Fishy Themed Party: Part Three, Fishy Bar

The pièce de résistance and really the whole reason I was excited to do this party stemmed from the 'Fishy Bar' idea. 

Have you gone into any grocery store lately and seen the number of varieties of Pepperidge Farm Fish crackers?  It is really pretty crazy.  So, my idea was to have every single kind of fish crackers in the form of a bar and let each party-goer take home a sort of 'trail mix' of different fish crackers. 

To take the idea even further, I wanted to give each of the types of fish crackers a cute and 'fishy' name to go along with the theme of the party.  

For example: Rainbow Colored Fish became 'Rainbow Trout' and the 'Baby' variety of fish crackers became 'Guppies' :-) 

I even found this Fish shaped snack container and had John drill a hole through it.  I then stuck a dowel through the hole so I could use it as part of the display.

If I can find my list, I will come back and add the entire list of fish names I gave to the crackers.  I used twelve(!) varieties of the crackers and there were still more I could have chosen from. 

Fishy Themed Party: Part Two, Food

All of the food for the party had an orange, blue, or fish theme to it!  It was fun trying to think of things to have that fit into the parameters.

Drinks were orange and blue Gatoraide and Juicy Juice (we did have water too) 

The Menu:

• Pinwheel Sandwiches - called "Sushi Sandwiches"
• Turkey and cheese sandwiches cut into the shape of a fish with a cookie cutter (not pictured)
• Chinese Chicken Salad - Oranges added
• Orange-you-glad it's fruit salad (peaches, oranges, cantalope, mango + blueberries)
• Orange and Blue Jell-o cups
• Various Orange and Blue candies
• Cheese it's (obviously orange)
• Cheetos (again obviously orange) - not pictured
• Blueberry yogurt-covered pretzles- not pictured 

Out of sheer luck and good timing, we were given this sno-cone machine to use at the party as well... even though all the syrups weren't blue and orange it was a great, unique addition to the party!  Thanks friend that lent it to us ;-)

And finally, my favorite orange and blue addition to both the menu and the decor... cupcakes! 

These were Funfetti cupcakes with homemade marshmallow frosting dyed blue.  The toppers were made using a cutout from my silhouette machine.

I thought they came out super cute!

Fishy Themed Birthday Party: Part One, Banner

I was driving Claire to school one day when I had the idea for a Fishy Themed party to celebrate her fourth birthday.  By the afternoon I had completely planned the party on paper, nevermind that her birthday was six week away!  The pre-planning was really unlike me, but I do have to say it helped me keep my budget in check, know what I was looking for, and it gave me less stress the day of the party.  It also kept me from letting my imagination get the best of me and spreading myself too thin for a party... which I have a tendancy to do. 

Moral: Plan ahead.  It works!

Claire's Birthday falls the last week of June which is nearly always over 100 degrees where we live.  I thought the colors of blue and orange were great for a summer birthday and adding in the 'Fishy' aspect was a fun personal touch because Claire LOVES fish crackers! 

All of the decor had orange or blue included, it was actually pretty easy to find things to match the color scheme...

I made this paper penant banner using a few pieces of scrapbook paper I had on hand and my silhouette machine... it took one hour  exactly start to finish and I thought it looked absolutely adorable.  I strung it with some twine, which gave a nice touch.