Fishing Birthday Party

Today we had Ian's 4th birthday party with his friends from school.  Since he likes to go fishing with his daddy, we decided to go with a fishing theme.  I had fun making lots of crafty things for his party over the last month or so and thought I would record them here for future reference.  Overall, it was a fun party and our birthday boy completely crashed afterward!  (Always the sign of a good party.)

First up, the decorations:

The invitations and decor were inspired by the fish on a cake I saw on flikr.  From there, I made a simple fish and used it on everything from the cups to the hats to the favors to the invitations.

Balloon wreath using this tutorial but almost triple the number of balloons and an 18" wreath form.  We'll be using this for many birthdays in the future!

An ocean ceiling

Our favorite felt birthday banner and buckets for each guest.

I made a jello fish bowl for the centerpiece with a fishing net and a few fishing toys we had around the house.

We use this special plate every year for his birthday and you can see the cups and hats I made.


Next, the activities:

We had each guest decorate a foam fish with foam shape stickers when they arrived.  Then they had to take a test to earn their fishing license before fishing with magnetic poles I made.

They also got to take some swings at a fish pinata, also homemade.  It was my first attempt at a pinata and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  But it was sturdy so in the end I cut it open to spill the candy.

Finally, the cake!

The birthday boy in his 4 fish shirt I made with his fishing cake.

The guests went home with their fish, fishing pole, pinata loot, buckets and these little favors for their next fishing trip:

Wow, when I write it all out, that's a lot of crafting!  But since I've been working on it bit by bit over the holidays, it wasn't overwhelming.  And next week we have yet another birthday for Calla.  Her party will be much more low key but I still made a few fun decorations.