Magical Mermaid Birthday Party

This magical mermaid birthday party is full of beautiful decor, fun games, and delicious desserts fit for a princess of the sea-turning three! With bubbles and balloons aplenty, seashells and starfish galore, it’s got everything an under the sea theme needs. Mama, Lexi Holzberg of Glitter Inc., transformed every room in the house to be a girly, mermaid friendly space for kids and parents alike. There is a new surprise at every turn! Below, she shares her party secrets, including a few DIYs that brought her daughter’s dream birthday party to life.

Not one to shy away from an excuse to celebrate, when our then almost-three-year-old, Scarlett, asked for a mermaid birthday party (repeatedly), I knew I’d make her under-the-sea dreams a reality. Truth be told, I LOVE throwing parties; especially parties for our little girl. The challenge was balancing it all with an eight-months-pregnant belly, but I totally think we succeeded.

When guests arrived to the party, they were greeted with a steady stream of bubbles and our hand-lettered Octopus’ Garden mirror sign. Every step into the house was full of iridescent bubbles, sparkling gold sea stars, macramé, seashells, and fresh flowers. Think dahlias, ranunculus, scabiosa, anemones, hydrangea, smilax, garden roses, seeded eucalyptus, cascading Ivy, monstera leaves, bells of Ireland, and more. We even filled the fireplace with pink balloons and ran garland and flowers up the stair case.

Toddler-friendly activities were also a must. We had the kids hunt for buried treasure in a pink plastic swimming pool filled with sand, shovels, and sea creatures. They also decorated their own treasure boxes to fill with their treasure hunt finds. Finally, there was a mermaid splash area and a toddler wading pool for all of the kids to cool off.

On the patio, we had a drink station complete with beer, wine, mocktails, orange water, and juice boxes. We created a seashell backdrop by gluing seashells onto clear elastic string, and made a string of DIY pink jellyfish from paper lanterns and streamers. We also had a DIY metallic temporary tattoo station that kids and grownups alike loved. And of course, another bubble maker floated bubbles across the deck during the party.

We covered our dining room table with a sequin tablecloth, a lobster trap we found on our flea market adventures in Maine (that we then covered in fresh flowers and sea shells), and a huge taco bar with all of the the yummy components for tacos, taco bowls, and chips with guacamole. Any party with tacos and cupcakes is a success in my book.

We set up a dessert station on our buffet with fishing net and a pinwheel backdrop on the mirror. Desserts included the Oreo cake, cupcakes topped with sugar pearls and pastel sugar seashells on a rotating carousel. It also featured our favorite s’mores bars, sweet mermaid munchies, fresh fruit, and pink Starburst. Yum!

Each child got to take home a seashell party bag filled with more under-the-sea goodies like fish squirt toys, mermaid stampers, growing sea life creatures, plastic sunglasses, and mermaid treats. Scarlett still tells anyone who will listen about her magical mermaid birthday party. It was a labor of love and we couldn’t have been happier with the result!