DIY Mermaid Crowns

Mermaid crowns are so fun and easy to make

for your little ones, whether you want to

throw a mermaid party, or for dress-ups.

Click here to see our Mermaid Party we

threw for the summer birthdays.

We are blessed with an abundance of 

little mermaids, so I made eight crowns

for their party, so that each girl could

take one home after the pictures.

I had purchased one for myself a while back, 

and it was made on a coated wire, but I decided

to make mine on a soft foam fabric.  I simply

cut out a domed shape from the foam and

started gluing.

The centerpiece with shells and jewels were the beginning.

My first one I created on a flat surface, and when I went

to bend it to fit someone's head, it wouldn't bend, so

I began shaping it over a foil covered can so it

had a slight bend to it.  Keeping it draped over

the can, I continued to hot glue shells on until

I had covered most of the foam band.

This one was a necklace I cut apart for the centerpiece.

You are going to have foam showing,

so I filled in the small spaces surrounding

the shells with small beads.

I finished them by gluing some ribbon to the ends

of the foam to tie them on the girls' heads.  This way

they were adjustable.  The foam made them soft for

the girls to wear.

Mermaid crowns can range fro $50 to $250

online and I made mine with leftover beads,

jewelry and shells I already had.  You can buy

very inexpensive shells from Wal Mart or craft

stores.  The foam fabric was leftover too.  I

made all eight of them in under 2 hours.

I did bring my glue gun to the party as I knew we

would have a lot of girls trying them on.  

They had so much fun choosing which crown they 

would wear for their pictures, and they fit all sizes.

This would be a fun craft project to do with

your little mermaids too!

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 and then reassembled.

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.

Fondant clam shells,

The biggest white balls are chocolate spheres,

the medium ones are gumballs, and the small ones

are candy.

The mermaid tails and small starfish are

fondant and the large starfish and shells

are chocolate.

Fondant sea horses painted with gold.

Their cakes make 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!