Our little mermaid just turned five and we celebrated with a Mermaid Party! Kate loves Ariel, so we incorporated little touches of our favorite singing mermaid, along with a monochromatic  blue and aqua color scheme. Vicki from Vicki Lynn Photography captured all of the beautiful details of the day. I was hoping our new pool and backyard would be done in time for the party to do a poolside lunch, but it wasn’t quite ready so we held the party right in my home office. (also the backdrop for the sunshine baby shower I styled for Pottery Barn Kids) My white furniture, ivory drapes and crystal chandeliers made for a light and bright backdrop. Now that Kate is getting older and making friends of her own, we decided to keep the party small and have her eight closest friends attend. My desk was turned into the seating table after we gathered additional chairs.

I designed a new printable collection for the party, including invitations, cupcake toppers, food labels, place cards, and a pennant banner. The invitations were hand delivered to our guests with our new gumball tubes filled with pearl white and shimmer blue gumballs. We used our light blue striped paper plates, napkins and striped paper cups and straws at each place setting.

As the girls arrived, they were given an aqua blue ribbon-trimmed tutu made by my mom along with a basic white tank from Old Navy to change into. They were “crowned” mermaids for the day with a pearl necklace from Target and custom tulle mermaid hair clip from Banner Boutique.

I printed an 11×17 “Welcome Mermaids” sign and framed in my gorgeous distressed wood frame from The Savvy Photographer. I found the perfect starfish melamine plates at HomeGoods for the party. Kate was so excited to have her friends arrive. She wanted to wear something a little different that her party guests, so she wore an additional tutu in white under her aqua one.

My main inspiration for color for the party came from the turquoise coral napkins from Williams Sonoma that I spotted a couple months ago. I used three of them to create a runner for the table. For the centerpiece, I used my white tiered cupcake stand from Pottery Barn Kids and filled it with cupcakes I baked in our blue polka dot baking cups. I topped the cupcakes with amazing fondant starfish toppers from Two Sugar Babies. My mom and I made shell and starfish chocolates using candy melts and a mold from Wilton. We topped them with gorgeous edible glitter I picked up on a trip to NYC at NY Cake & Baking.

I used the perfect blue and aqua tissue paper pom set from our shop!

I picked up the clear crystal garland at HomeGoods for another shoot and it worked beautifully hanging from my chandeliers and around the centerpiece on the table. We tied tulle and ribbon from each chair, along with a printable place card to mark where each girl would sit. Of course, Kate loved choosing who sat where.

Toni’s cousin, Mandy made the amazing cookies that matched the invitation perfectly! She is local here in the East Valley and she starting a cookie business soon, so we’ll keep you posted. I adore her handwriting on Kate’s cookie. Could it be more perfect?

I made a simple pennant banner incorporating the “scale” pattern I used in the other printable designs and strung with white satin ribbon.

The dessert table was simple and sweet. The aqua blue ruffle cake was made by my local cake designer, Melissa from Decadent Delights and my mom and I embellished with ribbon, a pearl necklace, a starfish and a little mermaid doll. I placed the cake on one of our white milk glass cake stands filled with raw sugar to create the look of sand.

I baked the cupcakes in our blue polka dot baking cups topped with my favorite Betty Crocker frosting. I designed new printable cupcake toppers and punched with our favorite flourish paper punch. My local cake pop designer, Bonnie from Inspired Occasions did a beautiful job as usual with her creative embellishments on the cake pops! I put them in a white doily pot from Ikea.

After I spotted these round lollipops, I was on a mission to find some or make them for Kate’s party. They just fit the theme so perfectly, like bubbles! Luckily, I found This Charming Candy, a fabulous Etsy shop who whipped them up for the party in Bubble Gum and Blueberry flavors. I filled the white pot with our pearl white shimmer gumballs.

More gorgeous, delicious cookies made by Mandy. I have no idea how she was able to replicate the pattern from the invitation. Amazing!

I bought little Squinkies Ariel rings for the girls as party favors (multi-pack at Target) and tried to think of a creative way to package them, since they are so tiny. I had one of our mini candy jars sitting on my desk and decided it would be cute to fill them with sand (raw sugar) and put the ring and some mini shells in it to create a little beach scene. Since the jars are glass, I waited to hand them out to the parents when they picked up so they could help get the ring out and handle the jar. Kate’s little jar is sitting on her dresser and it’s a perfect keepsake from her mermaid party!

Kate’s friend, Elle brought her a beta fish as a birthday gift! How fun?!

Lindsay from Banner Boutique made a special starfish and tulle hair clip for Kate to wear, as well as one for me that I wore on my dress. Kate also wore a special necklace and bracelet set from our shop. So perfect!

As the party went on, I took a few snapshots of the rest of the afternoon (as Vicki had to leave). Kate blowing out her candles, a mermaid wand craft and gift opening. The party ended with the girls chasing Tommy around the house after he returned from his soccer game. Too cute!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! We love you so much and hope you loved your party!

New Mermaid Printable Collection is available here!

Find the coordinating party supplies HERE in our shop!