! She loves the birthday singing and the treat that comes after it:)

Milla helped mix and bake the 4 layer cake(alternating lemon and vanilla). She loves measuring, pouring, using the kitchen-aid mixer and never forgets to ask for a lick. We decorated the cake with icing, ground graham crackers, chocolate rocks, sour strips for seaweed, sour balls for pearls, and rock candy. We also made a jello ocean in shell bowls with gummy fish on top.

She loves to make candy coated anything, but this pretzel treat is one of her favorites so we adapted it to fit the theme.

We made this mermaid costume that she wore only long enough to snap a few pics. She ran around in her silver swimsuit the rest of the time.

Some of the decor. Milla painted all the fish, a project we stretched out over the summer. The big fish on the blue paper were made using a splatter paint and an 'elastic stretchy ball covered in paint and thrown' technique. The little sea creatures on the mantle were made of diffusion paper painted with watercolors and glue and glitter.

The party favors. Girls: backpack with a mermaid wrap skirt, a necklace with a bottle of shimmering mermaid sand(glitter), a fun straw, coloring/sticker sheet, and a box of goldfish crackers, pretzel treat.
Boys: backpack with a sailor hat, telescope(reads: If ever lost at sea, a mermaid will guide you, just look through me), fun straw, coloring/sticker sheet, box of goldfish crackers, pretzel treat.
I was inspired to use 'sailor' as the boy theme from a mermaid book of Milla's that mentions mermaids helping lost sailors. I also considered pirates, surfers and scuba divers.

I wanted to create a "grotto" hang out for Milla and her mermaid friends. So, I delegated the construction to daddio and he built the frame out of PVC pipe in less than 20 minutes. I then draped sand colored felt, fabric, tulle and netting to make the cozy little cave. It took me less time than Greg. 

It wasn't nearly as elaborate as I once envisioned, but I also envisioned creating it much earlier than 1 hour prior to start of party:)

Kids made oceans in a bottle with recycled bottles, mini plastic sea creatures and shells, blue-dyed water, and glitter. 

In lieu of gifts, we asked for donations to MD Anderson's Children's hospital, so we made this treasure box for the collection. Our friends brought things like art supplies, craft kits, books, toys, and gift cards. While opening gifts she questioned the donations. There was one in particular that she thought she'd like to have. We reminded her that they were for the sick children at the hospital and explained that she had so many things at home and they have nothing at the hospital. She understood and the inquiring began. "Mom, can I hug the children in the hospital and tell them it's okay. Will I get sick if I touch them? One day when I get sick and go to the hospital I can play with those things. Do they eat in the hospital? Can we bring them food? I hope the sick children get better. Gran Gran can she take care of them, she's a nurse! Will they go home too? They need to rest and eat healthy food. Can I go to the hospital and play with them? Can I blow them a kiss?" And she went on like this for over 10 minutes. Oh, the purest heart of hearts belongs to this child. There in that moment, I could have lived forever.