Once Upon A Notion: Calling All Octonauts!

My little girl turned five yesterday. Five!

I cannot believe that she is five already. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday - the nervousness, the fear (I had to have a C-section), and the overall excitement. But it was all worth it once I got to see that little peanut! And she really was a peanut...only 4lbs 15oz! Although she is still a peanut (28lbs at 5 years old!), she has grown into a sweet, smart, funny, energetic little lady and I wouldn't have her any other way!

So for her 5th birthday party, Erin requested an Octonauts party. The Octonauts is a cartoon on the Disney Channel about different animals that live under the sea and help to rescue sea creatures. It is very cute and also impossible to find any kind of party supplies here in the States! So I had to get creative. I decided to go with more of an "under the sea" theme and add hints of the Octonauts into the party.

Lucky for me, two of the blogs that I follow Craftiness is not Optional and The Girl.Inspired had Under the Sea inspired parties this summer so I was able to get some ideas from them. I also searched on Pinterest, which led me to some great blogs and websites with cute ideas. You can click here for my Octonauts board on Pinterest if you are interested - make sure to click on the mermaid party by girl.inspired pin and the "seaweed" spinach dip pin so you can check out Jess and Stef's parties - they were both super cute!!

I printed out a couple of Octonaut pictures I found to use as decorations and I cut out some blue circles and goldfish from card stock to create garland. I sewed the circles and goldfish together then added stickers to the circles that I printed Happy Birthday Erin on. I also found seashells, sand dollars and starfish at The Christmas Tree Shop and had them displayed around the house along with lots of blue and white balloons.

For the food, I ordered two three foot heroes from the deli and a garden salad. I also made a pasta salad using seashell shaped pasta. My husband cooked hot dogs and made delicious BBQ ribs. For snacks we had goldfish, Pirate's Booty, cucumber slices, carrots and ranch dip, spinach dip and pita chips and potato chips. I printed up little cards for the food with Under the Sea/Octonaut inspired names and the Octonaut's logo on them for a fun little touch.

The dessert table was my favorite part - I love dessert! I made a round cake and cupcakes using a box mix and homemade butter cream frosting. The cake was inspired by the one I saw at Girl.Inspired. I made shell and starfish chocolates from a mold that I found at A.C. Moore and used them to decorate the cake and cupcakes. I also made goldfish butter cookies by tinting the cookie dough orange. I used the same cookie dough recipe to make sand dollar cookies that I saw here at Mama Miss. And I had a bowl of Swedish Fish to snack on too.

The kids all seemed to have a great time. I had a foam craft for them to do - I found a sea creature foam sticker kit at A.C. Moore. And then they just ran around the backyard and played until it was time for dessert. Each guest received a little favor bag before departing filled with stickers, a bag of blue M&Ms with a few Swedish Fish, some shark fruit snacks and a sea creature that expands in water.