Greta's Mermaid Bash :: Guests

Bapa and Mimi traveled 450 miles in less than 24 hours to be there for Greta's birthday party.  Now that is LOVE.  My parents never cease to amaze me with their generosity.    

And Aunt Angela gets the award for traveling the furthest.  She made a weekend trip from Colorado to be here for the party and help pull it off.  

Harper is a friend of Greta's from church.  

The Scherer family, oh how we love them.  Allison is one of my dearest friends and I thank God for her faithful friendship over the years.  

The Driesens are other friends who live close by and have a special bond with Greta.  

Cousins Milly, Mylo and Mindyn joined in all the festivities.  They were especially excited to jump in the bounce house.    

 Ariel is another friend of Greta's from church.  

Hannah, Shannon and Ruthie are sweet friends.  

The Jernstads are in our small group and have been so supportive to us this fall.  

A family picture at the close of the party, after Greta took off her tutu and Daddy changed his clothes.  

And the party guest line up wouldn't be complete without Papa Ed and Nana Sue.  

Greta's Mermaid Bash :: Food

As I mentioned before, we simplified things and served snacks at the party, instead of preparing a full meal.  I had great fun finding snack ideas that fit the party theme on Pinterest, many of them which could be purchased instead of made from scratch.  Aunt Angela did the cupcake baking, which is the most stressful part, so that was a huge blessing.  The food served included...  

One of our family favorite snacks is Chicago Mix popcorn, which I renamed Mermaid Munch.  It was a hit!

The fruit group was represented by grapes, which I called Fish Eyes.  

The same student who made the large birthday sign helped me with the food tags.  Pink (Greta's favorite color) Pearls were shared with us from cousin Milly's birthday party and they fit right in.  

Pretzel Rods = Driftwood

Carrot Sticks = Crab Legs

Vanilla Wafers with Frosting = Clamshell Cookies 

I made the mermaid tale toppers and Aunt Angela baked the cupcakes.  The cupcakes were vanilla and chocolate flavored with pink frosting.  We sprinkled some "pearls" on the top.  

Spinach and artichoke dip served with crackers made for some pretty delicious Seaweed Dip.  

Lightly salted peanuts in a bucket with a shovel may have had the guests thinking they were eating sand.  

The bucket of Swedish Fish (Red Finned Fish) were a sweet treat that they guests (especially the smallest guests) devoured.  

We put blueberries and slices of lime in the Ocean Water but they all sunk to the bottom.  

It worked perfectly to serve the food on the island.  I got the fish net, sea shells and pearl strand from Hobby Lobby.  Along with some circle "bubble punches" the display came together easily, and was quite adorable (I thought at least).  :)    

We hung two more jelly fish lanterns above the island.  

Greta's Mermaid Bash :: Guest Activities

Keeping the guests entertained and enjoying the party is always something I give some thought.  Here is what I came up with...

Guests were asked to sign their name in the guest book on a page in Greta's new mermaid book.  It will provide a fun keepsake and memory after the party is over.    

At Hudson's LEGO birthday party guests were asked to guess the number of LEGO pieces in a jar.  I changed it up slightly and had them guess the number of seashells.  

I purchased these adorable treasure chests from Oriental Trading and the young guests each got to decorate one of their own to take home.  

We tucked a surprise note inside.  

We made some pink play dough and added lots of gold glitter to it.  This was a great activity to keep the little hands busy.    

Cousin Milly showing off her sweet smile.  

One of Greta's most requested snacks are Goldfish crackers so it seemed like an appropriate take home treat for the guests.  

These adorable tags were pretty time intensive to make but were worth the effort.  

Greta's Mermaid Bash :: Decorations

I typically go "all out" when it comes to the party decorations.  I stay up to the wee hours of the night leading up to the party to create all the decorations.  I make a board on Pinterest and pin my favorite ideas and then make them my own.  In the past we have often done a full meal and host our families.  Having limitations with my capacity this time around we decided to keep things simpler.  I still did some fun decorations and activities to go along with the theme, but overall I kept things more low key.  We hosted a party Open House style on Sunday afternoon November 5th and offered plenty of fun snacks and a few activities for the kids.  We invited family as well as some family friends.  I am thankful for the support of so many who helped us pull this all off.  Countless people supported and encouraged us by doing errands, grabbing groceries, preparing food, cleaning the house, setting up and cleaning up.  It took a village to pull this thing off.  The event was simpler, but honestly it was perfect.  Greta had a blast, she was happy and felt loved, and therefore was celebrated well.        

The invites looked like this...

Hudson gave me this felt message board for my birthday and he has had fun changing out the message each week.  During Greta's birthday week it said...  

Since we have no "real decor" on the mantle yet, this was a perfect opportunity to add some fun and some color to our living room.  

A youth student from our church made the big Happy Birthday poster.  She does calligraphy writing and is a talented artist.  I made the garland out of netting and strung it on a strand of pearls.  Total cost was about $5.   

I hung strands of "bubbles" in all the doorways.  

I made 6 jellyfish lanterns which hung from the ceiling. 

The super simple table decor came together quickly.  

Greta insisted that Ariel be at the party so we got her an Ariel balloon.  

I usually do a picture display including some of my favorite pictures from the past year.  Her adorable smiles hung on a fish net seemed appropriate.   

 And a tradition we carried over from our old house... 

colorful sidewalk chalk greetings for the party guests. 

We recycled this treasure chest from another project and had a welcome sign made too.  

3 Years

On Wednesday, November 1st we celebrated Greta's third birthday.  Daddy went into work late so we could get the day started off right, with some delicious birthday donuts.  

We all went into Greta's room to wake her up around 7:30, singing her the Happy Birthday song.  

Thanks to Daddy and Hudson for going to get the donuts.  

Greta loves everything pink and with sprinkles so you can guess which donut was hers.  

She just adores her Daddy.  

We all brought Hudson to school and then Greta and I came home and painted her fingernails and toenails, pink of course.  We played babies and Magna Tiles together.  Nana picked her up for Kindermusik class and then brought her home for nap time, while I was at a doctor's appointment.  After Greta's nap we had brownies and ice cream, because that is what she requested.    

Then we opened her birthday gift.  Any guesses what it was?  

Her friend Julia stopped by for a birthday hug.  Greta and Julia share the same birthday, just ten years apart.  

Showing off her 3 mermaid shirt from Mimi.  The birthday theme this year was mermaid.  She wanted a princess party and I said "no, I don't think so."  Greta's favorite princess is Ariel so I suggested a mermaid party and she went with it.   

We love this girl and so thankful to celebrate the gift of her, even the sassy personality and spunk.   

The evening consisted of mac and cheese, broccoli and smoothies for supper (a few of her favorite things) and watching the movie Frozen together as a family.