whale splash party

for ella's 4th birthday this year i decided i wanted to keep it simple (considering i just had a baby 6 weeks ago)..so i planned it in a month.  i knew it was going to be a water party (water slide) and i wanted to go with a color scheme as a theme (hot pink and turquoise) to make it easy..but after melissa came up with the invitations (see that post here) i couldn't help but run with the whale/ocean theme!  i loved planning this party.  so fun and summery! 

onto the pics...

i made this on a plain canvas..paint..a little decoupage..and glued on some cardboard letters

celebrating this girl's 4th birthday..she was so excited the day finally arrived!
all of the girls wore these flowers in their hair.
i painted another canvas..and then luke decided he needed to add some orange marker to it.  honestly. haha.
i made these candy sea creature suckers out of candy melts and a candy mold i bought at michaels.

i always love fresh flowers around! :)
and i always love placing pics of the birthday shoot around the house.


i made this banner by tracing a starfish and free-handing the shells ;)

the flower arrangement was delivered the night before as a surprise for ella from daddy.  lucky girl ;)
made a simple whale banner...

one of the nets...




another cute collage by sarah.  thank you!! :)




the favors were a fish toy (get the rings on) 

little one's soiree on etsy made these adorable favor tags for me!  i am in love with them!  danielle was so great to work with..she totally customized these for the party.  i will definitely be using her again for my next party! ;)  thanks again danielle! :)

the starfish tree :)  i love my trusty wire tree.   i glued ribbon on the starfish and hung them up.







i hung fish around...



she was so excited!  this smile is why i love doing this so much! :)
and of course her brothers had to be in whale attire too ;)  mr. luke!
and mr. owen!
kids table...can't forget the sunblock!

the water slide(s)!



squirt guns!
i bought everything you see in these bins on oriental trading.com.

flower clips
and stickers!



i made the whales out of cardboard...drew them..cut them out..painted them..glued them to a dowel and adorned them with ribbon, stickers and a flower clip ;)  
bean bag toss game the kids could play at their leisure



the beach ;)
i am loving oil cloth for table cloths!!  love the prints and so easy to clean!  can't wait to buy more!









ella loved helping with the balloons!

and you know how i love balloons!! :)





melissa made this delicious frozen banana split cake!  it is sooo good..you must try out the recipe.  you can get it here.  it was the perfect cake for a hot, summer day!  thanks again, melissa! :)

kids drinks!

a whale pool for the little kids
we put it under an ez up for shade (it was a hot one!)

lots of water toys to play with..beach balls, a whale and fish and shark squirts floated in the pool/waterslide.
and even an octopus ring toss game ;)
it wouldn't be a summer water party without sno cones ;)  and they were a hit with the kiddos!

we decided on a taco bar...and it was so good!!  thanks again kenny and debran for catering another delicious meal!! :)  

warming the tortillas..
chips, guacamole, 2 salsas (green and red)...
carne asada, chicken, flour and corn tortillas, fruit, salad...
cake time!  happy birthday to you....
ella riding the whale down the slide..haha!

the party was a success..the kids had a great time!  and the most important thing was ella had a "whaley" good time! :)
happy birthday ella bella!! xo