Twins 2nd Beach Party

Typically I have double the party budget for the twins birthday since there are two of them; however, my husband is so sick of me spending money on parties that he challenged me to do this one without spending money (except on food).  So....here's the result of my challenge, just goes to show you that parties don't have to be expensive if you can get a little creative!

I decided to do a theme for a party that I already had resources for.  Since we have a sandpit in our backyard and a kiddie pool, I thought a beach party would be the simplest way to go.  

So first I got some cardboard boxes and painted this sign to let the guest know where to go.

So we set the pool up next to the sandpit so it would seem like a real beach to the kids!

My neighbor had given me these fishnets and sea creatures, so I draped them over our beach umbrellas in the sand pit.  I already had sand castle kits and beach blankets so it worked out great!

Tablecloths felt too formal, so I just used beach towels!  They worked great!

For favors, I used sandwich bags, stamped on a beach ball, printed a thank you beach ball (a friend has a color printer) and wrote each kids name on the bag.  Inside they had "goldfish" crackers, lollipop ring, push pop, and an assortment of beachy great like flip flop necklaces, ect.

I also had these paper pompoms from a previous party, so I just threw them up there.  I rarely throw away any party stuff for this very reason.

Once again I grabbed some cardboard boxes and used them as surfboards.  Thank goodness for spray paint, however my forearms were sore for days!

The surfboards were a great backdrop for the gift opening area.  I always have extra seats beside the birthday boy/girl for the gift giver.  It makes giving and thanking so much easier!

My neighbor also gave me these beachy stamps.  So the kids had a blast painting....

...themselves!  Oh well, you can't ask a lot from 2 year olds!

My neighbor also gave me these hibiscus tattoos.  The kids loved them and thought they were really powerful stickers!

Now for the food!  Once again I printed the banner from my friend's color printer...easy peasy!  Then I used beach towels for the table cover and threw on some beach balls, sand pails and sand toys.

The cupcake picks I printed and stuck to my craft popsicle sticks.  I also filled a jar with sand toys and placed the cupcakes on top of that to give the table more dimension.

I cooked these cupcakes in silicone cupcake holders....they worked wonderfully and the color really stands out.  Then I iced 1/2 with white butter cream and dipped it in crushed graham crackers for a sand effect.  Then I piped blue butter cream icing on to look like water.  After adding a Swedish fish and mint to look like a beach ball, I was done...quick and painless!

Ice cream cones!  I had a bin of ice that held the ice cream, then I offered cones and sprinkles.  "Swimming" in the sprinkles were candy fish rings.

When I think of beachy food, I think of crabs, shrimp kabobs and scallops....but this was a kids party so I needed to be more simple and creative.  Here's what I came up with....

Tuna submarines!  Sounds beachy huh?

Octopus hotdogs!

You just cut them 3/4 of the way down to give them 4 legs, then you boil them and they come out curly.  Add mustard eyes and smile with a toothpick and you're done.  I also crushed up saltine crackers and added a little blue food coloring to give the bottom of the ocean effect.

Sea Shell pasta salad!  It's actually a bacon ranch pasta, but all you have to do is switch out the pasta and you've got something that goes along with your theme!

I cut up a lot of summer fruit and put them in buckets with shovels as spoons.  Then we had pretzels and chips and salsa for the adults.

You can't have a beach party without goldfish!!!

Oh, and for the adults, we served cold beer or Pina Colatas!!!

The kids drank "Liquid Sun Rays" or lemonade, and drank "Ocean Water" which was water with a little blue food coloring.

So the kids had a blast!  They played in the sand, water, painting, and got tattoos!  We listened to a Kids Beach CD, however, you could also play your old Beach Boy's music!  They ate yummy food and we all had a great time!  Later dudes!