What To Do When A Kid Says He Wants The Ocean

(I forgot to post this back in March! Oh well, better late than never!)

After I did the decorations (here and here) for one of my nephew's birthday, I asked his older brother what theme he wanted for his upcoming birthday. I was expecting a Cars theme or Kung Fu Panda... He said, "I want the ocean!!!" Oh crap.

Then he added that he also wanted Kung Fu Panda + Transformers. Double crap. Not to mention his birthday was in March - the busiest time for me at school. Triple crap?
So I said I'd do my best but explained I have school. His response? "That's okay. You don't have to paint the walls" Haha thanks kid.

So... ocean time... What I wanted to do was hang a bunch of fish from the ceiling and create a sort of underwater atmosphere. So off I was on a hunt for fish! I thought about making some out of felt, or printing some on cardstock - both great ideas (especially the felt!) but very labour intensive! 


I searched online for fish balloons and came across these awesome fish for a really great price.

Life Designed

They are 24" long and we got 24 of them. (PS if anyone is in need of fish balloons, please drop me an email! I've heard they make great toys for the pool! One customer also used them for centerpieces)


I don't know why but I was expecting thin, flimsy balloons but these guys are actually a thick plastic beach ball material and boy...I would have passed out trying to blow up all 24 but my brother in law came to the rescue and used the electric air mattress pump to do the job.


AND the best part! They come with a pre made hole making them a breeze to hang! 

Life Designed

I also attempted to make "clam" cookies. But.... they didn't quite turn out how I wanted:

Life Designed

Oh well, I gave it a try! Can you see the icing oozing out of the "clam" in the background?? Haha...

Last minute change: regular sugar cookies! Thankfully my sister had sprinkles in her cupboard! 

Life Designed

To throw in a bit of Kung Fu Panda, I printed out a large Po along with dumplings and we played pin the dumpling in Po's mouth. The kids loved it!

Life Designed

And then there were the angry birds. I posted how I made these with pop cans here.

Life Designed

My dear friend and fellow blogger May from Charmed by Sweets made a transformers cake  which was amazing!! She is a master of fabulous fondant figurines!

Life Designed

And there you have it... an ocean/Kung Fu Panda/Transformers/Angry Birds party.

I did the best I could given my schedule and resources....Kiddo- I promise in 2 years time, I'll decorate the most fabulous party ever!