We had a great day at the Under the Sea Princess party for my two daughters, one turning 4 and the other turning 6.  Even though we were on a tighter budget this year, we were still able to put together a party full of underwater décor with a little princess flare.

The Invitations

The invitations were very simple this year.  I’m lucky to have a husband who is familiar with graphic design who doesn’t complain when I ask him to help me with projects.   We bought an image from shutterstock.com to create our own invitation, which we then printed on plain white cardstock.  There are a number of different image websites; some can be reasonably priced while others can run you big bucks.  If you can find reasonably priced images, creating your own invitations can be a good way to stay on budget.  Basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and/or Adobe Illustrator is a plus when creating your own invitations.  You will also want to make sure you use a paper cutter to cut your invitations down to the right size so they come out looking clean.

The Décor

Finding decorations for an under the sea party is not hard at all.  It is very easy to find affordable shells.  I picked up shells here and there while I was out and about.  Michael’s and Dollar Tree had small packs for $1 – $1.50.

For the centerpieces, I went to Lowe’s and bought some succulent plants that looked like plant life that might be found in the ocean.  I glued some shells around the rim of the pot and added a couple mini sea creatures that I purchased from Shindigz.com.   I put them on some basic clear plates I bought at Dollar Tree and spread some shells around the plate.

For the table runners, I used rippling water patterned gossamer that I purchased from Shindigz.com.  I also used the same fabric-like material to make a under water backdrop for the food table.  If you are planning an under the sea party, using this material is a very budget friendly way to create an underwater feel to your party.

For the underwater backdrop, I also made some DIY coral cutouts.  I wanted to buy some of the fancy life-size cutouts, but couldn’t fit them in our budget, so instead I used white foam board found at Dollar Tree.  I cut out coral shaped patterns, glued rice to them to give them texture, and then spray-painted them bright colors you might find in coral reefs.

At first I wanted to get a bunch of helium balloons to make it look like water bubbles but the price would have been astronomical, so I ended up just blowing up balloons and tied them to the easy-ups.  I think this worked just as well as using helium balloons.

And no birthday party is complete without a birthday banner.  I made this one with felt, which is very budget-friendly and easy to work with.

Favors and Party Props

For the girls, we had underwater princess tiaras and wands. Though I love a good DIY project, I also will take advantage of any time that I can cut corners, so I bought simple tiaras from Party City, and already made wands in the party favor section of Target.  I glued some small shells and a starfish, and added a little blue glitter for pizzazz and that extra special underwater touch.

 

For the boys, I made lobster claws and tentacles.  I got the idea from Pajamacity.com. Instead of stapling them, though, I pulled the sewing machine out and did some quick sewing so that they would hold up good on little hands.

And of course no kid should ever leave a party without something extra… I’m not a big fan of sending kids home with candy so, instead, I filled basic sand buckets with sea life activities, such as, coloring books with crayons and sea creature bubbles. Ok, there might have been a couple pieces of candy.

Something Special

Although we were on a budget, I did splurge a little and booked a princess (Arial) to visit and entertain.  After a little online research, I chose to go with Singing Princess Parties.   Sascha played Arial and she was well worth the money.  Not only were both my daughter excited she was able to make it to their party, but she was great with the kids, keeping their attention the whole time, which made for a stress-free party for mommy.

And none of our parties are complete without the adults having a little fun once all the kiddos leave!