Ann Le Do
Lifestyle

DIY Modern Baby Shark Themed Party // Haden’s 2nd Birthday

Baby Shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo. 

For Haden’s 2nd birthday, I wanted to do a simple and modern twist off of the popular Baby Shark video. I kept decorations minimal by focusing on the dessert and dining areas. To give the space an ocean vibe, I used different shades of blue for everything from the backdrop to the fish garland. Luckily, I was able to find a convenient pack of cardstock containing different shades of blue for the banner and fish garland. To represent the beach and lifeguards/lifesavers, as well as add some contrast to all of the blue, I made the place cards out of tan cardstock and added splashes of red with the napkins and straws.

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I also made some all-natural blue juice, which gets its hue from butterfly pea flowers. When steeped into a tea, it produces a beautiful, caffeine-free sapphire liquid. It has a slight earthy flavor on its own, but it can be masked when added to coconut juice.

I ordered the shark fin cake and baby shark cookies from Baked by MaiB. The shark fin cake is a 3-layered chocolate cake with Italian meringue buttercream frosting and decorated with ombre blue rock candy and fondant fins on top.  The baby shark cookies are sugar cookies with vibrantly colored icing – these were a big hit with the kids. 

Helping Haden make a birthday wish // the softest gray sweater, small + my current fav jeans, sz 26

Everyone loved the theme, but I especially loved how easy and affordable it was to make this party come together and to make it a special night for Haden. Below are all of the materials, templates, and directions you can use to re-create this party on your own. A talented friend designed some digital shark and fish templates and cut them out with a Cricut Maker, which made creating the garlands a breeze. If you don’t have a Cricut, don’t worry, you can still print (you may need to scale the image to get the sizes you need or insert images into Word or Powerpoint) and cut the templates by hand. I also included a favorite, quick and easy snack we prepared.

EASY PAPER PLATE WALL BACKDROP | NAME BANNER | FISH + SHARK GARLAND | WHITE BUBBLE GARLAND | SHARK PARTY HAT | SHARK PLACE CARDS | BLUE COCONUT JUICE BOTTLES | WHITE CHOCOLATE “PUPPY CHOW” CHEX MIX

EASY PAPER PLATE WALL BACKDROP

Materials

Directions

  1. Start with the top row, at the highest point, and tape five of the Caribbean blue plates to the wall. To tape, rip a piece of blue/gaffer tape and roll it to make it double-sided and stick it on the back of the plate, then press it against the wall.
  2. Begin the next row by taping five robin egg blue plates underneath, with the first robin blue egg plate in between the first and second Caribbean blue plates about half way down.
  3. Repeat step two using white plates, then repeat again using silver plates.
  4. Continue steps 2 and 3 until there are no more plates left.

NAME BANNER

Materials

  • Alphabet template (PDF file)
  • Teal 8.5 x 11” cardstock
  • Light blue 8.5 x 11” cardstock
  • Blue and White Twine
  • Glue
  • Hole puncher
  • Scissors

Directions

  1. Print the letters needed from the alphabet template onto teal cardstock and cut out the letters.
  2. Glue each letter to the light blue cardstock sheet.
  3. Punch a hole on the two upper corners of each light blue cardstock and string together with twine to hang the banner.

FISH + SHARK GARLAND

Materials

Directions

  1. Use the shark template and cut 6” sharks out of gray cardstock paper. 
  2. Use the fish template and cut 5” fishes out of five different shades of blue paper. 
  3. Once the sharks and fishes are all cut, use the thread and needle to string them together, using alternating shades of blue fish followed by a shark.  If you don’t have a needle and thread, you can use string and tape.
  4. Repeat step three until the garland has reached the desired length.

WHITE BUBBLE GARLAND

Materials

Directions

  1. Use the circle template and cut out several different size circles out of white cardstock paper. 
  2. Thread them together with a needle and thread starting with any size circle and continue a random pattern to make it look like bubbles.  If you don’t have a needle and thread, you can use string and tape.
  3. Repeat step two until the garland has reached the desired length.

SHARK PARTY HAT

Materials

  • Shark hat template
  • Gray 12 x 12” cardstock
  • White 12 x 12” cardstock
  • Elastic string
  • Glue stick
  • Tape
  • Black marker or pen
  • Exacto knife + scissors

Directions

  1. Use the shark hat template to cut out the shark hat and fin out of gray cardstock. If you are cutting the hat manually, use an exacto knife to cut on the slot lines inside the template (where the fin and tab of the hat can be inserted) and holes for the elastic string to go through.
  2. Use the shark hat template to cut out the teeth on white cardstock.
  3. Take the shark hat and form it into a cone by inserting the tab into the slit and sealing with tape on the inside.
  4. Position the white teeth between the holes of the hat and glue the white teeth to the inside.
  5. Cut the elastic string (22” for adults and 19” for kids) and tie each end through the holes of the hat.
  6. With a black marker or pen, draw some eyes about 0.5” from the holes of the hat. You can also draw some curved lines on the side for the gills. Because the holes were big and my string was small, I decided to have the holes represent eyes and pierced smaller holes with a needle for the string to go through.

SHARK PLACE CARDS

Materials

Directions

  1. Use the circle template and cut 3” circles out of tan cardstock paper.
  2. Use the circle template and cut 2.5” circles out of white cardstock paper.
  3. Use the shark template and cut 1.5” sharks out of gray cardstock paper.
  4. Glue the white circle on top of the tan circle, then glue the shark on top of that. 
  5. Write the names of the guests (Mommy Shark, Daddy Shark, Sister Shark, etc.)

BLUE COCONUT JUICE BOTTLES

Materials

Directions

  1. Use the shark template and cut 3” sharks out of gray paper.
  2. Thread the blue and white twine through the shark and tie it around the milk bottles.
  3. In a saucepan, add 6 butterfly pea flowers and 8 oz of water. Bring to a boil and let the flowers steep for five minutes. Discard the flowers and let the tea cool completely.
  4. In a pitcher, combine the tea with three liters of coconut juice.
  5. Pour the mixture into the milk bottles and enjoy.

WHITE CHOCOLATE “PUPPY CHOW” CHEX MIX

Materials

Directions

  1. Melt white chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir and microwave for another 30 seconds.  The white chocolate should only be halfway melted.  Stir the white chocolate until it’s all melted (this keeps the white chocolate from burning).
  2. Add Chex cereal to a large bowl and pour the melted white chocolate over it.
  3. Mix until the cereal is coated with the white chocolate.
  4. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.
  5. Add the blue sprinkles on top and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.

What are some of your favorite party themes?

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