Under The Sea {Party Playdate and New Sets}

I was so excited about these summer sets that I decided I needed to put them to use to kick off the summer! I used the designs for the shop {hence the Happy Birthday designs at an UNbirthday Party} so I could shoot them, but I assure you the kids didn’t care at all!  We invited some friends over for an “Under The Sea” party and poolside picnic, and then, being the mean mom I can be…I made them watch the adorable set up outside until I had taken a sufficient amount of photos….then I let the kids attack! I tried to keep everything simple and budget friendly….

Of course, every party starts with an invite, and this party starts with two! I designed a coordinating mermaid set so the designs could be used together or separately!! How amazing is this fish cookie from Bees Knees Creative….I honestly did not expect the patterns to be carried onto the cookie…but Renee knows no bounds! You can see the invites better in THIS POST or now you can also see them in the Paper and Pigtails SHOP.

I used my daughters organizer as a buffet and draped a darling table runner (from A to Zebra Celebrations) over the top! I used it to hold lunch! Sandwiches were in the middle in a little suitcase, fresh oranges, and dried fruit were scattered around, drinks on the bottom, and of course…the sweets!! {there were also Goldfish Crackers not photographed}

I used the custom patterned paper I created as straw flags, stands for the food labels, stickers for the sandwiches, and even labels on some of the water bottles! The pretty pom was from Carmen at Pom Flair, another Florida girl whom I had the pleasure of meeting at our Martha Stewart DID meetup a few months ago.

One of my favorite elements on the buffet was also one of the simplest! Seashell Terrariums in mason jars…

And you can’t have an Under the Sea Party without salt water taffy! This was also what I used for the favors.

The favors did double duty as place cards! Using the food/name label to type each child’s name on, I tied them around Mason jars full of salt water taffy…topped with a sticker made from the pattern paper, and with a sucker I made into a fish! {Super easy DIY}

For the picnic, we found blankets and pillows around the house that were our colors and used a bottle and mums, along with a 3 tied stand full of desserts as the centerpiece!

I covered the bottom of these plates with raw sugar to resemble sand!

and of course, you can’t be outside in the summer….without…cold drinks!

{***Now….for a VALUABLE PARTY LESSON!!!! If you have small children….and you choose to take all of the toys out of their organizational shelves and arrange them neatly around the room so that you can USE that shelf to make a buffet…..THEN you keep the kids inside so that you can take a few photos before they start the party. The children WILL find the neatly stacked toys, and REGARDLESS of adult supervision {and begging} they will empty EVERY SINGLE TOY, BOOK, and PUZZLE onto the floor. Lesson learned. Thank you Andrea for helping me reconstruct my child’s room.***}

Vendors

All Printables and Photos – Paper and Pigtails

Table Runner – A to Zebra Celebrations

Cookies – Bees Knees Creative

Poms – Pom Flair