paper and cake: Shark and SCUBA Birthday Party

I do love it when a plan comes together. I'm talking about all the little details that just happen because maybe the planets are aligned... or maybe because the force is with you? Notice the beach towels as tablecloth - I had no idea that I already had these towels in my linen closet - a perfect match!

A Smoothie Bar with custom made smoothies on the spot. It takes a special husband to find this kind of patience. He was pretty funny with the kids too - asking them, "would you like banana? would you like strawberries? would you like ketchup and mustard?"

And take a close look at the cake toppers from Edible Details, they not only match the party exactly, but fit oh so perfectly on the cake! Brittany can make these for you as well - and ship across the country with ease.

Lucky for me, my daughter has a shell collection - otherwise these centerpieces would have taken a bit more time and maybe even some money to put together.

Rounding out the food table, some healthy snacks, a pretzel bar, lemonade and ice tea. Yum!

Stop by the shop today for your Shark and SCUBA printable party collection. And don't forget that this party has a corresponding Party Planning How-To guide just chock full of party info, lists and recipes.

Last Saturday we celebrated my son Jack's 6th birthday - practically underwater (DISCLAIMER: no part of this party was actually underwater, nor was any guest attacked by a shark). Jack is learning all about all ocean life in school this year, and has been completely obsessed with sharks as of late. So, what's a mom to do but create a Shark themed party complete with SCUBA accessories.

Decor in the yard to welcome/warn party goers. Yes, that is a 6 ft great white cardboard shark. They are quite rare, and hard to catch.

Once inside, the guests were nearly frightened away by the shark above the fireplace, but alas, he was stuffed - with a meal of swimmer. The Dive flag was raised, warning all of the SCUBA divers below.

Jack and his buddies had a choice to dress in scuba attire or don a shark fin. Pretty much everyone wore both at some point, but almost all started with the scuba tanks. Because the tanks had a "regulator" that went in the mouth, I put out some home made stickers and name tags to differentiate their little germ factories.

I have not laughed this hard in a very long time... their little masks were fogging up, and yet, they were taking it all very seriously.

Now for an activity, I just took into consideration that a 6 year old boy, and his friends, would require some time to run. Just run. Flat out, RUN. This was an obstacle course with a twist. The kids lined up on two teams, and had to run with a tiny cup of water through the course and pour what water was left into a jar. So the team to fill their jar first, well, was the first team to fill their jar (we are a non-competitive family). Those boys were having some fun!

After the first couple of turns through the line, all the kids just wanted to do the course. So I passed out more little cups, and boys were running - on either side - just going for it! It was really cool to see it (and they burned lots of energy).

The Shark and SCUBA Birthday Party printables and coordinating Party Planning Guide are available now - get your party started today!

and stay tuned for part 2... we will cover the food and the CAKE!

Photos courtesy of Missy and Krista.