Life on the Mom List: A Goldfish / Under the Sea 2nd Birthday!

~~last weekend,~~ 2 saturdays ago we celebrated d's 2nd birthday with a goldfish / under the sea themed party of epic proportions! (this is how long it has taken me to get this up on here!)

never one to skimp on a birthday party or a party for that matter, i went into full party mode around thanksgiving because i knew it would take time. lots o' time! party planning is my passion. i love every single aspect of it and someday would love to do it as a job. not sure how or when, but dreams are what i am made of these days.
my little guy loves fish of all kinds so this theme was a given and was so fun to plan! so many options and great ideas.

this post is way heavy on the photos so apologies now!!
here we go!

first off the invites..
i wanted a simple yet fun invite that had some ombre style to it. i was going to carry that over into the rest of the party so it seemed fitting!

carrying the ombre over into the place cards for food was also a way to go with the theme and the different colors of blue for water!

we are lucky enough to have a "big" yard in southern california so i took full advantage of it. it is much easier to have 12 toddlers outside destroying things vs indoors. i am sure you will all agree!

paper lanterns add color to an otherwise boring, or in this case, dead tree!

activities -

my hubs and i came up with and idea for a submarine but neither one of us are quite artistic so our big dream got scaled down to a smaller version and then used as a photo booth of sorts! in the end i was so glad we did this. it was so fun and the kids loved it!

we also made an aquarium for the kids to play in out of cardboard boxes. we painted some fish on it, hung streamers like waves and put some blue balls in it for water. fun for hours!

D got a sand table for Christmas so we buried shells, sharks, and fish and had a bunch of sand toys for the kids to play with. add a swimming pool full of balls, tons of outside toys, sidewalk chalk and a bubble machine and you have happy toddlers!

decor

we have this little covered patio in our backyard that was perfect for the food setup.

i transformed this into a little fishing shack of sorts complete with shower curtains as a backdrop (target for the win), streamers, blue and orange ombre paper garland (obsession), shells, and hanging fish and nets.

i had a "make your own flavored water" bar full of mason jars with paper straws, strawberries, mint, oranges, limes and lemons. i wasn't too sure how it would go over but it was a huge hit. along with the water we had french lemonade, juice boxes for the kids and beer and wine for the big people.

cups with paper straws adorned with fishies.

food :

feeding kids is not easy! some are so picky and others will eat anything so i needed something in between for everyone to enjoy! submarine sandwiches, fruit, veggies and dip in pails and lots of different potato chips, snap peas, and pretzels helped complete the food table.

scrapbook paper was used for flags and johnna made the fish

handmade beach pails filled with hummus or ranch dip and carrot chips. thanks to pinterest for helping me solidify the idea!

one of my favorite ideas was the goldfish bar! every kid loves goldfish! it only seemed logical to have a goldfish bar for everyone to enjoy!

desserts -

for the dessert table i made marshmallow pops and "fish flakes" and we bought some mini cupcakes, sea salt brownie bites, caramel corn, blue sixlets and candy canes, fish shaped sugar cookies, honey, vanilla, s'mores, chocolate goldfish and a big birthday cake completed the "bar."

the inside of the cake was blue ombre and one of my favorite details. i am obsessed with ombre!! my friends own a catering company and their pastry chef made the cake. i had so much fun coming up with the design. also, holy big cake! so much leftover!

the take home gift were some beach pails i found at a beach shop in texas filled with a fish print washcloth, fish stickers, a fish ornament i found at target, and the cutest fish in a bar of soap made by ellis c. naturals in a lemon lavender scent. the soap was so adorable and i've had so many of my friends tell me their kids actually want to take a bath now that they have this soap!

i bought the tags and ordered some custom made stamps and stamped each tag.

fish soap in lemon lavender scent

so there you have it!

declan's goldfish / under the sea 2nd birthday!

i had so much fun planning and crafting for this party. i said last year's party was a favorite but this year might beat it out!

declan had a great time and honestly that is all that matters. so many friends and family joined in to celebrate this little guy's big day! i am forever grateful for that.