Mermaid birthday party

One of the best thing about throwing an Ariel Mermaid party is that the supplies are plentiful and fairly easy to attain. Thanks to the popularity of all the Disney princesses, and the fairly recent re-release of the Little Mermaid movie, you can find Ariel goody bags, cake toppers, decorations and other party supplies at Amazon (see links below) or your local party supply store.

Little Mermaid Cake Options
Of course, having a Little Mermaid Cake is the most common, but you can also have a fish or underwater themed cake. If you opt to go the Little Mermaid cake route, you can easily make your own with cake images (edible), cake topper figurines or by icing a molded Ariel cake (mold made by Wilton). Of course, many bakeries will offer sea, mermaid or Ariel topped cakes or cupcakes as well, if you prefer to purchase a cake.

Mermaid Party Games and Actitivities

But what else will make your party perfect for a mermaid? Party games do not have to be expensive or elaborate to be fun. Consider some of these activities:

* Little Mermaid Coloring Pages: Have some mermaid coloring pages and crayons available for guests as they arrive. It is always good to have a simple activity kids can join into as soon as they arrive and coloring pictures is universal. Alternately, consider a simple craft such as decorating foam tiaras or picture frames with undersea themed foam stickers.

* Treasure Hunt: Create a small treasure hunt with clues. Divide the party into 2 or 3 teams and let them search for their clues (color coded by teams, if you want to give each team unique clues). As each team finds the final item, award a treasure. This can be a small prize such as a string of fake pearls for each guest or another trinket.

* Mermaid crown craft: Purchase foil or foam crowns or tiaras at your local craft or party store. Provide self stick "gems", flowers, seashell stickers, ribbon and other decorations for each guest to create her own crown. This is a great activity to put out as girls arrive at the party, to do until everyone is there.

* Mermaid hop race: It is hard to walk with a tail, right? Use ribbon, yarn or large bandannas to tie each guest's feet together at the ankles. Then, have her hop, on her "mermaid tail" to the goal!

* Octopus ring toss: Purchase this clever inflatable octopus ring toss set to use for a fun party game.

* Mermaid Treasure Hunt 2: Use a large (oversized) bowl or pan filled with sand, rice or beans to bury small trinket prizes - things like rings, bracelets or other tiny items work well. Allow each girl to reach in blindfolded and fish around until she finds some buried treasure.

* Fishing: Make fishing poles with dowels and ribbon. Place a paper clip at the end of each ribbon and use these fishing poles to catch card stock "fish" with holes punched in them.

* Mermaid drawings: Have your guests try their hands at creating their own mermaid drawings, either on individual pieces of paper or on a plain paper tablecloth! Or, create your own mermaid drawing ahead of time to hang on the wall and use to play "pin the tail on the mermaid."

Of course, you don't need to only use Ariel for your mermaid, although she is the easiest to find in mermaid party supplies. However, you can find seaweed boas, mermaid chocolate molds and many other appropriate accessories without going the Disney route.

If you get creative, you will find lots of seashell decorations, faux pearl necklaces, lobster dishes and everything else for fabulous underwater festivities.

In a section of the party area where you won't need to walk until this game is done, scatter sea animals - they can be bean bag, stuffed, foam or small (lightweight) plastic ones. Then, spread a blue blanket or sheet (the sea) over them, making sure they are all covered.

Have your party guests circle the blanket, each holding onto an edge (like you would for a parachute game). Everyone should lightly shake the blanket, making ripples in the "water". One at a time, choose a guest to dive "under the sea". Each diver should bring up a sea creature and toss it on top of the blanket, taking turns, until all the animals have been recovered and are swimming atop the blanket.

You can even give your birthday mermaid a chance to sit on the sheet, with the sea creatures rippling around her, swimming near her mermaid rock.

The menu for a mermaid party is only limited by your creativity. Try some of these menu items that will work for any age birthday party:

* Seashell shaped pasta. For the younger set, keep it plain or use it in macaroni and cheese. For the more sophisticated mermaid party, add some primavera vegetables, marinara sauce or a fresh seafood saute.

* Seashell shaped peanut butter sandwiches. Get creative with a couple simple cookie cutters (stars can be used to make star fish, for example) and cut peanut butter (and jellyfish) sandwiches or cold cuts and cheese into appealing shapes.

* A little blue food coloring can give most pale drinks the appeal of an undersea refreshment.

* Goldfish crackers. Need we say more? Also consider blue jello, gummy fish and "seaweed" made of green fruit roll-ups for snacks.

* Anything on a half shell. You don't need to serve oysters to put food on the halfshell. You can use real shells or seashell-shaped serving dishes to present everything from sandwiches to fruit or seared scallops.

Whether you want to draw mermaids for your party invitations or decorations, or to make a party activity out of drawing a mermaid, we've got all the tips you need!

Parts of a Mermaid
What is a mermaid really? Part girl, part fish and an extra dose of charm and mystical sea magic makes up a mermaid. Classic mermaids have long flowing hair, wear bikini tops or go au natural, and have shimmering scale-covered tails.

This site breaks down the parts of a mermaid to help you draw it. Check out Elfwood's drawing a mermaid tutorial.

This tutorial on Deviant Art takes you through the process of drawing simple anime style mermaids.

Books on Drawing Mermaids
The charming and simple mermaids in Draw mermaids are easy enough for young children to draw with great success. Also, ideal for art-challenged adults!

The year my daughter had her mermaid tea party, she wanted to be on the invitations as a mermaid. I did a simple mermaid body, with her chosen tail and bikini top color and photoshopped her head and torso into the picture. Voila, my own little mermaid and fun, personalized invitations for our very own mermaid party.

The year my daughter had her mermaid tea party, it seemed like such a good idea -- dolphin petit fours. They didn't have to be dolphin shaped (although that would have been the ultimate) - I just wanted little icing or fondant dolphins atop pale blue petit fours.

At the first few bakeries I visited, you would have thought I was asking for a 27 tiered wedding cake. Apparently, they only do templated designs - flowers, soccer balls and Elmo's face seemed among the most popular. Some bakeries didn't even make petit fours and tried to substitute cupcakes. One tried to convince me that flowers were what I wanted - they'd be willing to change their normal flower color to blue -- for an extra 50 cents a cake. This, a bakery that touts its artistry!! All told, I visited or called more than a dozen (a baker's dozen) local bakeries, and not a dolphin was to be found.

A normal person would have given up... but made persistent out of sheer annoyance, I searched high and low until... I found someone who will do custom designs on petit fours. And, then I paid a veritable fortune for custom designed dolphin petit fours.

If you ever find yourself with a similar bind, I highly recommend Dragonfly Cakes in Sausolito. They have lovely petit fours and are quite accommodating.

I haven't asked them particularly, but now that I've discovered Black Market Bakery in Irvine, I'm imagining they would have come to my rescue as well. They do beautiful custom cakes.

Like dolphins, seahorses are friends with mermaids. Mini mermaids are even shown cavorting with or riding seahorses. You can make the seahorse the centerpiece of your mermaid party, with a simple cake or with other seahorse decorations to surround your mermaid - of - honor!

If your little one is a fan of Barbie and loves mermaids, the perfect theme may be to have a Barbie Mermaid party.

The bad news? While Barbie Mermaidia plates, cups and other tablewear are readily available in the UK, they are hard to impossible to locate in the U.S. But, don't give up if a Barbie Mermaid party is her heart's desire. There are lots of things you can do to create your own decorations.

First, use some of the Barbie Mermaid dolls to create a tableau as your centerpiece. There are playsets and mermaid dolls still readily available from Amazon. You can even use these items to adorn your cake.

Another option is to check ebay. Since these items are available other places (and were available in the US until they were discontinued) you may get lucky and find a seller who has some unused ones.

For your table, select either solid pastels, or purchase plain barbie or barbie fairytopia (the characters overlap) paper goods. These items are also discontinued, but are more readily available (and often for clearance prices) such as
this set from BuyCostumes.

You can also make simple drawings by copying the characters from the DVD case.

If your party is long enough, let the girls watch the Mermaidia movie.

Anyone who has dreamed of being a mermaid has imagined wearing a beautiful tail. If you want it for a costume, or decoration, there are a lot of choices. But, if you really want to swim in your mermaid tail, rubber or latex are some of your best options and there are not too many places that craft them. Note that they are NOT cheap, but you will see why from the quality and handcrafting that goes into these stunning rubber mermaid tails from the Mertailor.

If these are too pricey and you don't actually need your tail to be seaworthy, check out their fabric tail design options.

Of course mermaids love to party, but they especially like to party in the water. So, if you or your favorite mermaid is throwing a swim party for a birthday bash, you will need appropriate swimsuits, towels and other mermaid accessories. Here are some of our favorites:

Mermaid fin towel from Chasing Fireflies

CWD Kids Mermaid swimsuit

Kids mermaid swim suit from Chasing fireflies