As Spring is nearing, I am longing for a day at the beach! I was recently asked to help style a SpongeBob Party and when I was researching inspirations, I came across this AMAZING party from Jodie of Party-NV. Grab a fruity drink, put on some island music and enjoy looking through this fun party.
Jodi shares all the details of her brilliant ideas with you to get inspired for your own SpongeBob Squarepants birthday party!
“My son wanted to have a SpongeBob party for his 5th birthday (ugh-commercial theme). Being a party designer and stylist I told him that we could do it, but it was on mommy’s terms and we were not going to the store to buy SpongeBob plates, napkins, etc. Low and behold, this is what I came up with. Oh and did I mention the countless hours of SpongeBob I watched with the kids too 😉
First, I designed all of the printables (which you have see the whole collection in my etsy shop). Then I got to work on the table styling and desserts, as well as, the games and party favors. You can say I’m a jack of all trades… I did the entire party myself (probably why I’m so exhausted after these events)…
For the table I wanted something fun and unique, so naturally I scoured the Internet (and Pinterest – which was pretty new at the time) for ideas and to see what else has been done. I knew I wanted it to be staged “under the sea”, after all that is where SpongeBob lives. The backdrop is actually a queen size flat sheet I picked up at Walmart for like $5.00. I cut it into 1-2″ strips and then tied the strips to a 4 foot dowel rod. I then used the clips from my curtain rings and hung it from the rod behind the table. As for the preserver… I just used a white wreath circle I found at Michael’s and glued ribbon and cutout letters. I glued a little ribbon hook on the back and hung it from the dowel rod with some fishing line. I used some poster board for the center and glued my message to that.
I used clear balloons on the sides of the table for bubbles and I even let some float at the ceiling (we are under the sea, right)! I designed the banner by re-creating nautical flags and it spells out “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”. A tan (sand) color table cloth was used to emulate the bottom of the sea and I found some netting that I draped for added effect. I found some wooden signs at JoAnn’s, but they weren’t exactly what I wanted so I started messing around with popsicle sticks and came up with the food markers. They are simply popsicle sticks that I hot glued together and painted. The secret to those was that I put a cake pop in the bottom so that they looked like they were in rocks and would be free standing on the table. Oh and don’t forget the coveted “Secret Ingredient” bottle 😉
My son really wanted a Krusty Crab cake, and since I make cakes too that’s what he got. I made Plankton pretzels and stuck them in some sand (aka cane sugar) that was in a bucket that I wrote “CHUM BUCKET” on using a red sharpie. Of course I had to have “Krabby Patty” cupcakes (I do have a tutorial on my blog on how to make these!). I used block rock candy (on top of sand) as sea glass. I found some gold “chocolate” coins and used an old wooden pirate chest from my kids toys to put them in. I made the cookies with each of the characters and my final desire was to make jellyfish cake pops… they turned out “okay”, but it was a first attempt and I have not seen anything like them before so it was all from my imagination. For the jelly fish fields I sprinkled some sand, and used the halves of these plastic greenery balls I have. I just shoved a half piece of a styrofoam ball inside to stick the pops into.
The table was set for each child with the following:
-Plate
-Napkin
-Red felt tie (I made these by cutting felt to look like SpongeBob’s tie)
-Party hat (I made these too… I was trying to copy SpongeBob’s fry cook hat)
-Kelp Shakes (for these I just used the printable I designed and some mini water bottles. I wrapped the label, emptied the water and replaced it with a lime green cool aid drink.)
The Games we played (yes I made these too, with a little help from my parents)…
-Build-A-Patty (My parents painted 2 moving boxes to look like ovens and I made Krabby Patty parts from felt, rice, and hot glue. I bought some spatulas from the dollar store. The kids 2 at a time were tasked with making 2 Krabby Patties… they had to stack them on a plate and carry them to the customer and they were timed… It was fun!)
-Jelly Fishing (I had some nets on hand from a butterfly party that never happened so I decided to use them… I filled my living room with pink balloons w/pink streamers to look like jellyfish and then I made some small ones out of felt, rice, ribbon and hot glue. The kids got nets and we took turns throwing the felt jellyfish up in the air as they tried to catch them.
For the party favors I did a couple if things:
(1) I bought some little buckets from Oriental Trading and using a red sharpie wrote “chum bucket” on them. I then filled them with a Krabby Patty candy and vial of bubbles… I tied everything up and attached a “Thank You” tag from my collection.
(2) For the second I used the left over felt from the games and cut out the pieces to make SpongeBob’s (mouth, pants/tie) and then added a yellow sponge (which I found at the dollar store) and some google eyes. I then packaged it in a clear bag and added the table tent from my collection to the top with “Build a SpongeBob” on it.”
Doesn’t that all sound like so much fun?!? What a great way to take a beloved character and make it cute & unique for any celebration. Thank you for sharing your amazing talent with us Jodie! You can get everything you need to recreate this party for your own celebration in Jodie’s shop!
STYLING, PRINTABLES & PHOTOGRPAHY BY JODIE VALENTI OF PARTY NV
For more party products to coordinate with Jodie’s collection, here are my picks!
Caroline@Creative Party Themes says
What an amazingly fun party! My kids love SpongeBob, he never seems to get old! I especially loved your Chum Bucket Plankton pretzels and the jelly fishing activity. Sometimes it’s nice to hear what went on at the party in addition to seeing all the great decorations. Thanks so much for sharing.
OnlinesBestDeals.com says
Looks awesome! Jodie really a great job with her SpongeBob party theme. Krabby Patties look delicious. =P I can imagine a lot of people getting inspired with this party setup. And having a well written guide on how to do it, with a tutorial on the krabby patty, makes mimicking this setup so much easier!
Creative Printables says
Creative people like you make it very difficult for me to keep my comments short! What an amazing party! The cake and other cookies and treats are absolutely amazing!
Robert says
I am amazed by all the creative ideas you have come up with! My sons birthday party is coming up and I hope I can recreate some of the things you have done. I do have one question though… Where were you able to find the font stickers for the wreath? I’ve been looking everywhere for that same font but no luck. Anyways I want to thank you for your creative mind and sharing with us!
Traci says
How did you make the “Plankton” pretzels? Is it white chocolate dyed? I’d love to start my own party planning business some day. Thanks for posting this! Do you get a lot of business from sharing these types of things? So cute!
Kendra Bixby says
Hi Amy!
I’m obsessed with this idea. I’ve already started collecting items! Quick question approximately how big were the chum bucket favors you ordered from oriental trading? Thank you! Kendra
Sophia says
Can you tell me how you made your cake?