Birthdays are sort of a random thing around here. We used to have big parties with family, but our families kept growing and it got too overwhelming. We have tried having just grandparents over to celebrate but the younger kids miss their cousins. Sometimes I let them plan a special outing with a few friends. Sometimes we smoosh a few kids' birthdays together into one celebration. Sometimes we just end up skipping it all together.
If we do plan some sort of a birthday party it is always a last minute affair.
My girls that were turning 7 and 10 decided they wanted a joint beach birthday/summer soiree sleepover with some of their girl cousins. Oh, and after many tears and a lot of debate and calendar checking, it turned out that the best day to have this event would be in two days. I told you... last. minute.
Considering how little time we had to prepare, it turned out pretty well. They really wanted a beach theme but after consulting Pinterest together, it took on a little more of a tropical flair. We all had to work together...
First, we cut out a bajillion paper leaves from a pack of assorted green cardstock papers from Michaels. I arranged them down the centers of the tables and the girls put shells and fairy lights in jars for the centerpieces.
I hung up a flat sheet behind the food table and made this cute wreath with a hula hoop, balloons, and more paper cut outs. It took awhile because I am picky but I love it and it is still hanging in our house.
The girls also decorated our sidewalk with beach themed artwork. Birthday sidewalk chalk is one of their favorite things to do. It makes me smile, too. :)
For the food we had seashells (stuffed shells), garlic boats (Thanks, Loni!), seaweed (salad), fish and chips, and ?. We tried a frozen lemonade recipe but it was a fail so we won't talk about that. My 12yo loves to bake so she made the cupcakes. I cannot express just how happy those tiny umbrellas made my girls.
We also had grass skirts, paper lanterns, balloons, crepe paper, a beach ball, etc. Basically, the girls just went a little wild in the luau aisle at Dollar Tree.
The birthday portion of the party was followed by a sleepover with 9 girls here. They called it the "Summer Soiree" and made their own admission tickets with washi tape and cardstock.
The next day I tried really hard to keep them busy. We made bracelets.
Then, we made beach themed canvases. I taught the girls how to blend paint for an "ombre" effect. The shapes did not have to be perfect because the twine covered up any rough edges. I just hot glued that on for them when the paint was dry. (They could have done it themselves but their attention span had moved on to other things.)
One of the girls chose to mod podge a mermaid tail with scrapbook paper.
The younger girls made these adorable handprint flamingos!
All in all, it was a fun, crafty party and the girls worked really hard to help make it all come together.
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