My daughter fell in love with The Little Mermaid the day she found her sister’s singing necklace. She was 13 months old and she toddled around the house singing Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh… So it was only fitting that her second birthday should be The Little Mermaid themed. I had so much fun creating the perfect under-the-sea party.
First, it was all about setting the mood for our “under the sea” Little Mermaid Birthday party. Playing on the color themes of purple, blue and green, I designed my own Birthday Invitation and matching thank you notes. Then I had my invitations printed by Shutterfly.
Money Saving Tip, you can order plain picture cards from Shutterfly and upload your own image for the front of the card and the inside page. That gives you two invitations per card, then when they arrive just cut them apart. I used a coupon code for 10 free Shutterfly cards, which resulted in 10 invitations — all I paid was shipping.
When the guests arrived, they were swept away into a magical world filled with trinkets and bobbles and fishy themed treats.
The Little Mermaid party food ideas:
- Pirates Booty
- Fishes
- Oyster Cookies
- Under the Sea (Jello cups)
- Nautical Nuggets
- Tritons of Fruit
To match my invitations, I also designed a silhouette poster of Ariel and matching food labels. The Ariel poster and labels are available for free download here.
Ariel presided over the lunch table, keeping close watch on her bobbles.
Shopping list: The Little Mermaid plates, lime green and blue paper straws, plastic cups with lids (I bought 50 two years ago, and we are still using them up!).
Jellyfish Decoration
I seriously love how these turned out. Find out how I made these (super easy) with my Jellyfish decoration tutorial.
Decorations also included treasures from Ariel’s Grotto scattered about by the sea. (Ordinary beach shells turned sparkly with glitter spray paint.)
Activities included The Little Mermaid coloring pages – Download The Little Mermaid Coloring pages.
Little Mermaid Cake
The pull-apart cupcake cake was from Walmart. Not only was it adorable, it was delicious!
Mermaid Tails
No mermaid party is complete without mermaid tails. So my big project for the party was designing and making mermaid tails for all of the little girls. Completely my own design, they turned out perfect.
They are actually fairly simple to make. For instructions, check out my Mermaid Tail Tutorial.
All of the little mermaids were enchanted with their tails, but none more than the birthday girl.
Happy 2nd birthday baby girl!
The Little Mermaid Birthday Party Supplies:
- The Little Mermaid Birthday Shirt (Etsy)
- The Little Mermaid (Great gift idea + you can put it on in the background to entertain partygoers!)
- The Little Mermaid 2 & 3 (Great gift idea + you can put it on in the background to entertain partygoers!)
- The Little Mermaid Birthday Banner (including interchangeable numbers)
- The Little Mermaid Tiaras (party hats)
- The Little Mermaid Favor Pack (48 pieces including rings, bracelets, tops, etc.)
- The Little Mermaid Gift Bags
- The Little Mermaid Hanging Decorations
- The Little Mermaid Keychains (less than $.50 each)
- Giant Little Mermaid Decoration
- The Little Mermaid Temporary Tattoos (great way to kill time!)
Love your party! Is the invitation available also?
So glad I came across this. What did you put inside the mermaid jello cups?
So glad you like everything! They are Swedish Fish. BUT I learned the hard way, don’t put the fish in while the jello is setting or the color runs. Instead when you are ready to serve slice a slit with a knife, insert the Swedish fish and top with whipped cream. Otherwise they look more like a dark blob than a fish. They turned out much better when I did it this way for another party. 🙂
Hi, I was wondering how you did the background?
The backdrop is a large insulation panel ($10 – $20 at Home Depot depending on size/thickness). I covered that in a white plastic tablecloth ($1.99). Then I taped two blue and purple crepe paper ($.99 each) together at the end and attached to the top of the board. As I came down the board, I twisted the crepe paper to give it the spiral effect. Then I taped the crepe paper to the bottom and started at the top again. It is a slow process, but the effect is awesome. I use that same insulation panel as the backdrop for all of my parties, just covering it in different tablecloths or cloth and other pinned on decorations. Have fun!
What is the filling for your oyster cookies?
Blue icing – I used the Pillsbury kind. 🙂
what is the pearl in the cookies? so cute!
A yogurt covered raisin! 🙂
Hi there! This is too cute! I’m going to make mermaid tails for my three girls for Halloween this year and love your simple design! But when I click on the link to go to the tutorial, it takes me back to the main party page. Can you repost it?
So sorry, this comment got jammed up in spam. I do hope you found the tutorial, I am fixing the link now. Here is the direct link to the tutorial – https://www.thesuburbanmom.com/2014/01/27/how-to-make-a-mermaid-tail-tutorial.