Finding Dory Party Spread:
We went to see Finding Dory for my son's 4th Birthday, and decided to use it as a theme for his birthday dinner with our family. Since all the fuss was about him and his birthday, I tried to include him as much as possible in the preparations. He absolutely loved being included! I had to remind myself along the way that the main goal wasn't to have perfect decorations, but to make sure he had fun, and that he felt special. He loved having a sense of authority, and he did an awesome job helping me out! I found many wonderful ideas on Pinterest. Checkout my Pinterest board here, and follow me on Pinterest for other fun ideas. We used these pins as inspiration for our Finding Dory Party. Here is how it all turned out!
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for this inspiration here.
Execution:
Since I have an 11 month old that likes to eat everything in sight, I decided to place my coral reef streamer up and out of her reach. Also I used yellow because that was the color we had on hand, but I was really happy with how it turned out. I traced a fish cookie cutter on blue card stock to get these cute fish shapes.
Free Coloring Pages:
My son was super interested while I was searching Pinterest and making plans for the party, and when he saw these coloring pages, he really wanted to paint them! So I printed them out, set him up with paint, and got back to the Pinterest search. We loved how they turned out so we hung them up as part of the party decor. He was so proud to display them for everyone.
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for these free coloring pages here.
Execution:
- He used scotch tape and hung them on the wall all by himself!
Welcome Sign:
Snag the free printable download of my Finding Dory welcome sign below.
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for this inspiration here.
Execution:
- Finding Dory Party Sign Free Printable Download
Free Printable Download of Dory Party Sign
Food Ideas:
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for this inspiration here.
Execution:
I had planned to use the above idea to make fish shaped watermelon pieces for the party. I showed the picture to my son to let him know what we were going to be doing, and he got stuck on the star shape idea. We went with it and made both fish and starfish. He loved making these with me, and he did a really great job! It ended up being really nice to have a smaller star shape to use up the smaller scraps of watermelon. I was surprised at how much scrap we still had even after using the small stars.
- We gathered all the scraps in a separate bowl to be enjoyed after the party. One large watermelon made one large tray of cute sea creatures and one large bowl of scraps.
- As we were using the cookie cutters to make the shapes in the watermelon, he said, "Everybody is going to love it!" He was so proud of the great job he was doing. Here he is enjoying his Fishy watermelon at the party!
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for this inspiration here.
Execution:
- This kid is such a character, he can't take a picture without making a silly face.
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for this inspiration here.
Execution:
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for this inspiration here.
Execution:
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for this inspiration here.
Execution:
We made purple Seaweed because my son picked purple grapes, and it was his Birthday after all. Again, the most important thing was that he was having fun, not that the fruit was the perfect color. He loved having he authority to choose the color of grapes. People ought to feel like kings and queens on their birthdays, and I think he did!
Pinterest Inspiration:
Click Execution:
I really loved this idea, but I decided to create dory's eyes myself instead of using googly eyes. I printed them out on a word document and used a larger 1 1/2 hole punch to save time cutting. The fins and tails were quite time consuming to cut out. They were also very skinny making them hard to attach to the cup with the glue dots. In the end they were a big hit at the party so I was glad we did it. I also decided to just draw the mouths on with a permanent marker. This was mostly because I couldn't find any black paper, but we made several different expressions, and they turned out pretty cute!
Here is a link to the Free Printable Download of these Dory Eyes
Pinterest Inspiration:
Find the link for this inspiration here.
Execution:
I ended up forgetting about this one until after the hot dogs were cooked so I cut some up afterwards real quick. The tentacles didn't curl up as well since I didn't cut them before they cooked, but they were still pretty cute.
Original Ideas:
Blank Food Labels:
At first I was going to design these with words already on them. I never got around to doing it, and in the end I was actually glad that they were blank. Once I had the food in front of me, it was nice to have blank ones so I could write in what I needed to.
Free Downloads for Finding Dory Food Labels
Custom Drawn Napkin Holders:
We got my son some Finding Dory Stickers from the Dollar Store for his birthday, and I thought this would be a fun way to use them. He colored paper orange to be wrapped and taped around the napkins and utensils. Then he thoughtfully placed one sticker on each one. This project kept him busy for a while, and he was very proud to share these with his guests.
Bubbles... Bubbles... My Bubbles! (From Finding Nemo)
Fish & Chips:
Fish Out of Water Popcorn Balls:
- My son helped me make these popcorn balls. He had so much fun, and was so proud!
I think he had a pretty great birthday over all. I am glad he was so willing to help out! I still cant believe my little guy is four! Happy Birthday Big Guy!
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