We had 2 celebrations for Aidan when he turned 7. One was in the Philippines, at McDonalds, where they usually take care of everything, and I mean everything (from the hosts, to the games and yes, of course the foods, games and prizes!). And one at our home.
Aidan wanted a SPONGEBOB Party and I added a simple twist by making it more fun with an underwater-themed party. He was really so excited and I was too! However, as the day grew closer, I was panicking, thinking of a way to turn our purple basement into an underwater haven!
With sheer luck (and the help of some online stores & a couple of friends who helped me set-up - Hubby, Grace and Kat), I was able to come up with this...
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| Snorkeling fun |
The wall murals are from
partycheap.com, they weren't cheap at all, they cost about $20 each! But they are super big (30 feet long!), I bought 3 but ended up using only 2 in our huge basement!
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| glub, blub, blub..... |
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| More fishies hanging from the ceiling |
I bought the inflatable fishes from Oriental Trading.com. They were relatively cheap, ranging from $8-13/dozen (here is the
LINK). I bought 4 dozens. I added the squiggly balloons, which I got from Divisoria in the Philippines for < 1 cent each! I hung them using unfolded paperclips, easy to put up and remove.
GAMES ZONE
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| Game area |
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| PLAYTIME |
I got the Spongebob "Happy Birthday" banner from Party city for around $5. The inflatable ring toss was also from Orientaltrading.com ($10). I figured we can still use it this summer once we open up our pool.
The Spongebob Balloons are from the Divisoria, 25 cents a piece! We inflated them using our compressor.
STAGE ZONEWe hired a balloon artist/magician so we had to set-up a stage area for him. The banner was a gift from an aunt from the Philippines. The Spongebob Back drop is from Party City ($10).
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| Cutee kids |
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| Even grown-ups are having fun! |
PRIZES AND GIVE-AWAYS
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| Prize station |
I mostly got the stuff for the prizes from Divisoria and clearance sales from Walgreens and Walmart. Spongebob is very popular so finding prizes was easy peasy! :->
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| Give-aways |
ANATOMY OF A LOOT BAG:
I got the loot bag from Divisoria 50 cents each.
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| Knapsack bag |
I just used a picture of Aidan, added border and printed them wallet-size, and viola! Easy "Thank You" Card
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| What's inside |
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| Banners atop food set-up |
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| Another view of the Party room |
KIDDIE FOOD
I set-up the kids food on the peninsula in our basement kitchen. As always, we served cake, pizza, chips and fruit.
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| Chips, mallows and strawberries |
But to spice things up a bit, I added this
Nacho Bar with chili and cheese! Yum! T'was a hit! I also made some lemonade, to make it truly feel "summery beachy"!
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| Nacho Bar |
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| Cake - courtesy of Walmart - cute! |
GROWN-UP FOOD SET-UP
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| Dining room set-up |
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| Chocolate fountain station |
I placed the desserts on the buffet table. We had a chocolate fountain with a super yummy chocolate recipe courtesy of my friend, Anne R. For the dippers, we had marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, pretzels and potato chips! YUM! I also made some leche flan and added orange slices.
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| YUMMMM |
For the main buffet, I made pinoy-style spaghetti, Baked salmon, and we also had crab rangoon, beef with broccoli, Hunan chicken, shrimp with veggies, tofu & veggies, rice of course, rolls from Honeybakers, barbecued chicken courtesy of our friend Grace P., chicken surprise courtesy of Jonjet V., spring rolls courtesy of Mellie C., Beans with beef courtesy of Lina W., Beef siomai courtesy of Gerrie E., and Spinach salad courtesy of Krista P.!!!
After weeks of preparation, I can say the party was a huge success... |
| A Big puff! |
Because in the end, this little guy's smile, happiness and all his "THANK YOU's" were all the really mattered!
I just used a picture of Aidan, added border and printed them wallet-size, and viola! Easy "Thank You" Card 
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