Shark Week Birthday Party.  My nephew recently turned 8, but he is going out of town to visit family for about a month, so his party with his friends isn’t for another month or so.  My son could not wrap his head around this, and insisted that we throw him a surprise party.  Bless his heart, my son had a vision…but he only gave me about 24 hours to execute his vision.  He wanted to have a Shark Week themed party for his cousin, because we always watch Shark Week together.  He wanted a preppy, beachy feel to the printables, and watched me make the full set…even telling me where to place the shark fins and waves.  My son wanted his cousin to have a “tall cake” with waves and sharks.  And everyone had to have party favors. In 24 hours…I am not kidding.  I think we rocked this party in just 24 hours and I only spent about $35 for the party! 

I started with the printables, once my son was pleased with the look, he told me he thought we should have party hats.  Seriously?! So, I went to etsy and found the.most.awesome.printable.hats.EVER! Then, we ran to Target to shop party favors and other supplies.  The Dollar Spot had my back {once again} and we grabbed buckets to hold the favors, some Dory GoldFish (they were cute and on Cartwheel), a jug of blue Hawaiian Punch, and some Swedish Fish.  We also stopped by 7-11 for some silly Shark Week Straws.  The supplies were gathered, and I was ready to go home and get to work! I made 3 blue cakes the night before the party so I could decorate the cool cake the day of.  The morning of the party, I had the kids make blue frosting and life preserver donuts while I worked on the table.  My oldest son and I gathered wood from our scrap pile and dry brushed white {ceiling} paint on each piece.  I LOVED the way they turned out. I attached them to thin wood strips to hold them together and make “legs” for the table backdrop.

 

 

 

 

I frosted the cake with the blue buttercream frosting my son made, but I didn’t even try to get it smooth.  Per the party visionary’s request, I left it “bumpy” so it “looked like waves”.  I added crushed graham cracker sand and Swedish Fish were poked with toothpicks into the sides of the cake.  A circle of gummy sharks adorned the top, along with a #8 candle and a simple paper boat. I purchased a package of similar paper boats at Target recently for the boys boredom box, but I couldn’t find them again, so I made my own.   Since I am cutting challenged, I created a file in Cricut Design Space to make the boat and flag.  I even scored the first few fold lines…seriously, why haven’t I done this before? Cricut paper boats for everyone! 

The favors and desserts were set up on my dining room table.  I wedged the backdrop between a few chairs, and strung the BEWARE banner across the top.  I placed the “tall cake” in the center of the table, with a plate of mini cupcakes in front of it.  I used a blue striped beach towel as a table runner in the center of the table too.  The cupcakes were topped with gummy sharks and printable toppers.   Sea Gull Snacks {Goldfish Crackers and Popcorn}, party favor buckets, bottles of Sea Water, and a basket of pool towels were on one side of the table.  On the opposite side of the table, I added the Life Preservers and Shark Chum {baked mini donuts, and a watermelon cut out to look like a shark}, as well as a dispenser of blue Hawaiian Punch juice.  

 

 

I was able to fill the favor buckets with things I already had at the house.  Sidewalk chalk, crayon packages, water guns, glow sticks, sparklers, bubbles, and sponge bombs.  Laura Kelly sent me her Shark Party printable set, so I printed those up and placed them next to the favor buckets.  My kids and nephew love her word search puzzles and printable pages, they were so excited to see a shark version! 

I continued the Shark Week theme with the gifts for my nephew too.  I used my Cricut to cut out {FUZZY!!!} iron on vinyl shark mouths, a shark, and a few shark teeth.  My son wanted the shark on a gift bag, and the mouth on my nephew’s shirt.  He also wanted a shark tooth on the front of the shirt, where the pocket would be.  We made my niece a shark tooth tank top, and even made a few more shark mouth tank tops during the party for my sister and mom.  The fuzzy iron on vinyl seemed to take longer to iron on, but I LOVE it!  I will share the DIY for the bag (and shirts) later this week.  Be sure to check out all of our Shark Week fun all week with simple DIY’s and the free party printables. 

For more Shark Week and Shark Party inspiration, check out these parties!