Theme Parties: Mermaid Swim Party

I just love a good themed party!  It helps bring all the pieces of a fun party together- from the invites, to the decor, games, food, favors- you name it.  In this series I'll share a look at some of the budget friendly, fun themed parties we've had for our kiddos.  

Our daughter, whose birthday is in the end of winter, asked for a mermaid swim birthday party this year.  It all started when she asked for one gift for her birthday- a mermaid tail from Fin and Fun.  After talking both sets of  grandparents into going in on the tail with us (it's not cheap!),  I set out to try and make her mermaid party dreams come true... in the winter and on a budget.   Lord help me!

First step- finding a destination.  I called several hotels in the area to see if we could reserve their indoor pool.  Not an easy sell, or cheaply done.  I ended up reserving two rooms at a local hotel that we have points for, due to my husband's travels, so we only had to pay for one of the rooms.  By reserving 2 rooms, it gave gave us access to the pool for 8 swimmers, but didn't guarantee us that no one else would be using it.  So, I basically tried to pick a time slot that would be good for our guests and wouldn't have a large hotel crowd at the pool.  We went with Sunday afternoon from 3PM- 5:30PM, which worked well.  We had the pool to ourselves.  

I sent out mermaid themed e-vites to all of the little mermaids with this wording:

Mermaids Welcome!
Come Make a Splash at Sadie's 8th Birthday Party
Please join us for an under the sea adventure!  
Don't forget to bring your swimsuit!  
Hope you can make it to the shell-abration! :)

We kept the food and drink really simple and affordable, but still fun and on theme with the party!

Mermaid Party Food

The Cutie Clams were made with dollar store cookies and tinted icing...   

Mermaid Party Food

We had fun making the Shark Attack Watermelon using this online video tutorial...

Watermelon Shark

Along with our Shark we also had "Shark Bait" which were Swedish Fish from the dollar store.

Mermaid party food

The girls couldn't get enough of the cheese ball "beach balls"!

Mermaid party food

We also had "Red Coral" which was thinly sliced strawberries on tooth picks, and "Mermaid Punch"...and cupcakes, too! 

Mermaid party food and drink

The dollar store came through again for the favors.  We found these adorable pink stuffed dolphins,  and added some candy (that I thought looked like colorful coral) and necklaces... FUN!

Mermaid party favors

Mermaid party favors

The highlight of it all was swimming!  Especially since there was literally snow on the ground outside... We played some games in the pool...and the girls took turns trying out the mermaid tail...

All in all, I think our little mermaid approved! :)