Under the Sea Theme Birthday

For Claire's first birthday we held an "Under-the-Sea" themed party.

I found the perfect cake pan at Williams-Sonoma. I recommend following the cake recipe that comes with the pan, since it is such an odd shaped pan.

I used brown sugar for the "sand". Not only was it yummy, but it made hiding the cake board easier. I used fruit-by-the-foot for seaweed accents. I like to involve the kids as much as possible when planning parties, so I bought some Marzipan and had the girls make sea figurines. Marzipan is an almond flavored dough, that molds easily. They made fish, shells, and mermaids. Even Julia (age 3) made an under-sea rock for her cake. They "painted" the figurines by dipping q-tips in food coloring.

For the party favors I found the cutest gift bags with fish on them at The Christmas Tree Shops. I always recommend searching the discount stores for party ideas. I filled them with fish-shaped bath toys, snack packs of Pepperidge Farm gold fish crackers, and Swedish Fish.

The activities were simple. It was the middle of July so we had a pool party. I filled a big plastic tub with water and miniature squirt guns. The tub makes it easier for the little ones to fill them by themselves without leaning precariously over the edge of a swimming pool.  Water balloons were also a big hit.