A mermaid party is a great way to celebrate a birthday or special occasion. The best part is that there are many ways to make it fun and creative.
A mermaid party can be as simple or as complex as you want. You can have just a few simple games or an entire weekend-long event with games, crafts, and activities for everyone to enjoy. The most important thing is that everyone has fun!
How to Throw a Magical Mermaid Party?
Mermaid parties are a stylish way to celebrate a little girl’s birthday. There are tons of ideas for how to throw this kind of party, but here are some of my favorites:
What to Buy:
Mermaid costumes
Sea-themed masks or headbands
Blue and green balloons or streamers
Blue tablecloth and napkins
Plastic sea animals (optional)
Choose Your Party Color Palette
First thing first: choose your color palette. This will be easy to do if you have any theme or idea. For example, consider what colors would look good together to create an underwater scene and incorporate them into your decorations and food choices.
If you want your party to be colorful, choose a bright color palette matching your theme. You can use colors like blue, green, and purple for decorations and invitations. If you’re also planning to give out goody bags, include items in those colors. The sky is the limit when choosing the colors for your party!
Send The Invites
It’s time to send out those invitations! Ensure you have enough time between sending them out and when your party will occur so people can make arrangements to attend if they’re available on that day/time. You can send them out by post or email them directly through social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram (if allowed). Either way works well, but make sure it’s easy for people to respond if they cannot make it but wish to come anyway so they feel included!
Create A Mermaid-Inspired Cake
Start by creating a mermaid-inspired cake. This is one of the easiest ways to add magic to your party! Bake up a batch of cupcakes or cake, then decorate with frosting, sprinkles, and decorations inspired by the sea — think shells, starfish, and more! You can even use edible markers to write “Happy Birthday” on your cake or cupcakes if you’d like!
You can use any color scheme you like, but we love the idea of using blue and green frosting for this one. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could even create a sea-inspired cake that looks like an underwater paradise!
Decorations With Sea Shells And Starfish
Next, decorate your party area with plenty of seashells and starfish. You can also add some fish nets and fishbowls to bring the theme to life.
Remember that mermaids love dancing around in their tails, so ensure you have plenty of room for guests to spin around! Set up hula hoops or chairs for everyone to sit on while they dance around the party area.
For food and drinks, serve some fun treats in seashell molds and starfish bowls. You could also make your sea salt caramels or chocolate-covered pretzels as party favors for guests who love sweets!
Bake Sea-Inspired Treats
Try making cupcakes or cookies in the shape of seashells or starfish. You can also bake some fish-shaped cookies or make a cake in the shape of an anchor!
Have your guests wear seashell necklaces and bracelets as part of their mermaid costumes. If you want them to look even more authentic, have them apply temporary tattoo designs on their arms and legs that represent different sea creatures like dolphins and sharks!
Decorate your party area with underwater decor (or paint the walls blue). Also, please make sure there are many fishy toys scattered around so everyone can play with them all night! If you want to go all out, rent an indoor pool so your little ones can swim in their mermaid costumes!
If there’s one thing that brings mermaids and humans together, it’s food. Mermaids love to bake, and they’re good at it! So get your stovetop ready because we have some delicious recipes for you to try.
Mermaid Cupcakes Recipe
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, and eggs. Pour over dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
- Fill each liner about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes clean. Cool completely before frosting cupcakes.
For the frosting:
In a small bowl, combine milk and corn syrup and set aside for 5 minutes so corn syrup can dissolve into milk (or microwave in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds). In another small bowl, combine water and gelatin; let stand for 5 minutes or until gelatin softens (or microwave in a microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds). Whisk the gelatin mixture into the milk mixture until fully dissolved; set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the other ingredients below (about 20 minutes).
Set Up An Underwater Scene
Set up a table with seashells and starfish on it. Put up bunting with the word “mermaid” on it. Hang some blue and silver balloons from the ceiling. Add fish nets around the room (you can use fishing wire). Add some fake seaweed and starfish to decorate your tables.
Serve Up Some Seawater
Put out glasses of water with ice cubes for guests to drink from – these can be decorated with shells or beads that look like bubbles coming out of them (you can also put edible glitter in them). You may also want to serve snacks that look like fish food, such as crackers or pretzels dipped in green candy melts (these can be decorated with sprinkles).
Make Sure There’s Plenty Of Music
You don’t want awkward silence while everyone waits for something to happen at your party! Have music playing as soon as people show up, so they feel right at home. The best part about throwing a mermaid party is that you don’t need much planning! So don’t worry if you haven’t time to plan out every detail; just throw together some snacks, decorations, and activities and call it good enough!
Have An Ice Cream Bar
An ice cream bar is always a hit at parties and doesn’t have to be complicated. Just serve your favorite flavors of ice cream in cone holders with sprinkles and other toppings on the side. Remember the toppings like whipped cream and chocolate syrup for sundaes!
Have Some Fun With Photo Ops
Before the party starts, please take pictures of your guests standing at their waist in water and holding their favorite books. Then print out the photos and put them in frames on the tables at your party. You could also have a photo booth near the food table so kids can take pictures with their friends.
Mermaid-Themed Decorations
Create an Ocean Backdrop
This is the most important element of a mermaid party, so don’t skimp on it! You can create a backdrop using fabric or paper printed with ocean scenes. Then, hang it behind where you will be serving food and drinks and use it as a photo backdrop.
A mermaid party is all about the water, so start by creating an ocean backdrop. You can make one with paper or use a projector. Here are some ideas:
- Use blue paper and cut out the shape of a wave to hang on your wall.
- Hang blue and white balloons from the ceiling to create waves.
- Cut out pictures of fish, starfish, and other ocean creatures from magazines and glue them onto a blue poster board to make a collage that hangs on your wall.
- Create ocean waves with tissue paper or crepe paper streamers hung from the ceiling. Hang blue lights around your room for extra effect.
Mermaid Cutouts
Hang a variety of mermaid cutouts around your party room. You can find a variety of designs online or make your own by cutting out pictures from magazines or coloring books. Hang them from the ceiling or around the party room’s perimeter to be visible from every angle.
Water Fountains
Set up water fountains in several areas of your party space so guests can enjoy them as they walk through. Pour colored water into large jars or vases and set up pumps that will send streams of water into the air when turned on. You can also use a large plastic container filled with water and decorated with sea creatures like fish or octopuses for an easy way to create an instant fountain display!
Dress Up a Dessert Table
Set up your tables with blue tablecloths and add seashell or starfish centerpieces. Add other little touches like sand dollar place cards or sea glass cake stands for serving desserts or drinks. You can also use different colored plastic cups for drinks instead of regular glasses or cups to keep everything in the theme!
Decorate Your Food
If you’re having a buffet-style meal at your party, decorate the food with different types of sea creatures like starfish crackers or mermaid tails pasta salad (with grape tomatoes). You can also have fun with themed desserts such as cake pops or cupcakes decorated with sea creatures on top!
Have Your Guests Write Messages in Sea Shells as Favors
One of our favorite ways to add decor to your party is by using sea shells as decorations. You can also use this idea as favors for your guests to take home! Once they’re done writing messages, fill them with treats and give them out at the end of the party.
Add Glitter Garland
You can’t have a mermaid party without some glitter and gold. This is the best way to add sparkle to your birthday party decor.
Materials:
- green crepe paper streamer (we got ours at the dollar store!)
- gold glitter streamer (we used this one)
- green crepe paper ribbon (we got ours at the dollar store!)
- glitter ribbon (optional)
Directions:
- Cut each streamer into equal lengths depending on how long you want your garland to be, then tape them together end-to-end using double-sided tape. Add extra pieces if needed for length or width!
- Tie one end of your garland around a doorframe, toilet paper roll holder, or another sturdy object in whatever room you’ll be celebrating! You could also hang it from the ceiling if there’s no place for it on the walls or floor! The length depends on where you want it to hang, but make sure it’s not too short; otherwise, people won’t see it well enough! We used double-sided tape to secure our garland, but hot glue or string would also work!
Mermaid Macarons
It’s easy to make macarons look like a mermaid tail! Just use royal icing to pipe on a tail on top of each macaron shell, and add sprinkles for fins.
Tissue Paper Sailboats
Tissue paper sailboats are easy to make and great decoration for any party. Cut out large tissue paper squares and secure them with tape or glue. Then tie a string around the middle of each boat and hang it from the ceiling or on walls with tape. Remember to add some glitter!
Mermaid Kisses
You can make this easy DIY mermaid kiss for your next birthday party or gathering. It’s a simple project that will only take about 10 minutes and is great for kids of all ages.
Here’s how it’s done:
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
You’ll need a few things to get started with this DIY. You’ll need the following:
- A piece of paper (8 inches by 11 inches)
- A printer or computer with printing capabilities (you can also use an app like PicMonkey)
- Tacky glue or Mod Podge (optional)
Step 2: Create Your Mermaid Kiss Design on Your Computer or Print It Out at Home
There are many ways to create your mermaid kiss design. You can draw it yourself, print out a picture of a mermaid and trace it over it, or type out the words “Mermaid Kisses” on your computer. If you want, you can even use stickers or other embellishments to decorate the kiss!
Once you’ve decided how you want your kiss to look, print out your design onto regular paper and cut it out along the outside edge so that there is no background around your design.
Step 3: Cut Out Your Shape
Using an X-acto knife, cut around the edges of your template. Leave extra room on all sides, so you don’t cut yourself while cutting out the shape.
Step 4: Fold Your Shapes Together
Fold along the dotted lines with your fingers until you have a complete mermaid kiss! Now you can use this cute party decoration at any birthday party or gathering.
Mermaid Party Food Ideas
Mermaid Cakes
Bake a cake like a seashell and decorate it like one too! You can also make it into a sandcastle or use blue icing to make waves.
Deep-Sea Drinks
Make your drink dispenser and fill it with a punch. Add colorful umbrellas, plastic swords, and other fun accessories for an extra special touch.
Mermaid Tails
If you’re hosting an outdoor event, you’ll need something easy and quick to serve as hors d’oeuvres or snacks. A simple tray made from brown craft paper works great because it won’t get wet if you have an outdoor party! Just cut out tails from the paper and attach them to toothpicks or skewers, then add your favorite dips or spreads on top of each tail. You can also use this idea as a centerpiece by placing them in glass bowls or vases on your tables!
Sand Dollars Cookies
To make these cookies, press sand dollar-shaped cookie cutters into sugar cookies before baking them according to package directions. Then use a toothpick to apply frosting to the backs of the sand dollars.
Mermaid Sandwiches
You can make this adorable sandwich by spreading peanut butter on one slice of bread and jelly on another. Sandwich them together, then cut a tail shape out of green lettuce and place it on top of your sandwich. Top it off with an edible glitter starfish, and you’re done!
Mermaid Punch
This yummy punch is perfect for kids’ parties! It’s easy to make, too: Combine half a gallon of lemonade with half a gallon of orange juice and a bunch of ice cubes in a large pitcher or bucket. If desired, add some blue food coloring (or use blue raspberry Kool-Aid) and stir well until everything is blended nicely. Then add some sliced lemons or limes as garnish and serve chilled!
Candy Buffet
Create a candy buffet where guests can choose their treat. You can add special chocolate-covered strawberries or marshmallows from Cupcake Diaries for an extra fun touch!
Marble Cake Pops
These cake pops are so fun and creative! Bake your favorite cake mix according to the package directions to make them. Roll out half of your cake mixture for each pop into sticks about 1 inch thick. Cut thin slices from the sticks and place them on a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper; freeze for about 30 minutes until firm but not frozen through. To decorate, melt chocolate chips in a microwave for about 35 seconds until melted but not hot or bubbly; stir well until smooth, then dip each pop in the chocolate using two forks.
Mermaid Party Games
Mermaid party games are a great way to get the party started. And since you’re planning a mermaid-themed party, why not add game ideas that fit the theme?
Mermaid Tattoo Parlor
Have your guests design their mermaid tattoos by adding glitter and gems to temporary tattoos. You can find these at craft stores. Make sure you have plenty of pens, markers, and glitter so everyone can accessorize their mermaid tail!
Mermaid Scavenger Hunt
Use this printable scavenger hunt checklist to send your guests on an underwater adventure. They’ll scour the house for hidden items like seashells, starfish, and other beach finds. The winner gets a prize!
Underwater Pinata
Dress up a regular pinata with paper fish scales and sea stars using this tutorial from Party City. Then let all the kids take turns whacking it open with a stick until candy spills out!
Mermaid Treasure Hunt
Have each child bring an item from home that represents something they like about themselves or something they would like to change about themselves (e.g., their hair color). Then, let each child hide their item somewhere in the house/yard and give everyone a treasure map with clues on how to find them all. Once everyone has found their items, have each child write down one thing they learned about themselves during this game on their treasure map and then take turns reading it aloud while everyone else listens intently! This game is guaranteed to be fun!
Enjoy Your Part Now!!
The mermaid-themed parties are mostly organized for teens, but these themes can be used for the birthdays of small kids. The ways to have these mermaid parties are more than playing games and wearing costumes; you can do many things to make it more interesting and fun.