Sharks and Mermaids Party

My littles, Nolan and Sadie, are 2 years, 2 weeks and 2 days apart. Nolan is 4 and Sadie will be 2 very soon. This year we decided to have one party to celebrate both of their birthdays. It was tough coming up with a theme for a little boy and a little girl that were fitting. Finally we decided on having a Sharks and Mermaids Party. That theme worked out so well and we had a great time celebrating Nolan and Sadie! I was able to partner with Oriental Trading Company for party supplies. (Disclosure: I was provided free products to review for this party. This post will reflect my thoughts, opinions, and ideas in regards to the free products sent to me from Oriental Trading Company. I received no other compensation for this review)

Since Nolan is 4, I wanted a way to display “4” in a shark kinda way. To do this I cut a piece of pallet.

I wanted this board to look like a shark bit it so on one corner of the board I drew a jagged curved line. Took the jigsaw to the line and cut out the shark bite.

That looks like a shark got a hold of it right?

Then I just painted a “4” on the board.

The board was somewhat warped so it would stand on it’s own. The party table and things were set up right inside our back door and it was VERY windy on the party day so to keep the shark bite board from being blown over I just placed a jar behind it, nobody could see it and it kept it from being knocked over.

Nolan has a “4” so Sadie needed a “2” but with a mermaid twist.

For this Mermaid “2” I found a paper mache “2” at the craft store. In my stash of scrapbook paper I found a beautiful gilttery blue paper and a bright pink paper.

Punch lots of circles from the paper. I used a 3/4 inch circle punch.

Then start with one color and fold several circles in half and glue them to the edge. Starting at the bottom, glue one row of one color then add the next row in the other color and work your way up.

Since mermaids aren’t real (Shhhh!) nobody can say her “2” doesn’t look like real mermaid scales right?

Did you see the sharks teeth by the Shark bite board? These were a big hit at the party. Here’s how to make these.

Sharks teeth Ingredients: Bugles, peanut butter and white chocolate melts

Fill a zip top baggie with peanut butter, seal it then snip off a tiny bit of one corner. Through that tiny hole fill Bugles with peanut butter. I lined a baking sheet with wax paper and filled the whole sheet with peanut butter filled Bugles.

Melt your white chocolate candy melts. Dip the peanut butter end of each Bugle into the white chocolate. Doing this will keep the peanut butter sealed in when you dip the entire Bugle. I tried to just dip the Bugle and the peanut butter started blending with the white chocolate.

Then dip the whole Bugle in the white chocolate then set on another tray lined with wax paper and place in the refrigerator to cool and for the chocolate to harden.

Nolan like any kid is the king of snacks so this area was called “Sharks Snack Shack.” For this party we had lots of snacks for every one to enjoy.

Centered at the back of the table is “Ocean Water” which is just blue punch. I placed the beverage dispenser on a large glass jar filled with shells. The cups are just clear glass cups that have striped paper straws from Oriental Trading Company. Of course the straws couldn’t be left plain. For the shark side of the table I had shark images printed on cardstock, then punched holes on each end of the image to put the straw through. The mermaid straws were just flagged with washi tape from Oriental Trading Company. The washi combined with baker’s twine and more images on cardstock made cute banners or bunting to have above and on the front of the snack table. I ordered cupcakes from the local bakery to have ocean colored icing piped in a star tip to make it look like waves, half were to have edible glitter added. Gummy sharks were added to the cupcakes with just icing and pink chocolate molded starfish were added to the glittered cupcakes. Goldfish crackers were placed in small fish bowls. I found pink sea shell shaped brownies by Little Debbie that were perfect for the mermaid’s side. I also made blue jello, mixed it with cool whip then poured it into clear punch cups, the cool whip caused it to seperate so it kinda looks like ocean water. I was so happy to find cute shark and mermaid plates on OrientalTrading.com, they are cute and fit the party so perfectly! We served more snacks in the kitchen, more fitting for the adults. These mini popcorn boxes were the perfect size for serving goldfish, pretzels and chips in for party-goers. They could grab one and off they went to party and snack. The boxes and stickers are for you guessed it Oriental Trading, they came flat in the package and all we had to do was open them, add the stickers and add the snacks. I like easy. We also had a shark watermelon full of fresh fruit. Not only is my husband a Master Carpenter but he is an excellent watermelon carver as well. Of course I didn’t get any pictures of it .

For favors I got these cute small metal buckets from Oriental Trading, and made up these thank you images and had them printed onto sticker sheets. The buckets had stickers, fish squirters, and growing sharks in them.

The weather didn’t cooperate so well with us for the party. We have canopy up on the back deck but it was so windy that even the canopy was blowing around a lot. I had a sign on the back door to the deck that said “Mermaid’s Cove” and had a few activities planned to do out there. Mostly the kids played in the tiny pool. We never opened the sand box for fear of sand blowing in everyone’s eyes. I think the kids still had fun.

The big fun hit of the party was the shark photo prop from Oriental Trading. It was fun to pose as if we had just been eaten.

Later we used the shark photo prop for a game. It’s hard to see but we tossed the fish squirters into the shark’s open mouth, so we fed the shark.

I think I covered all the party details. There was so much going on and so much I wanted to share with you. The whole party was a huge success, the kids had fun. Nolan is still talking about it. It wasn’t easy coming up with a theme for this co-party but was much easier than have 2 parties about 2 weeks apart. Have you hosted a co-party for siblings?

Thanks for stopping by At Home with Sweet T!!!

-Tracy

More blog posts you can check out.

: Game themed party

: Garden 1st Birthday Party