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Harper’s Mermaid Inspired 4th Birthday Party

Thank you all so much for the sweet birthday wishes for our Harper girl!!! We had such a great weekend throwing her party & celebrating her birthday, we can’t believe our baby is four years old! She asked for a mermaid party, and we delivered, a little Under the Sea extravaganza went down on Saturday afternoon. We invited a few of her best little girlfriends, plus a few of our family & friends, and had a super fun time celebrating our girl!

I wanted a really fun, yet simple dessert display in the entry way to really bring to life the mermaid theme. Harper asked for lots of balloons & strawberry cake, so that is where I started. I thought a big bold balloon arch would be perfect, so I picked up a few different colors of balloons & Brandon and I got started blowing them all up after the kids went to bed Friday night. A true labor of love!! 🙂 Once they were all inflated, we attached a long piece of wire to the back of the small table I was using, and strung it up to two screws on the wall to give it shape. I used fishing line to attach a few of the first larger balloons, then filled the rest in just by taping them to the wire & to each other. I added a bit of greenery to give a little bit of a seaweed feel & love the way it turned out!!! We had gummy sharks & “seaweed” in candy jars, along with some mermaid tail cupcakes using sugar cones, these were my favorite! I purchased a set of cupcake toppers from Etsy (this could be a super easy DIY, but I always love supporting handmade shops & we are always pressed for time during bday planning) I used some the way they came, but the rest I cut the fins apart & hot glued them to new toothpicks, which were stuck into the ends of the sugar cones.
 I made a three layer strawberry cake, frosted with blue buttercream frosting, surrounded by graham cracker crumbs (sand!) and topped with a DINGLEHOPPER. Harper’s reaction was just priceless, “mom, is that a dinglehopper cake?!”

We also had “under the sea” punch, made from blue fruit punch, lemonade & sprite, white “shells” and cheese, and “starfish” sandwiches (chicken salad sandwiches cut into star shapes), along with chips & pineapple/mango salsa and a veggie tray.


I searched all over for the perfect outfit for Harper, I wanted it to be her birthday gift because I knew she would be so excited & want to wear it every day when she plays dress up. I found the most perfect mermaid outfits at Carken Designs, she was absolutely obsessed with it! I went with blush for the top & seafoam for the bottoms, you can also use coupon code MERMAIDLOVE for 15% off your purchase should you need one for your own little mermaid! Or maybe for yourself. 😉
We put together some simple little goodie bags for her girlfriends, I had some leftover kraft paper bags from Valentine’s Day & dressed them up with vintage mermaid stickers that I found on Etsy. Inside was some Pirates Booty, glow sticks, Little Mermaid party blowers, a mini hair bow & Ariel temporary tattoos, which were a big hit! 🙂
Her party was so much fun, she was smiling ear to ear the entire day & loved it all. As she opened each birthday gift, she handed out bracelets and play-doh to her friends, she loves to share & give to everyone else. And when she blew out her birthday candle, she promptly told us that her birthday wish was for “a date night to stay up late and watch movies with the whole family on the couch, even Ellie & Claire” which is especially sweet because she loves when she gets to stay up late after they go to bed. She has such a kind heart & loves her sisters so much, we couldn’t ask for more.
Happy birthday, Harper Eve. Our sweetest little darling who made us parents four years ago, we love you with all our hearts!
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Comments

  11. This makes me so happy! I seriously love the party idea, and how sweet she is. Can't believe she's 4, I've been reading since you were pregnant with her. Hard to believe my little girl who is her age will be 4 soon too! They grow up too fast!

    Reply

  16. Wow!! What a lucky girl! Happiest birthday wishes, Harper! Your creativity just amazes me. You should be a party planner and an interior decorator, you know, in all your free time;) Gorgeous party!!

    Reply

  20. Jessica – I can't believe I've been reading your blog for over 4 years now! My oldest girl turns 4 in August, so this may or may not have made me a bit teary 😉 The party looks like it was fantastic! You are awesome.

    Happy belated birthday, sweet Harper!

    Reply

  21. Um, can you plan this party for me please?! This is absolutely amazing! I love every little detail. And the dinglehopper cake–pure genius! Harper is a very special mermaid! Happy belated birthday sweet girl 🙂

    P.S. I need that mermaid sign for my house!

    Reply

  23. Love your creativity as always! I was looking at balloon arches on Pinterest for our little girl's birthday but was a little intimidated haha. You make it sound relatively easy though! Happy Birthday to your sweet girl! 🙂

    Reply

  25. I have been having the hardest time finding a mermaid outfit for E's mermaid party too! I finally settled on just making her something which turned out not being very mermaid-ish but *cross my fingers* that she likes it!! Love the party details! Happy Birthday Harper!!

    Reply

  27. Where did you find the "4" cupcake toppers? And yes, I would love to know if you made invites for these? What a BEAUTIFUL party!!!! I've been following your blog since before "Little Baby Garvin" was created. I guess all the way back in "The Nest" days! You've done amazing with all that you do 🙂

    Reply

  29. I really love this party! I love you had a theme but didn't go crazy with it. Everything was simple yet so fun! The fork in the cake is perfect!

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  33. Such a beautiful party! We got the same sparkler candle for our 4 year old (feb 8th) and after spending a couple minutes getting it to light, it totally fizzled out by the time we finished singing and she had nothing to blow out! Oops!

    Reply

  41. My husband just said — "No way, she's four!" I always read him your blogs, turns out he is listening! I hope once we finally have a baby that if it's a girl she loves mermaids cause I will copy everything! What a wonderful day you planned for her!! 🙂

    Reply

  54. Ok, this is WAY to much of a coincidence! My almost 3 year old wants a mermaid birthday party. She LOVES dress up, so I got her that same skirt and a white shirt that has mar maid shells ironed on as her present! She also said all she wants is a strawberry cake!! So funny, and so random that both our girls what the exact same thing! Glad I came across your page because I am needing decor inspiration!

    Reply

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