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Spongebob 3yr - Build you own Sunday

September 2007

Danielle in Annandale, VA USA

Honorable Mention

I'll say upfront, this party took some planning, however any of the ideas can be modified to accomodate schedules and budgets.

I threw a Spongebob pool party for my daughter's 3rd birthday. I held it at our local rec center (indoor pool so weather was not a factor).   Invitations:  I did the invites myself. I made a quick design with powerpoint. Using a SB photo on one side the invitation read: I'm ready to celebrate my birthday!" On the other side it was blue with four large "bubbles" (Again I drew these myself in powerpoint) with all of the information for the party. 

Setup/Decor:  The actual party was in the party room of the rec center (the room rental was relatively inexpensive...like $100 for 2 hours). While the kids were swimming I decorated everything in green yellow and blue streamers balloons and tablecloths (I did not get the SB licensed stuff--the solid colored stuff looked great and I got it all really cheap at the dollar store and party supply store). I did however find a SB "scene setter" at the party supply store (Less than $20!!! basically a giant background that tapes easily to the walls made to look like Bikini Bottom) and on ebay I found a 4 foot tall 3D SB cutout poster. It was very cute!

While we ate and played I had all the kids take pictures with Spongebob in Bikini Bottom (I later used these as the thank you cards).  I did some creative things with the food/play areas of the party room (see below) and over each area I hung a SB "poster". The posters came from a giant SB coloring book that I found at Walmart. I had my daughter help me color in some of the pages and the extra pages I tore out and gave to the other kids (along with a box of crayons) as part of their take home stuff. 

Food: I had a beautiful SB cake done at a local bakery (this is probably one of the few areas where I splurged). I took some suggestions from another party idea on this site and turned the menu into the "Krusty Krab" (I used one of the coloring book pages with a picture of Mr Krabs to write the menu). On the menu we had "Krabby Patties" (mini burgers from a local restaurant) pizza veggie and fruit platters (which of course included pineapple)…but the two biggest hits of the party were the square "cupcakes" and the build your own sundae bar (details on both below). 

Square cupcakes: For these I found a mini square cupcake tray at the craft store (I believe you can also get these at Target). I used a store bought pineapple upside down cake mix (a note: if you want them to stay really moist substitute the water in the receipe with seltzer water or 7-up. In this case I used pineapple soda). I topped them with a small layer of whipped cream brown sugar and a pineapple chunk. These took all of 30 minutes to make and the parents couldn't believe it!!  Build your own Sundae bar: easy to do! Bought two or three flavors of ice cream sprinkles a few types of syrup and toppings and let the kids pick. I put another poster up that read Goofy Goober's.  

Goodies:  In keeping with the whole SB theme the goodie bags were the highlight of the party! For about a month I found everything I could related to Spongebob and the beach at CVS the craft store party supply and dollar stores. Although there were a few edibles after all the treats at the party I took it easy on the candy/sweets in the goodie bags.

Included in the goodies bags:  Yellow or blue sunvisor hats (craft store/$1ea) gummy Krabby patties SB gold coin candies SB note pads/ with flat magnets (these went only to the older kids) pineapple scented bubbles (from the dollar store!) a SB water game star shaped sunglasses (10 pack for a $1 @ dollar store) crayons/posters  Beach themed keychain/backpack charm water filled bathtub fish (again dollar store) SB stickers mini "go fish" cards beach necklaces* (see details below) yellow t-shirts (craft store) 

*beach necklace: I found mini plastic bottles (they're about 2 inches long) at the craft store. Filled each with yellow and blue sand superglued the lid and decorated the outside with SB and beach themed stickers. I attached a lanyard to each so the kids could either hang them or wear them (if you try this craft you can also substitute the sand with water mixed with food coloring). This whole project took about an hour and a half (I actually did it one day while my daughter was taking a nap). 

At the end of the day it took a lot of work but it was totally worth it. The party was a HUGE success. My daughter had a blast! That's all she keep talking about. The kids and the parents loved it and the pictures came out beautiful. "

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