Make a Splash Mermaid Party

Summer brings out the mermaids in

all of us at Purple Chocolat Home,

so we decided to have a Mermaid Birthday

Party for all of the little granddaughters this

summer.

Three of them have birthdays within a week of

each other, and we have celebrated big in the

past with combined birthday parties - 

Frozen, Cinderella, and Unicorn parties.

We had it at our pool at Tuscan Villas

so all of the kids and families who were

invited could swim.

I wanted to create a balloon arch,

so I made it the night before and tested

it at home.  I purchased the arch kit on

Amazon, and an electric balloon pump. 

Both were around $20 each and were great

investments.  I also found a green sequined

tablecloth and a mermaid table runner- green and purple.

The arch took me about an hour to blow up

the balloons and assemble.  I had purchased 20 - 12

inch balloons online for under $20.

  The balloon arch was carried

over to the party in the back of my Denali

in two pieces.

The arch clipped to the ends of a 6 foot folding table.

I had painted the mermaid sign last

year at a craft night with my SIL.  It was to

go down to the houseboat, but I brought it back

for the party.

I made cookie pops with Oreo Cinnamon Bun 

cookies - yummmmmy!  They were dipped in

white chocolate and covered in disco dust.

My glass shell bowl had a piece of foam placed

in it and it was covered in brown sugar for sand.

My DIL made signs for the treats.

My daughter made the sea water.

I created eight mermaid crowns for the party goers

to choose from, and purchased mermaid hair and

a mermaid necklace for them to wear.

The blow up clam shell was the setting for their

pictures.

The cake was purchased from Sam's Club.

They make a 3 tier cake for $65!

I then embellished it with chocolate and

fondant shells, fondant mermaid tails,

gumballs, sugar crystal suckers

for seaweed, cotton candy for seafoam 

and chocolate spheres.

It makes for an impressive yet easy

cake for a party, and it tastes really

good too.

It was topped with a cute mermaid birthday

cake topper.

I only included the birthday girls and their

sister's pictures, but all the little girls got their

photos taken.  We had over 40 people attend.  It

was a huge hit for all of the family members.

Of course the kids had to put the clam

shell floatie in the pool!

Thanks for swimming by to visit

our mermaids!

I will be sharing this with

Tablescapes Thursday

Share Your Cup Thursday

Dishing It and Digging It

Lake Powell Menu June 2018

Welcome to a week at Lake Powell with our adult children.

(This gigantic flamingo joined us this summer - from Sam's Club.)

Every summer we spend several weeks houseboating

at Lake Powell, and a few years ago I decided to

share our menus for others who wanted inspiration

on what fun foods they could whip up.  

These posts have been one of my popular posts, 

and I hope people have taken their food options 

up a notch or two by this inspiration.  

Everyone takes a day and decides on their 

menu, purchases their food, and prepares and 

cleans up.  This takes a lot of burden off of 

me, and we get a lot of fun variety, as people 

choose something new and exciting to share, 

or an old favorite.

Bajio Shrimp Tacos (copycat recipe)

Chicken and Bacon Alfredo Gnocchi

Wedge Salads

Loaded BBQ Potato Chips with

Burgers and Deep Fried Pickles

Shrimp Ceviche and Guacamole

Italian Sodas

Chicken and Beef Tacos

Oreo Pan Sugar Cookies

Twisted Breadsticks

Korean Beef Bulgogi with Deep Fried Potstickers

Peanut Butter Balls

Ham, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

Smoothie Bowls for Breakfast

Raspberry Meringues with Sorbets and Passion Fruit Sauce

Needless to say, I have to do a little cutting back

when we return home, but we always have

a lot of fun with food besides fun with boating

and swimming.

Obviously cooking on a houseboat with full

kitchens, freezers, large and small appliances

and a grill make creating anything possible! It

is not the same as cooking while camping or

glamping.

We have a couple more trips planned, and there should

be a lot more great food.

I promise I will post the recipes for the Alfredo Gnocchi

and Meringue Desserts, which were recipes I made.

Until then, enjoy summer!  It is almost half over - sigh!

Seas The Day Mermaid Table

There are mermaids everywhere at Lake Powell,

just in case you didn't know!  They joined us for

dinner, despite the sign saying not to feed the mermaids!

My sister in law wanted to have a craft day,

and she was making wooden signs.  She has

a little wood shop in her garage.  It was so

fun watching her cut, sand, and drill the wood.

I decided to make this mermaid sign.

At Lake Powell we have a huge table that

Hubby's company made - Tyvarian.  It can seat 12.

I found these adorable plates on Overstock this summer.

I had seen some Mermaid plates in Hawaii, but

they were one of a kind and cost-prohibitive, so

I started searching online for some plates.

These are the dinner plates.  Isn't she just adorable?

The salad plates feature a different mermaid.

A similar mermaid decorates the bowl.

I was able to buy 16 of each.  Since

 we have limited storage on a houseboat,

I gave away a set of taupe plates that I had.

I found this pineapple flatware last year.  It is heavy and 

beautiful. 

Having a great love for mermaids, I am

thrilled with these new plates.  They can

swim up to eat with us anytime.

I also got a new shell chandelier this year.

The old one was worn out.  I love how the

breeze creates such a beautiful sound as

the shells tinkle.

I found it on Pottery Barn Teen.  My son

went down early to set up the houseboat,

and he assembled the chandelier - I was

amazed at his skills!

Some new Flamingos also joined us at Lake Powell 

this year.  I found these at At Home.  I just

love their sassy, mysterious look.  My granddaughter calls

them "Mingos"!  My son 

thought they were so cute, he was afraid someone

might steal them!

Thanks for joining me and the mermaids and

flamingos today.  

I will be sharing this with

Tablescapes Thursday

Share Your Cup 

Dishing It and Digging It